External contributors – Page 224
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CommentThe debate on consortia governance requires sound principles, and hard evidence
To commission effectively, consortia will need governance arrangements that create confidence and trust, and build legitimacy and partnerships, writes The Health Foundation chief executive Stephen Thornton.
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CommentMedia Watch: worries over 'rationed' availability of treatments
After last week’s universal coverage of the health secretary’s will he/won’t he appearance at the Royal College of Nursing congress, the media headed towards the Easter break with a fairly united front over the availability of NHS treatments.
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CommentIs the NHS constitution still relevant in the new NHS landscape?
Since the government came to power and the health secretary announced sweeping reforms to the NHS, there seems to have been little focus on the NHS constitution. Gerard Hanratty, partner at healthcare law firm Capsticks, weighs up what may happen to it under the coalition government.
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CommentMidlands looking for leaders to deliver business and savings plans
The detailed, costed 2011-12 business plans produced by commissioners this month make interesting reading – but who will be accountable for achieving them?
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CommentA chief executive merry-go-round in London
It appears to be poacher turned gamekeeper season among the capital’s chief executives.
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CommentMichael White: time to address costly preventable failures
It being Easter weekend this column thought to give Andrew Lansley and his NHS reforms the week off. The secretary of state is on his own painful road to Calvary, carrying a legislative cross of his own making.
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CommentNoel Plumridge: PFI pipe dream turns sour
Within the EU, the talk is now of a periphery and a core. Peripheral countries that the international bond market no longer loves – Greece, Ireland and now Portugal – have to borrow large sums of money from the core merely to stay afloat.
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CommentThis ‘natural break’ is an opportunity to develop a genuinely patient-centred NHS
The coalition’s ‘listening exercise’ shows that Cameron and his ministers know they do not have the votes to push the reforms through Parliament in their current shape. They might do better if they radically rethink their proposals, argues Institute for Public Policy Research senior research fellow for health Phil McCarvill.
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CommentMichael White: Lansley must tune in to rescue reforms
To listen to Nick Clegg picking his way through the minefield of NHS reform on Radio 4 was to be reminded how hard it is to calibrate effective opposition – words and actions which can make a difference to important legislation.
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CommentPerformance surplus hides the fact many trusts are facing critical finance problems
Trusts with serious financial problems are in danger of being overlooked as a surplus on “aggregate performance” comforts some in the NHS. Nick Bosanquet looks at five ways to avert the hidden crisis.
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CommentYour humble servant: Lansley live - for one month only
Time is running out to get a ticket to the Andrew Lansley show, where the only certainty is there are no certainties.
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CommentReconfiguration threatening to derail London service level agreements
No sooner were service level agreements more or less signed off by London acutes and commissioners, than reconfiguration issues reared their head.
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CommentMedia Watch: Lansley listens while Tories tell
Despite embarking on a “listening exercise” to hear concerns about the reforms, the health secretary tried his best to avoid confrontation with nurses last week, the Independent reported.
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CommentSally Gainsbury: scary care cuts
I’ve had reason to delve around local government “savings” plans recently, and compared with QIPP they make for scary reading.
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Comment'By 2030, when many need it most, healthcare will be in meltdown'
The long-term effect on healthcare will be catastrophic if we do not change things now, writes Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry director general Richard Barker.
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CommentReform pause welcomed by slowly emerging Yorkshire pathfinders
Some at NHS Barnsley may have reacted with a sigh of relief to last week’s news of a “pause” in the reform of the NHS.
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Comment'Public health cannot survive on £4bn'
Public health is a new burden – it’s official. And local authorities are right to be nervous.
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CommentSouth West trust clawing back every penny ahead of make or break year
The “financially challenged” Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust has begun what is being viewed as a make or break year with a rare piece of fiscal good news.
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CommentMedia Watch: all ears as Lansley promises to 'listen'
It was telling that health secretary Andrew Lansley had to defend his NHS reforms himself on the letters page of The Times last week. The national papers have scented blood.
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CommentDH taking notice of work on the South East coast
NHS West Sussex has lately been recognised as a leading light on crossing the health and social care divide. The primary care trust’s board has just approved the creation of a joint commissioning unit with West Sussex County Council.