External contributors – Page 248

  • Comment

    Media Watch: DH salaries

    2009-01-15T01:00:00Z

    Since everything is about money at the moment, it is perhaps no surprise that enterprising politicians have been totting up what the NHS and government spend on everything from celebrities to Department of Health officials.

  • Comment

    Michael White on public health nudges

    2009-01-15T01:00:00Z

    I was relaxing on the South Island of New Zealand and just about to throw away what had been a very nice bottle of local sauvignon blanc when I noticed a detail on the label.

  • Comment

    Simon Stevens on an NHS game plan for 2009

    2009-01-15T01:00:00Z

    Happy New Year. Or is it? With so much talk of recession and economic gloom, it's easy to forget the NHS's benign position, compared with - say - the car industry, retail, or financial services.

  • Comment

    Patient choice: Apple's way will bear most fruit

    2009-01-15T01:00:00Z

    Patient choice means NHS organisations must act more like businesses to win customers. The best will look to companies like Apple, which build their services from the 'outside in'

  • Comment

    Robina Shah on another day in another NHS year

    2009-01-14T09:00:00Z

    A very belated happy new year to all my colleagues. If your January 2009 has been anything like mine, it will have presented time to reflect on the past while managing the present and identifying aspirations for the future.

  • Comment

    Mark Goldman on shifting healthcare into the community

    2009-01-13T01:00:00Z

    In spite of every policy and every effort, it is not happening, not so far at least in Birmingham. The endeavours of primary care to shift healthcare into the community are yet to make a significant dent in hospital activity.

  • Comment

    Julia Tybura on NHS career survival

    2009-01-12T01:00:00Z

    What would you do if 90 per cent of the world's population died from a flu virus and you were one of only a handful of survivors?

  • Comment

    Stephen Ramden on keeping failure in mind

    2009-01-12T01:00:00Z

    'It could never happen here…' These are five words that sent a chill up chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson's spine.

  • Comment

    David Peat on quality life years

    2009-01-12T01:00:00Z

    It might seem odd at first glance to think we are doing 'old Joe' a favour by getting him fit and happy enough to pop down to his local for a pint or two with his pals.

  • Comment

    Nicholas Hunt on specialised healthcare commissioning

    2009-01-08T01:00:00Z

    Since the first statement of intent from the Department of Health back in December 2007, world class commissioning has grown rapidly from concept to, some might say, mantra.

  • Comment

    Naomi Chambers on NHS lessons from the private sector

    2008-12-19T09:00:00Z

    Public sector organisations are frequently exhorted to raise their game by borrowing from approaches used in the business world.How can non-executive directors on NHS boards make sense of their role in today's uncertain climate?

  • Comment

    Media Watch: NHS Blackpool

    2008-12-18T09:00:00Z

    Anyone still planning their Christmas celebrations may wish to take heed of the recent experience of NHS Blackpool.

  • Comment

    Michael White on NHS politics

    2008-12-18T09:00:00Z

    In these times of global recession and rising unemployment we should seek cheerful news. I offer these crumbs of comfort from the thinly attended fag end of the Queen's Speech debate, where health and education were bundled up as one.

  • Comment

    Jon Restell on an NHS Christmas list for Santa

    2008-12-18T01:00:00Z

    For this column, I am going to cheat by giving you something I have been working on for a while - my Christmas wish list.

  • Comment

    Your Humble Servant: an NHS Christmas

    2008-12-18T01:00:00Z

    To: Don Wise, chief executiveFrom: Paul Servant, assistant chief executiveRe: Manager in a manger

  • Comment

    Andrea Sutcliffe on PCT provider services

    2008-12-17T09:00:00Z

    In recent weeks, I have been contacted by increasing numbers of chairs and non-executives who are struggling with the governance arrangements for the separation of their provider services.

  • Comment

    Mark Simmonds on developing young clinical leaders

    2008-12-16T01:00:00Z

    The profile of NHS clinical leadership has risen considerably in recent times, but the concept is not a new one. Arguably, it rests at the heart of working as a doctor.

  • Comment

    Maggie Rae on the role of GPs

    2008-12-15T01:00:00Z

    Yes, they have won again. The GPs have excelled in our local area survey. Each year, like the rest of the country, we participate in what is known as the place survey.

  • Comment

    Jenny Rogers on friendships

    2008-12-15T01:00:00Z

    A holiday in deepest Norfolk has brought home some lessons about friendship. In a village you do not have the lazy luxury of making friends who are identikit portraits of yourself: same profession, age, income, newspaper - and prejudices.

  • Comment

    Hilary Thomas on clinical-managerial networks

    2008-12-15T01:00:00Z

    I have had the worst cold I can remember for some years - and every time I get on the Tube somebody sneezes on me. The economy is depressing, the weather has been depressing and the built-in obsolescence of collapsible umbrellas convinces me their manufacturers did not consider the eventuality ...