All Comment articles – Page 248
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CommentNoel Plumridge on expenses and exploitation
It was a cheap Chinese restaurant, just near the bus terminal in a quiet Northern town. Now, I’m partial to Chinese food when away on business, not least because the single male traveller can usually eat a plate of chow mien or special fried rice without feeling awkward and without ...
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Matthew Winn on community health providers
The Darzi review brings community providers the policies they have long called for but the new austerity means they must prove their worth with cost-effective innovations
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CommentCally Bann on the swine flu outbreak
An acute trust chief executive, “Cally Bann”, casts a jaundiced eye over the swine flu outbreak…
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Comment
Media Watch: Alan Johnson for prime minister
“How Johnson became the model Labour candidate for the top job,” was The Independent on Sunday’s headline on coverage of the party’s most recent leadership dilemmas.
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CommentMark Goldman on clinical leadership's tipping point
Many years ago, I was advised by an eminent professor that if enough people all wanted something to happen at the same time it always happened. As far as the events of men rather than nature are concerned, this has proved to be a truth.
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CommentKen Jarrold on the NHS and the credit crunch
These are dangerous times for public servants. The recession is having a devastating impact on the lives and life chances of many employed in the private sector. In contrast, relatively few public servants are losing their jobs.
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CommentJenny Rogers on predictable irrationality in the NHS
The notorious US bank robber Willie Sutton, when asked why he raided banks so prolifically, allegedly answered, “because that’s where the money is”.
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CommentMedia Watch: swine flu
The Department of Health was quick to offer reassurance at the start of this week after warnings of a pandemic of a new killer flu virus.
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CommentPaul Corrigan on NHS cultures
My problem with a single powerful culture comes from growing up in the 1950s. English culture was pleased with itself. Its rejection of difference threatened that the cost of being different would be high. You would be on your own.
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CommentLisa Rodrigues on the dos and don'ts of effective communication
Leaders seem to love lists that tell them what to do – The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, and The Eighteen Challenges of Leadership to name but three of the more popular management books.
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Comment
Michael White on the Budget crisis
A shadow Cabinet heavyweight summed up the Budget crisis with brutal clarity: “We have been paying nurses by taxing bankers’ bonuses. It’s unsustainable,” the MP observed with some sadness.
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CommentSimon Stevens on what the Budget means for health spending
So the Budget has confirmed what we already knew: there’s a major public spending crunch ahead. Spending across government is targeted to grow at just 0.7 per cent over the period 2011-12 to 2013-14.
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CommentWhen communities pull together there is a big health benefit
The UK’s growing diversity and individualism are reflected in many health issues, and the NHS should be forging strong partnerships to create equalities across communities
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Andy Black on hospital acquired thickness
Why do some staff address patients in baby talk, or treat them as an irritant if they ask for a window to be opened? It’s because of a virulent condition that can sweep through wards like wildfire
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CommentInvolving junior doctors in implementing the European working time directive
The involvement of junior doctors in implementing changes to working hours in the UK is not a new concept. Going back to the 1990s, the regional task forces on junior doctors’ working hours, charged with the responsibility of implementing the new deal, often included junior doctor medical advisers.
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Media Watch: Margaret Haywood and NHS whistleblowing
The sacking of whistleblowing nurse Margaret Haywood provided the perfect opportunity to give NHS managers a good kicking, no matter that the unpopular decision was actually taken by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
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CommentKeith Pearson on the essence of leadership
The Reverend Theodore Hesburgh once commented: “The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision.” In my strategic health authority region, NHS East of England, our vision is clear: we want to provide the best quality health service in the country.
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CommentMichael White on the Budget
Not a good Easter break for the extended White family. Between us we suffered a car crash, an emergency caesarian and a burglary.
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CommentFrances Blunden on the burden of NHS bureaucracy
It is generally agreed that the burden of bureaucracy in the NHS is too great.
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CommentKieran Walshe on evidence based decision making in the NHS
NHS managers need to read and engage with the latest data and evidence on health service organisation - and researchers must present this in forms busy managers can use