All Comment articles – Page 237
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CommentHealth insurance is a game of poker, against an expert
“NICE is accountable to the public,” Lord Crisp - the former NHS chief executive - advised Parliament last week. “What we don’t need is to import American style private sector rationing where individuals find themselves the victims of decisions made in private by individual insurance companies where nobody is accountable.”
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CommentWhat happened to courage?
A client describes the following scenario to me. The 24-year-old son of a close friend has lost his job in the fallout from the sudden collapse of the business in which he was working.
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CommentCan patient choice alone force the changes the service needs?
The advent of the coalition has, of course, brought about a major overhaul of the existing power and influence matrix within the NHS.
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CommentHSJ100: Hakin and Gerada lead the rise of the clinicians
The white paper represents a seismic shift in policy and operational form, perhaps the biggest since the inception of the NHS.
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CommentHow to establish your marketability
Having decided to try for a new role or being faced with the need to look for a new job, there is often a temptation to dust off the CV, add relevant new information, then fire it out to as many companies, organisations and agencies as possible.
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CommentThe Mid Staffs inquiry and NHS redundancies
The national media’s week was not surprisingly dominated by the start of the Mid Staffs public inquiry.
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CommentThe national public health service
What will the new national public health service look like?
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CommentMichael White: health panel discussions
As I type I can hear this week’s opening of the Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust public inquiry being discussed on the radio.
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CommentTreading softly on cancer's dreams
It is good to see old fashioned centralisation is alive and well in sensitive matters.
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CommentLocal NHS pay negotiations: beware raiders of the lost cause
We have too much to lose as patients and taxpayers to repeat the 1990s’ flirtation with local pay negotiations.
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Comment'A good coach helps you to see the world as it really is'
Stress levels in the management community are higher than at any time since I joined it 41 years ago. At best, many managers face the loss of career prospects and life chances. At worst, they face the loss of employment and real hardship.
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CommentYour Humble Servant: home front
‘We’re invading your privacy at home, and turning it into the outpatient clinic’
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CommentThe NHS needs to re-invent itself to cope with funding cuts
The NHS’s funding increase is actually a 0.5 per cent cut - efficiency savings of 4-5 per cent will have to be found.
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CommentIndependent contractors and the NHS
Are independent contractors really part of the NHS? The answer, traditionally, has been “yes, when convenient; no, when not”.
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Comment'Major NHS reforms are driven by the heart, not the calculator'
Two things become apparent from recent parliamentary exchanges on the cost of anticipated large scale NHS redundancies.
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Comment'Complaints about NICE on one page and useless, costly drugs on another'
After a summer in which Labour’s health team was off fighting a leadership contest and the Liberal Democrat team was co-opted into government, health politics are livening up. No more Mr Nice Guy seems to be John Healey’s message.
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NHS underspends under the microscope
It is one of the most common dilemmas of NHS financial management. The trust sets an annual expenditure budget. A budget holder underspends - no doubt for excellent reasons - and wants to carry the unspent balance forward into the following financial year.
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CommentNHS efficiency savings could get a rough ride
What is the difference between a cut and an efficiency saving? And will patients be able to tell the difference?
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CommentGPs in the driving seat?
It seems GPs are not really up for being put “in the driving seat” of NHS reform.