All Commissioning articles – Page 256

  • HSJ Knowledge

    How to close the readmission revolving door

    2008-03-03T09:00:00Z

    New software takes the guesswork out of assessing readmission risk, helping services to target resources. Louise Hunt reports

  • News

    Confed responds to NAO report

    2008-02-29T13:18:26Z

    Commenting on yesterday's NAO report on the GP contract, NHS Confederation primary care trust network director David Stout said: 'The work of PCTs in world class commissioning recognises the need to make better use of contractual levers to improve the commissioning of general practice and develop a range of skills ...

  • News

    Tee calls for cash incentives

    2008-02-28T09:00:00Z

    NHS Direct could be paid extra to focus on taking calls from patients living in deprived areas or with specific health needs, its chief executive Matt Tee has revealed.

  • News

    Eleventh-hour changes to GP contract left PCTs with bill

    2008-02-28T09:00:00Z

    The introduction of the new GP contract led to a 57 per cent increase in payments to practices in just three years, the National Audit Office has found. The huge increase was fuelled by a last-minute concession to the British Medical Association that sidelined the government's own priority to tackle ...

  • HSJ Knowledge

    Maggie Rae on Premier League performance

    2008-02-21T09:00:00Z

    Do names matter? Since arriving back in the NHS and PCT land, I haven't had much chance to think about titles or the name of our organisation.

  • HSJ Knowledge

    Where NICE leads, can commissioners follow?

    2008-02-21T09:00:00Z

    There is still a chasm between the process of writing recommendations and the people responsible for commissioning the services to deliver them. Can world class commissioning bring these closer together, asks Martin Dougherty

  • News

    Ministers vs GPs: how did it come to this?

    2008-02-21T09:00:00Z

    The GP contract talks have been played out for the public, with both sides taking to the airwaves. Ingrid Torjesen explores why a couple of extra hours a week has created such a conflict

  • HSJ Knowledge

    Commissioning begins at home

    2008-02-21T09:00:00Z

    The Teenage Cancer Trust has blazed a trail for charities by investing in commissioning. Sue McLellen and Simon Davies explain

  • News

    Basic data 'should be free'

    2008-02-21T09:00:00Z

    The chief executive of the Information Centre has promised to 'put right' the perception that Dr Foster has Intelligence unfair access to NHS data.

  • News

    Hospitals gain ground in acute services battle

    2008-02-21T09:00:00Z

    Three West Sussex hospitals have moved a step closer to retaining many of their acute services.

  • Comment

    Of equal weight…

    2008-02-20T15:11:00Z

    Your coverage of two related issues in HSJ in separate articles is timely (news analysis and opinion, 14 February). What Sophia Christie's column fails to mention is the pressure faced by NHS colleagues to fund Lucentis in advance of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence issuing its final ...

  • Comment

    Whither NHS reform?

    2008-02-20T15:05:18Z

    Richard Vize makes a sweeping dig at the British Medical Association and GPs, your traditional villains, and will probably get a quick laugh from the cheap seats. But has HSJ missed a point here?

  • Comment

    Failure to assess

    2008-02-15T17:19:17Z

    Congratulations for highlighting out-of-area assessments for mental healthcare. This problem is not confined to people needing to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act, writes Linda Davidson

  • Comment

    BMA will fight

    2008-02-15T17:13:25Z

    It is not the BMA which is 'grossly misrepresenting' the argument over GP opening hours. It is the government's campaign of misinformation, inaccurate media reporting and misleading articles such as Richard Vize's blinkered editorial, writes Robert Morley

  • Comment

    Is it reasonable to audit GPs' hours?

    2008-02-15T17:09:52Z

    Far from 'standing between patients and a better service' over longer GP opening hours, the British Medical Association has said most GPs would offer appointments in extended hours, writes Richard Vautrey

  • News

    minimum gp core hours

    2008-02-15T13:22:29Z

    The Department of Health has no plans to set a minimum number of consulting hours GP practices should provide during their contracted core hours. As the government plans to set a minimum threshold for hours practices must be available for appointments outside the hours of 8am to 6.30pm Monday to ...

  • News

    NHS private clinics 'underused'

    2008-02-14T10:48:50Z

    Independent sector treatment centres carrying out NHS care are not seeing as many patients as they have been contracted to treat, according to figures published by the Department of Health.

  • News

    Mayor flags up his blueprint for the future of London's health

    2008-02-14T09:00:00Z

    Preventable inequalities in health are unacceptable in a leading world city and have huge economic and social consequences, according to London mayor Ken Livingstone.

  • News

    Care 'top-up' ban may face day in court

    2008-02-14T09:00:00Z

    A leading solicitor has warned that the government's ban on NHS patients 'topping up' their care will end up before the courts.

  • News

    Auditor finds PbR has 'questionable' impact on efficiency

    2008-02-14T09:00:00Z

    Payment by results has had a 'questionable' impact on driving up efficiency in the NHS, the Audit Commission has concluded.