All Comment articles – Page 292

  • Comment

    Old-style GPs may go the same way as Britain's motor industry

    2007-09-20T09:00:00Z

    ‘Dr Buckman is in danger of doing for primary care what Derek ‘Red Robbo’ Robinson did for the British motor industry in the 1970s’

  • Comment

    Media Watch: breaking the habit

    2007-09-20T09:00:00Z

    This week columnists seized on the case of a smoker apparently denied an NHS operation to fix his broken ankle unless he gives up a 20-a-day habit.

  • Comment

    Michael White on politics

    2007-09-20T00:00:00Z

    The old saying that 'it never rains but it pours' seems unusually apt this soggy summer. But this week the saying also applied to Britain's elderly people when the High Court ruling on Aricept, the Alzheimer's drug, was accompanied by a torrent of reports highlighting deficient aspects of their treatment.One ...

  • Comment

    Looky likey

    2007-09-20T00:00:00Z

    A reader writes: 'Here atHarrogateand District foundation trust we have been pondering the similarities between TV ad icon the MilkyBar Kid and our chief executive John Lawlor of Payment by Results tariff Lawlor Report fame. As my appraisal is due shortly and our annual increment has yet to be resolved, ...

  • Comment

    Your Humble Servant: do as I say

    2007-09-20T00:00:00Z

    To: Don Wise, chief executiveFrom: Paul Servant, assistant chief executiveRe: Do as I say not as I doDear DonI gather your fact-finding summer visit to South Africa with Mrs Wise and the children went well. Your thoughts on ambulance response times on safari have given our colleagues down there much ...

  • Comment

    Is it the end for district general hospitals?

    2007-09-20T00:00:00Z

    Will more care at home and new 'polyclinics' spell the end of district general hospitals? Patient benefit must drive services, says Ian Gilmore, while Anthony Harrison suggests local hospitals still have a place

  • Comment

    High Court drugs ruling marks latest skirmish in war of words

    2007-09-20T00:00:00Z

    The High Court ruling upholding the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's decision over medication for Alzheimer's is just the latest skirmish in what promises to be protracted manoeuvring over drug use and pricing.

  • Comment

    Herts bags early winner with stadium bid

    2007-09-20T00:00:00Z

    As the football season cranks into action, Watford have scored an early goal in a PFI partnership with West Hertfordshire Hospitals trust.The trust hopes to share£80m-£100m of its costs by building a new hospital in Watford as part of a development encompassing a new stadium, housing, a hotel and conference ...

  • Comment

    Medic's freedoms will reveal commitment to NHS autonomy

    2007-09-20T00:00:00Z

    'The arrival of another world-class surgeon at Richmond House is a significant coup for NHS chief executive David Nicholson'

  • Comment

    Anna Donald on drugs in the headlines

    2007-09-20T00:00:00Z

    Hardly a day passes without press reports on products of one kind or another, be they heart drugs, vitamin tablets or laser surgery.Of late: the diabetes drugs Avandia and Actos may cause heart failure. Our national heart disease director Professor Roger Boyle thinks all men older than 50 should take ...

  • Comment

    Maker of all messages: from media to morale

    2007-09-20T00:00:00Z

    Working as director of communications director at one of London's major hospitals is a multifaceted role. Alison Cahn recalls her time in the post

  • Comment

    All Our Yesterdays

    2007-09-20T00:00:00Z

    September 4, 1941, Public Assistance Journal and Health & Hospital ReviewIn the Queries and Replies column this week: 'How much of the five shillings belonging to a ‘casual’ should be deducted from their unemployment insurance benefit when they are admitted to a casual ward.'Also: 'What are the reasonable charges for ...

  • Comment

    Weird world health

    2007-09-19T00:00:00Z

    A colleague has alerted us to a Myth of the Month website run by the Health and Safety Executive, which seeks to assuage rumours that the HSE is responsible for some of the rather over enthusiastic risk assessments taking place across the land. It is worth a look. Some of ...

  • Comment

    Heather Walker on clinical measures

    2007-09-19T00:00:00Z

    'Death is only one outcome. As far as the NHS is concerned, very little is known about the other outcomes of those discharged from hospital. Do patients actually feel any better for the healthcare intervention they have just undergone?'

  • Comment

    All Our Yesterdays

    2007-09-19T00:00:00Z

    September 26, 1941, Public Assistance Journal and Health & Hospital ReviewThere was a report this week on the administration of feeding services, where the joint guidance of the National Council of Civil Service and the Women’s Voluntary Services for Civil Defence was called upon.‘These two bodies are working together to ...

  • Comment

    Andrew Jones on world-class commissioning

    2007-09-17T00:00:00Z

    'World-class commissioning sounds exciting but the definitions need sharpening up. What does it mean? You might ask: does anyone know and does it really matter?

  • Comment

    Your Humble Servant: Hamish Meldrum on the GP stall

    2007-09-13T00:00:00Z

    To Don Wise, chief executiveFrom: Paul Servant, assistant chief executiveRe: In my back yardDear DonIt was healthcare market day in the high street yesterday so I decided to pop down and see if there were any bargains to be had.As I arrived, there was Hamish Meldrum on the GP stall.Hamish ...

  • Comment

    Michael White on former health secretary Stephen Dorrell

    2007-09-13T00:00:00Z

    When I rang him he said the NHS has 'gone full circle' since Labour came in and abolished the internal market in 1997

  • Comment

    Your chance to tell us who has the power

    2007-09-13T00:00:00Z

    In a few weeks, HSJ, recruitment consultancy Harvey Nash and management consultants Ernst & Young will be collaborating with a panel of experts to decide the HSJ50 for 2007 - the definitive list of the 50 most influential people in healthcare.

  • Comment

    Patient involvement can help siphon control from the centre

    2007-09-13T00:00:00Z

    The government has raised the question of the health service's democratic deficit.