All Comment articles – Page 314
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Comment
Giving patients the cost of treatment
Having had first hand experience of this in the USA, when my father lay dying in ITU and we kept getting bills from the insurance company 'for information only' I would urge the Minister to give this proposal serious consideration.
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Comment
Model contract and foundation trusts
Two issues highlighted in HSJrecently - the model contract ( HSJ, page 5, 1 February 2007) and an NHS charter ( HSJ, opinion, pages 18-19, 2007) - show how current NHS reform is engendering contradictory expectations.
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David Peat on choice
I suppose it's a generation thing. Choice, that is. And come to think of it, consumer power in general.
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Peter Penson on one way to cut the NHS drugs budget
In recent months, the media has reported numerous cases of patients campaigning to be given expensive anti-cancer drugs such as Herceptin by the NHS despite a lack of NICE approval. Difficult decisions must be made about how money should be spent and where economies can be made.
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Criticism of Dr Foster JV masks the real story about poor data
The National Audit Office report on the Department of Health joint venture with health information provider Dr Foster does little to combat the notion that government is still feeling its way when doing deals with private companies.
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Hilary Thomas on reconfiguration and supercasinos
So far this year I've enjoyed a strange mixture of speaking to the public about the case for change; getting involved in what I might loosely term 'people processes' - all of which has been a rich source of learning; and finding myself in a new-found role of professional patient.
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Hilary Thomas on reconfiguration and supercasinos
2007 is promising to be a good year. I'm an optimist - it has to be!
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Angela Coulter on the national patients survey
'Access to GPs has dramatically improved!' claims the government. 'Nonsense, it's got worse!' yells the Daily Express.
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Comment
Your Humble Servant: disaster planning
‘Four black Mercedes limousines with police outriders screeched to a halt outside trust HQ heralding the arrival of the McKashsky consultants’
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Clinical engagement: the beginning of reform is the end point
The fall-out from Sir Gerry Robinson's TV programme on NHS management continues, and this week two very different commentators address the central issue of what is holding back managers and clinicians from working together properly.
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Comment
'Unacceptable risk' to acutes exposed by PCTs' contract
The final model contract released last week has provoked fierce resistance from hospital providers, which have little time for the argument that it rebalances the power levels between primary care trusts and acutes. For more, read New model contract threatens survival, foundations warn.
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Comment
Clinical coding
Regarding thr piece in HSJ by Tim Kelsey of Dr Foster Intelligence: 'Clinical record taking has been left to coders for too long.' Excuse me? Clinical information is recorded by clinicians. Coders then translate this information into clinical codes in accordance with National Standards.
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Neil Goodwin on the training challenge for NHS managers
'Foundation trusts will need to lead the way in learning to establish effective working relationships with their investors, namely primary care trusts and practice-based commissioners, and being proactive in discussing future strategy.'
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NHS independence: removing politicians will leave a hole that must be filled
Would an 'independent' NHS create a worse provider monopoly than British Leyland or set it lose from the targetitis of Whitehall? Who would hold the reins of scrutiny - regulators, Parliament or local councils? Where are the models - the BBC, Scandinavia, Oregon or New Zealand? Is independence even a ...
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Comment
Joint working: more power for councils will test relations
The government has proposed that councils and primary care trusts sign up to joint 'strategic assessments' of local health needs and, potentially, 'a single regime' to meet them (news, page 5). The details will emerge next month, but already a number of things are clear.
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Response to Gerry Robinson and Brian James
Comments on Gerry Robinson's contribution and the programme in general seem to reflect comments in almost any discussion about 'NHS' and 'management'. The issues are so emotional for so many people that it's difficult to overcome bias. As a change manager, with some experience of the NHS, my bias will ...
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Mike Cooke on mental health
'The reason? A lost couple of inches of trouser protection over my backside. My local notoriety was re-established.'
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Clive Savory on Gerry Robinson and NHS fixes
Sir Gerry Robinson's bid to 'save the NHS' sparked much debate. But is outside help really a prerequisite for progress? Clive Savory investigates
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No quick fixes but Sir Gerry did find room for improvement
Last week's BBC2 programme, Can Gerry Robinson fix the NHS?, may not have fixed anything by itself but has certainly got the NHS talking. Inevitably there is a range of views about both the diagnosis and cure put forward by the business guru during his stint ...