External contributors – Page 253

  • Comment

    Media Watch: binge drinking

    2008-10-16T09:00:00Z

    Unlike so much else in the past seven days, the value of a drink is on the way up. The Department of Health's next attempt to reduce binge drinking will include curbs on free samples and happy hours, according to press reports.

  • Comment

    Michael White on the financial crisis

    2008-10-16T09:00:00Z

    The deepening financial crisis is changing how we look at everything now. For instance, aren't NHS finance directors glad they didn't have surpluses to invest unwisely during the years when Patricia Hewitt's stiletto was on their necks?

  • Comment

    Stephen Eames on managing by fear

    2008-10-16T09:00:00Z

    Up here in the North East the community is still reeling from the collapse of Northern Rock and is now watching with horror the ongoing farcical spectacle that is Newcastle United Football Club.

  • Comment

    Your Humble Servant on party conferences

    2008-10-16T01:00:00Z

    To: Don Wise, chief executiveFrom: Paul Servant, assistant chief executiveRe: His-Tory lesson

  • Comment

    NHS spending - what does the future hold?

    2008-10-15T12:09:00Z

    As the economic picture worsens, Carl Emmerson and Gemma Tetlow examine the possible implications for the NHS budget

  • Comment

    Ciaran Devane on surviving cancer

    2008-10-15T01:00:00Z

    The latest buzzword in cancer care is 'survivorship' - a word that has caused a bit of controversy since it was first used in the cancer reform strategy to describe the rapidly growing number of people living with or beyond cancer.

  • Comment

    David Allen on letting the public shape the NHS

    2008-10-15T01:00:00Z

    The government has published another NHS white paper in which politicians tell the public what sort of health service we must receive. It is time this changed.

  • Comment

    Steve Feast on GPs as community leaders

    2008-10-14T01:00:00Z

    When I was a GP, I was always amazed by the degree to which people remembered and acted on my advice. Frequently, the advice sought was not obviously related to any of my medical training or education.

  • Comment

    Andrew Jones on NHS leadership and creativity

    2008-10-13T09:00:00Z

    I have just thrown yet another leadership conference leaflet in the bin. Thinking back over the past year, quite a few similar fliers have followed the same trajectory.

  • Comment

    Steve Onyett on NHS interdependence

    2008-10-13T01:00:00Z

    It is not unusual to find teams and their managers entangled in a cruel bind. Senior management conveys the absolute requirement to increase caseload sizes to meet an activity target.

  • Comment

    Maggie Rae on giving blood and glory

    2008-10-13T01:00:00Z

    Yes, it is my fault - I think I am to blame for our terrible weather over the summer. I supported the introduction of the national system to monitor the effects of excessive heat over the summer months.

  • Comment

    Mental health volunteering scheme has global ambitions

    2008-10-10T01:00:00Z

    This World Mental Health Day, South London and Maudsley foundation trust is supporting a new initiative to encourage volunteering with VSO.

  • Comment

    Keith Pearson on releasing time to care for patients

    2008-10-10T01:00:00Z

    The best health organisations in the world put patients at the heart of what they do. This is why the Releasing Time to Care programme is so important.

  • Comment

    Jon Restell on party conferences

    2008-10-09T09:00:00Z

    The party conference season heralds the least productive element of my job. Attending them means - roughly - receptions, speaking at fringes, talking to anyone who will listen and eating too much and too richly.

  • Comment

    Media Watch: public health Jamie Oliver style

    2008-10-09T09:00:00Z

    When a celebrity ventures into the inhospitable terrain of public health, the results tend to be predictably cringe-inducing.

  • Comment

    Michael White on the NHS and political miscalculations

    2008-10-09T09:00:00Z

    With the global banking network near meltdown, we're all on a sharp learning curve. So here's a tip for David Cameron: don't use the distress of NHS patients such as the late Elizabeth Woods to make party-political points.

  • Comment

    Virginia Beardshaw on children's speech and language services

    2008-10-08T01:00:00Z

    Child health has always been a minority interest in the NHS. And few managers have moved up the career ladder on the strength of their achievements in the niche field of children's speech and language.

  • Comment

    Mark Johnson on what Darzi means for NHS innovation

    2008-10-08T01:00:00Z

    Lord Darzi's review puts quality at the heart of the NHS. This vision can only be achieved through new forms of partnership working between the public, private and third sectors.

  • Comment

    Clinical leadership in out of hours services

    2008-10-07T01:00:00Z

    The Department of Health has signalled that it may allow practice-based commissioning consortiums to take over commissioning out of hours services. Rick Stern explains why this would be good for patients and budgets

  • Comment

    Linda Havard on changing the face of NHS leadership

    2008-10-06T09:00:00Z

    Lord Darzi's next stage review talks about increasing clinical leadership in the NHS. By encouraging leaders to be practitioners, partners and leaders, he hopes to drive through the quality agenda.