All articles by Crispin Dowler – Page 26
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News
Milton backs increments freeze deal amid congress heckles
Health minister Anne Milton drew heckles at the Royal College of Nursing congress after insisting a national pay increments freeze rejected by the union would remain on the table at local level.
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Foundation trust advised to 'run down' hospital
Lawyers advised a cash-strapped foundation trust wanting to close a community hospital that it could bypass public consultation by “running down” the service on “efficiency” grounds.
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Earl Howe orders break-up of North West's 'anti-competitive' four year contract
Health minister Earl Howe has told NHS North West to break up a four year “framework” deal between the region’s specialised commissioning group and mental health service providers.
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'Clarity' needed on consortia public health rules
A public health leader has called for commissioning consortia to be compelled to “work through” health inequality plans with public health specialists once they transfer to local councils.
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Consortia to handle PCTs' savings burden
Primary care trusts with some of the toughest financial challenges in England are handing responsibility for the huge savings they must make this year to pathfinder commissioning consortia.
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Private sector incident data sharing deal stalls
A long-awaited deal to feed private providers’ safety incidents into a national database has been delayed since last July by plans to abolish the National Patient Safety Agency.
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Government has not done enough to prevent price competition - Confed
The government must set prices across most aspects of health service provision to prevent price competition accelerating under its reforms, the NHS Confederation has warned.
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HSJ Local
NHS Bury lifts IVF ban, despite continued overspending
FINANCE: A financially challenged primary care trust has lifted the bar it placed on IVF services, despite continuing to overspend at a rate of £600,000 a month.
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Inflation figures suggest £857m NHS cut next year
Inflation forecasts in yesterday’s budget show Department of Health funding will drop by £857m in real terms next year compared with planned 2010-11spending set out in October.
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Funding formula change boosts South
A ministerial decision to give less weight to health inequalities when allocating £85bn of NHS funds has privileged the South over deprived northern areas, an HSJ investigation has found.
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Osborne backs Hutton on pensions but promises 'no cherry picking'
Chancellor George Osborne has accepted Lord Hutton’s recommendations on public sector pensions as a “basis for consultation” with unions.
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HSJ Local
NW commissioners to pool buying power for continuing care
COMMERCIAL: Primary care trusts in the North West are close to concluding a framework agreement which will establish a single list of approved continuing healthcare providers for the region..
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FT severance payouts to come under scrutiny
The NHS chief executive has promised MPs to do all he can to provide details of severance payouts made by foundation trusts.
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Challenged hospitals funds used to bail out PCTs
Nearly 40 per cent of a £392m fund set up to pay off the historic debts of London’s financially challenged organisations has been used to bail out commissioners.
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Labour tables amendments to planned Monitor role
Labour has put forward amendments to the Health Bill to remove Monitor’s planned powers as an enforcer of competition law.
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Commissioning Support for London to be closed
An agency that has received nearly £70m to support London’s commissioners is being shut down after just two years in existence.
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Women’s hospitals hit by tariff change
Hospitals are planning to lobby the government over the steep cuts to maternity income expected in 2011-12.
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HSJ Local
Wirral strikes early commissioning support deal with GPs
STRUCTURE: NHS Wirral has struck a deal to provide nearly 120 of its staff as “commissioning support” for GP consortia. It has told those employees their future could be in a private sector joint venture.
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Confed warns over EU purchase rule change
Proposals to scrap the barrier protecting health services from European procurement rules could place a “significant administrative burden” on NHS organisations, the NHS Confederation has warned.
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Readmissions penalties surpass savings target
The tougher non-payment policy for emergency readmissions could cost some hospitals even more in 2011-12 than the planned 1.5 per cent cut in tariff prices.