All Comment articles – Page 258
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CommentMediawatch: why FOI is an F-word for the NPSA
Every journalist loves writing stories about secret reports, figures revealed under the Freedom of Information Act and leaks by angry whistleblowers - such phrases add an air of intrigue to even the dullest statistics.
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CommentYour Humble Servant on some final foundation trust hurdles
The quest for FT status is all looking so promising, apart from all the things that could go wrong…
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CommentSimon Stevens on toothless dental policies
Dentistry. The very word is enough to sink hearts on the fourth floor of Richmond House. The dental status quo is always said to be terrible. And every change allegedly makes it worse. That is what happened after the 1990 dental contract, and again after the 2006 contract.
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CommentNigel Crisp on what a new Griffiths would bring
I am a Griffiths manager. The Griffiths report brought me into health from a career in business and charities. As a result of Griffiths I was launched on a fascinating journey from running a mental handicap unit, as it then was, to working with health services in some of the ...
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Michael White on the big split over ISTCs
Andrew Lansley has been out and about attacking Alan Johnson’s record as a failed health secretary (“the postman who hasn’t delivered”) on the grounds he has not closed the health gap between rich and poor - and also let the NHS’s Blairite choice agenda atrophy.
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CommentPete Mason on managing Generation Y
Generation Y. Millennials. Echo Boomers. There are a lot of names for the people born in the 1980s and onwards, those now entering the workplace for their first or second jobs.
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CommentPeter Reader: 'Mid Staffs holds the same lessons as Bristol tragedy'
In the aftermath of the next stage review, which put quality at its heart, it is sad that the NHS story that people will remember this year will be that of Mid Staffordshire foundation trust.
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CommentHelen Bevan on the pitfalls of NHS cost reduction
I have just returned from an international improvement forum, involving healthcare leaders from 67 countries. Everyone was talking about the economic challenges ahead.
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CommentMichael White on the patient-consumer parallel
It is always good to hear the NHS’s top brass trumpeting the service’s virtues, as NHS chief executive David Nicholson did when launching his third annual report. At least his list of modest triumphs serves to counteract some of the negativity generated by more regular reports of NHS failures in ...
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Sheila Williams on changing your habits
There seems to be a lot of change happening right now - personal, professional, economic, regulatory. Enough to affect everyone at least a little. So why is it that we often intend to make changes in our lives, make some progress but then end up right back where we started?
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CommentCally Bann on fiddling expenses
A spotty-faced cub reporter at the Battersley Evening Bugle has put in a request under the Freedom of Information Act for a detailed breakdown of all board expenses claimed in the past 24 months.
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CommentAli Parsa on the meaning of value
With the squeeze on health funding getting tighter, commissioners must spend less. But bargain hunters beware - low cost services do not necessarily offer good value
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CommentMedia Watch: Alan Johnson does his own PR
The weekend before last, The Independent ran an interview with Alan Johnson in which, in answer to a question about whether politicians would ever be trusted again, the health secretary said the political system needed a complete “overhaul” and called for voters to be consulted on proportional representation.
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CommentNeil Goodwin on NHS boardroom relationships
In the recent flurry of NHS chief executive departures, little has been mentioned or heard about the possible impact on wider NHS board membership.
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CommentHilary Thomas on treating lymphoedema in the community
One of the most heart sinking conditions an oncologist encounters during his or her career is lymphoedema. I use the term “heart sinking” with some embarrassment but, if I am really honest, this is one of those afflictions that made me feel powerless as a clinician.
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CommentDavid Peat on embracing NHS change
Attitudes to the idea of change have always fascinated me. And I suppose I’m revisiting the concept since I’m on the verge of changing my own role in the NHS by moving on to take up a new post at strategic health authority level.
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CommentDeveloping an integrated falls prevention service
Falls-related injuries are the leading cause of death due to accident in older people. Sue Poulton explains how to develop an integrated falls prevention and bone health service to reduce the risk of falls
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CommentMichael White: a search for good news in the NHS
With the expenses scandal delivering the most humiliating week for Westminster politics that I can remember in 30 years this column is committed to finding something more cheerful to write about MPs today.
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CommentMedia Watch: expenses and NHS prescriptions for sunshine
With MPs’ expenses dominating the news this week, there was less room than usual for NHS manager bashing, miracle cures or the rest of the usual health-related fare.