External contributors – Page 251
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CommentKen Jarrold on how to win a job
A lesson we all have to learn is to cope with the disappointment of not getting a job we had wanted.
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CommentSafe staffing levels, safe patients
Staff shortages, equipment shortages, inadequate supervision, delays all round, poor observation of sick patients, staff not sufficiently trained, call bells going unanswered, drugs not given at all or on time, problems with cleanliness, insufficient beds - is there an acute trust chief executive that can answer “none of the above”?
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CommentHow to create a culture of safety in the NHS
Almost every week, there are examples of poorly co-ordinated healthcare in the national papers: a “hospital blunder” here, a “scandal” there. But what will really wake clinicians up are the failures at Mid Staffordshire.
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CommentMedia Watch: Hello (again) Andy Burnham
It’s farewell to Alan Johnson and hello (again) to Andy Burnham, previously a health minister, who’s made it back to the top job in Richmond House via what the press dubbed a “shotgun” reshuffle, forced by the unexpected resignation of work and pensions secretary James Purnell.
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CommentJenny Rogers on the irritating whine of the complainant
My friend B has been dismayed by the poor standard of treatment her husband has received at their local acute trust.
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CommentPaul Corrigan on holding out for a heroic NHS leader
NHS culture isn’t just self protective. Like most cultures its internal obsession and expectations can harm the people inside it as much as it rejects those outside.
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CommentMichael White on Andy Burnham's rise through the ranks
Well, well. What a turbulent week for health politics and it is not over yet. By the time you read this, a day or so after I have typed it, Alan Johnson may still be the new home secretary.
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CommentDerek Campbell: There can be no progress without prevention
The impending financial squeeze makes it more important than ever to invest in preventing ill health in communities, rather than simply spending more on treatment
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CommentNoel Plumridge on caveats for consolidating mental health spending
A question for commissioners: what is the “right” proportion of your annual funding to spend on mental health?
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CommentA guide to clinical champions and commissioning
Building effective clinical leadership and engagement is the key to improving services, writes Jackie Kay
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CommentMidwifery and the Clinical Leaders Network
Raj Kumar In this month’s column for HSJ, Debby Gould from NHS London talks about how the Clinical Leaders Network is helping her to work collaboratively with other midwifery departments, helping to improve maternity services. NHS London has decided to use the CLN initially to focus on ...
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CommentNigel Crisp on what a new Griffiths would bring
I am a Griffiths manager. The Griffiths report brought me into health from a career in business and charities. As a result of Griffiths I was launched on a fascinating journey from running a mental handicap unit, as it then was, to working with health services in some of the ...
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CommentMediawatch: why FOI is an F-word for the NPSA
Every journalist loves writing stories about secret reports, figures revealed under the Freedom of Information Act and leaks by angry whistleblowers - such phrases add an air of intrigue to even the dullest statistics.
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CommentSimon Stevens on toothless dental policies
Dentistry. The very word is enough to sink hearts on the fourth floor of Richmond House. The dental status quo is always said to be terrible. And every change allegedly makes it worse. That is what happened after the 1990 dental contract, and again after the 2006 contract.
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Michael White on the big split over ISTCs
Andrew Lansley has been out and about attacking Alan Johnson’s record as a failed health secretary (“the postman who hasn’t delivered”) on the grounds he has not closed the health gap between rich and poor - and also let the NHS’s Blairite choice agenda atrophy.
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CommentYour Humble Servant on some final foundation trust hurdles
The quest for FT status is all looking so promising, apart from all the things that could go wrong…
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CommentPete Mason on managing Generation Y
Generation Y. Millennials. Echo Boomers. There are a lot of names for the people born in the 1980s and onwards, those now entering the workplace for their first or second jobs.
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CommentPeter Reader: 'Mid Staffs holds the same lessons as Bristol tragedy'
In the aftermath of the next stage review, which put quality at its heart, it is sad that the NHS story that people will remember this year will be that of Mid Staffordshire foundation trust.
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CommentHelen Bevan on the pitfalls of NHS cost reduction
I have just returned from an international improvement forum, involving healthcare leaders from 67 countries. Everyone was talking about the economic challenges ahead.
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Sheila Williams on changing your habits
There seems to be a lot of change happening right now - personal, professional, economic, regulatory. Enough to affect everyone at least a little. So why is it that we often intend to make changes in our lives, make some progress but then end up right back where we started?