All Comment articles – Page 264

  • Comment

    Media Watch: overweight children

    2008-08-21T09:00:00Z

    The issue of overweight children, always a popular topic, was widely reported this week.

  • Comment

    Mark Johnson on outsourcing in the health sector

    2008-08-20T09:00:00Z

    A recent report into the impact, scale and potential of the 'public services industry' - private companies and other organisations that provide services to the government - is very timely.

  • Comment

    Steve Feast on breaking through to leadership roles

    2008-08-19T09:00:00Z

    Considering how many talented clinicians there are in the NHS leadership ranks, relatively few actually make the transition from local clinical leadership roles to senior system-wide or executive positions.

  • Comment

    Stephen Ramsden on minding your language

    2008-08-18T09:00:00Z

    In a column last year I described the power of storytelling. Compelling stories touch hearts and minds in a way that logic and reason do not.

  • Comment

    David Peat on hitting targets

    2008-08-18T09:00:00Z

    You know how it feels when you hit the target but miss the point?Well, a recent journey to address a health conference in Europe was, to my mind, the perfect example of this.

  • Comment

    Steve Onyett on loosening central control

    2008-08-18T09:00:00Z

    The sociologist Lipsky coined the term 'street level bureaucracy' to highlight the fact that you can't force people to work effectively on something they disagree with.

  • Comment

    NICE chairman hits back at critics

    2008-08-18T09:00:00Z

    Some recent criticisms of NICE's work ignore the realities of modern healthcare and misrepresent the facts. Institute chairman Sir Michael Rawlins sets the record straight

  • Comment

    Keith Pearson on the NHS constitution

    2008-08-15T09:00:00Z

    The constitution is an opportunity to put to bed the tired old arguments dogging the NHS and will underpin the values and principles at its core. Non-executive directors are the ideal champions for this cause

  • Comment

    Michael White on relatonships with the media

    2008-08-14T09:00:00Z

    A grizzled ex-minister, just back from an evidently refreshing holiday, was muttering the other day about what he calls the 'BBC mindset', by which he means all of us in the inky-fingered media trades.

  • Comment

    Media Watch: rats in hospitals

    2008-08-14T09:00:00Z

    It was no great surprise that the papers went wild for the Tories' freedom of information 'revelation' that our hospitals are overrun with 'vermin'.

  • Comment

    Your Humble Servant on Chinese whispers

    2008-08-14T09:00:00Z

    To: Don Wise, chief executiveFrom: Paul ServantRe: Chinese whispers

  • Comment

    Tim Benson and Justin Whatling on measuring outcomes

    2008-08-13T09:00:00Z

    The only way to find out if your healthcare strategies are working is through reliable measurement.

  • Comment

    Hilary Thomas on healthy competition

    2008-08-11T09:00:00Z

    The right sort of competition in healthcare is a prescription for huge gains in quality and efficiency. But while this can be encouraged partly through attractive incentives, have we been too lenient in pursuing more punitive measures?

  • Comment

    Linda Havard on unlocking clinical leadership

    2008-08-11T09:00:00Z

    Lord Darzi's next stage review focuses on the importance of healthcare delivery, but at the expense of the details. Are local authorities up to the challenge of meeting the review's grand vision?

  • Comment

    David Amos on staff engagement

    2008-08-11T09:00:00Z

    The people of Hounslow, west London, have been impressed by a street cleaner who dances like Michael Jackson. This is either the council chief executive on a back to the floor initiative thinking about how much his contract is worth, or an extremely engaged employee.

  • Comment

    Angela Greatley on worrying welfare reforms

    2008-08-08T09:00:00Z

    Late last month, the government published its latest plans for welfare reform. Many of the proposals in the green paper, No One Written Off, are likely to be very significant for sick and disabled people.

  • Comment

    Michael White on feminism

    2008-08-07T09:00:00Z

    I couldn't help noticing in recent days how feminism kept popping up. As part of the wider debate about equality affecting class and poverty, gender, race, disability, it never goes away.

  • Comment

    Media Watch: Is Johnson leaving the DH?

    2008-08-07T09:00:00Z

    Alan Johnson's days at the Department of Health may be numbered. The Labour leadership crisis sparked by David Miliband and bored lobby correspondents has led to speculation the health secretary will be elevated either to the top job or deputy prime minister.

  • Comment

    Jim Wardrope on emergency medicine myths

    2008-08-06T09:00:00Z

    Lord Darzi's review of the NHS has yielded some good results for emergency medicine. However, there are a number of persistent myths about emergency care that could undermine the good work that has been done so far.

  • Comment

    Sandy Watson on the need for community engagement

    2008-08-06T09:00:00Z

    Community engagement is a fundamental part of community planning. We must listen to what the public has to say about levels of service and then take action to improve performance.