All David Stout articles – Page 8
-
News
Managers warn NHS top-up review risks inequalities
Health managers have given a cautious welcome to cancer czar Mike Richards' landmark review of co-payments but warned that the plans could make the NHS less 'equal'.
-
News
Health inequalities: wealthiest overfunded as the poor lose out
NHS services in the poorest and most needy parts of the country are being systematically underfunded to the benefit of the healthiest and wealthiest.Analysis by HSJ of the budgets allocated to GPs to pay for drugs and hospital care for their patients show that the wealthiest tenth of the population ...
-
News
Monitor chair calls on PCTs to set out plans for services
The coming years will see an increase in foundation trusts running primary care services, as well as culls of failing hospitals, executive chair of the regulator Monitor Bill Moyes has predicted.
-
News
Hold-up: Treasury eyes NHS surplus
The Treasury is in talks with the Department of Health over the NHS's £1.7bn surplus and when the service will be able to spend it.
-
News
NHS constitution fails to fire public's imagination
The NHS constitution is failing to attract public interest amid criticism that it is unclear about patients' rights and will not abolish the postcode lottery.
-
News
Patient choice at risk from healthcare monopolies
Primary care trusts may need to find new methods of protecting patient choice if integrated care organisations become monopoly healthcare providers.
-
News
Annual health check: quality leap sees PCTs drag behind
More than half of NHS organisations are now providing excellent or good services, according to the third annual health check.But the annual assessment scores, published today by the Healthcare Commission, expose a widening gap between the performance of steadily improving trusts and floundering commissioners.The proportion offering excellent services has leapt ...
-
News
Hospital chief suspended for poor record
The chief executive of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals trust John Watkinson has been suspended.
-
News
Picker Institute demands clarity for exceptional case decisions
Primary care trusts must communicate with patients more clearly about exceptional case decisions, the Picker Institute is demanding.
-
News
Foundation trusts get £300m in a year-end spending rush
Foundation trusts were handed up to £300m in advance payments by primary care trusts towards the end of the last financial year, HSJ has been told. The prepayments were made as some primary care trusts struggled to keep 2007-08 surpluses below 'control totals' set by the Department of Health.
-
News
Poor PCT networking holding back NHS reforms
Poor networking and planning by primary care trusts is holding back reform of urgent and emergency care, a major Healthcare Commission review has found.
-
News
Auditors praise NHS trusts' financial management
The NHS has undergone a 'cultural shift', with nearly all organisations now meeting standards on financial management after years of poor performance and spiralling deficits.
-
News
Prizes for world class commissioning winners
Primary care trusts that are successful in world class commissioning may win the right to name the salaries of their senior managers and non-executive directors.
-
News
Out of hours care standards to be applied to urgent care
National standards for out of hours providers could be extended to cover some in-hours services.
-
News
NHS inequalities row is shrouded in secrecy
The question of whether poor urban areas should continue to get the most funding is about fundamental NHS principles - so why is it being discussed behind closed doors? Sally Gainsbury reports
-
News
Surge of acute contracts puts strain on PCTs' spend targets
Primary care trusts are battling to stay clear of deficit as their finances come under pressure from a surge in secondary care work.Many PCTs overspent on their commissioning budgets for the first three months of the financial year and some are now looking to make savings in other areas to ...
-
News
Surrey is first to agree its integrated care proposals
The first primary care trust to unveil its plans for an integrated care pilot has warned that commissioners will have to overcome existing 'anomalies' to make the initiative work.
-
News
PCTs fight for local decision making on controversial drugs
Primary care trusts must retain their right to decide whether patients receive controversial drugs in exceptional circumstances, PCT leaders have warned.
-
News
World class commissioning challenges
As Richard Vize rightly points out, world class commissioning is an ambitious programme of change for primary care trusts. While we must be realistic about how they will perform on competencies at this early stage, the first year of the assurance system will establish the baseline for performance and reflect ...
-
News
A shot in the arm for community health services
The government is promoting the social enterprise model of service provision, but there are other options available to primary care trusts. Ingrid Torjesen offers an overview