External contributors – Page 243
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CommentAndy McKeon: 'Prepare to step back to the 80s'
The Budget will be the prelude to another prolonged cycle of recession and recovery for the NHS, but one positive is that lean years mean productivity takes an upturn
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CommentKen Jarrold on getting the best from staff
If the NHS is to improve public health and provide high quality services to patients, it must look after its staff, including chief executives and senior managers.
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CommentClinical mistakes: how to respond
A new approach to handling NHS complaints has been introduced. Joan Saddler, director of patient and public affairs at the Department of Health, explains what it means for clinicians and managers
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CommentAndrea Sutcliffe: advice on delivering effective NHS care
As the Healthcare Commission cleared the decks in preparation for the launch of the Care Quality Commission on 1 April, some of its final reports made chastening reading for all of us involved in the delivery of healthcare that should be safe, effective and a good experience for patients.
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CommentDavid Peat on PCT provider arms
The proposed division of primary care trusts’ provider and commissioner arms reminds me of the old legal concept of “one roof with separate rooms”.
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CommentAngela Greatley on community mental health treatment
Supervised community treatment was one of the most controversial aspects of the 2007 Mental Health Act. The new powers were introduced in November 2008, since which time some 1,200 requests for second opinions to ratify such orders have already been made.
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CommentStephen Eames on patients driving change
Delivering radical reform in public services was the government’s battle cry in last month’s white paper Working Together - Public Services on Your Side. Given the parlous state of the country’s finances, the message will be exactly the same from any future government.
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CommentHumble Servant bids the Healthcare Commission adieu
‘We will all miss the traffic lights and star ratings, its mission to condemn and flagellate, and the valuable role it has fulfilled for the Department of Health in shutting stable doors after horses have bolted’
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CommentMichael White on the recent political populism
Watch out for political populism in troubled times. Most of us have been indulging in banker-bashing, but such enjoyably bad habits can be contagious and beneficial chiefly to extremists on the prowl. I spotted two crowd-pleasers that affect HSJ readers only this weekend.
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Comment
Richard Lewis and Matthew Bell on healthcare market stimulation
Commissioners will have to sharpen their understanding of healthcare markets and see carefully managed competition as a tool that works for the benefit of patients
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CommentLeading patient journeys: challenging stereotypes and perceptions
Clinical leadership is urgently needed to improve the care older people receive. Steve Feast explains
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CommentHilary Thomas: NHS branding vs NHS trust
After more than two decades in the NHS, the concept of a brand had never consumed much of my intellectual energy. However, over the past year, I have been involved in two different re-branding exercises and have been thinking about what it really means.
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CommentWhat makes a good NHS non-executive director?
NHS non-executive directors used to be unfairly portrayed as part of the “old boys network” - cronies and fat cats who needed to fill their time between trips to the golf club - or as well intentioned members of the community who, when they were not at the hospital, were ...
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CommentSheila Williams: management coaching can stop problems escalating
I was facilitating a workshop on performance management with a group of experienced NHS managers recently. I got to the part about dealing with performance problems when they arise and how using a coaching approach often prevents the problem from escalating.
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CommentNoel Plumridge on foundation trusts
Are foundation trusts here to stay? Five years have passed since the prototypes first saw the light of day. Once controversial enough to bring the government’s very survival into question, how far has this radically new and politically controversial way of organising NHS hospitals simply become normal?
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CommentPaul Corrigan: foundations are the future
Opponents of foundations say that their success and financial strength is the result of unequal advantages - but that should not stop them helping weaker trusts
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CommentJenny Rogers on NHS jobs gloom
I have been observing how some of my most talented clients are dealing with the current gloom and uncertainty.
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CommentEmma Dent on the NHS in the media
Hands up who saw the recent Dispatches programme on nurses? There were some fairly shocking stats about the number of nurses who have seen patients placed in “danger” (we’ll presume through treatment and medication errors rather than, say, being put in the path of man eating tigers) and nurses not ...
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CommentMichael White on the effect of unemployment on health
A flurry of excitement hit the Commons press gallery when it was rumoured health minister Ben Bradshaw had said unemployment would be good for British men.
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CommentJulia Tybura on communication and patient safety
Having just returned from a week’s winter sun, I was reflecting on one of my holiday reading selections, Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. It struck me how his case studies on paddy fields and plane crashes resonated with my experiences in the NHS.