External contributors – Page 284
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Hygiene: staff won't follow where they are not led
After the years of media scrutiny, policy statements, regulations, inspections and public outcry - not to mention the avoidable deaths and illnesses - it is hard to comprehend why many acute trust boards are failing to make hygiene standards a priority.
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Tories struggle to make their own room in the centre ground
This week in Blackpool the Conservative Party conference promised to scrap top-down targets - and end the postcode lottery.
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Michael White on the shadow health secretary
Now that Gordon Brown has started to open up in public and chancellor Alistair Darling has put a couple of jokes into his conference speech, there is no stopping the confessional flood in politics. Even Andrew Lansley has been affected.
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Emma Dent gets diagnosed
A kind reader recently commented that this column reads as though I have spent hours on it. At least, I think they were being kind.
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Malcolm Lowe-Lauri on connecting with the boss
What is the best way to manage a less than perfect leader? Here, Malcolm Lowe-Lauri offers some suggestions
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Marian Carroll on the breastfeeding dilemma
Women must be given full support, regardless of whether they choose to breastfeed their babies or not, writes Marian Carroll.Any discussion around infant feeding evokes strong reactions in people who seem to take a 'for or against' approach to breastfeeding.
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All Our Yesterdays
October 9, 1936, Public Assistance Journal and Health & Hospital ReviewAs the Midwives Act of 1936 came into force ‘The Future of the Midwifery Service’ was discussed this week. The Act required local areas to secure full time employment of enough midwives to be able to attend women in their ...
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Occupational therapists play a key role in Star Wards
In response to the article Star Quality, the College of Occupational Therapists believes Star Wards has been an excellent vehicle to encourage all ward staff to engage in therapeutic, leisure and creative activities, providing structure and meaning to a service user’s inpatient experience, writes Julia Scott
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Lisa Rodrigues on intoxicating publicity
It was impossible to miss the publication of the Alastair Campbell diaries - the newspaper serialisation and TV programme meant people were talking about them everywhere. While some may have diagnosed a serious case of work-related stress, I just thought he showed great timing, and he got me thinking about ...
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Neil Goodwin on new research into the success of organisations
Sometimes it can be frustrating waiting for research papers that are sufficiently grounded in the day-to-day life of real organisations. Such papers, like the two highlighted here, are often of enormous practical value in helping organisational leaders think through future strategy, writes Neil Goodwin
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Noel Plumridge on lessons from Northern Rock
Healthcare providers should not ignore the difficulties facing other sectors, writes Noel Plumridge
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Media Watch: for and against healthcare privatisation
HSJ readers will be well aware of the three-month battle to get health secretary Alan Johnson off the fence and spelling out his policy on the private sector.This week that battle spilled off the pages of HSJ and the Financial Times and into The Times and The Guardian. A coincidence? ...
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Comment
Department should explain itself on race
The new health secretary is passionate about tackling health inequalities. With race a central factor, he will be appalled at the catalogue of race equality failures at the Department of Health that the Commission for Racial Equality claims to have unearthed.
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Labour conference: localist messages do not cover a nasty whiff of central control
The speeches at Labour's annual conference mapping out the principles for Gordon Brown's stewardship of the NHS highlighted the tensions with which the new ministerial team is grappling.
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Michael White on this year's Labour conference
I filed this column, from Labour's Bournemouth conference, a little later than usual this week. Gordon Brown had brought the annual leader's speech forward by 24 hours (he is in such a hurry, that man) and I wanted to catch what he had to say.
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Cardiac telemedicine takes off
Cardiac telemedicine has moved decisively from pilot to practice. Joshua Rowe explains how it is revolutionising care and saving the NHS money
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Primary care risk-taking could end in disaster
Changes to primary care organisation suggested by the Confederation of British Industry could seriously damage the system, argues Martin McNicol
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Your Humble Servant on nurses and news from planet Monitor
The Department of Health’s main drive is to get the nurses not to be so grotty, while on planet Monitor they are celebrating a multi-million-pound foundation trust surplus.
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Data on mental health patient safety must be presented accurately
Chris Heginbotham’s commitment to the well-being and safety of mental health inpatients is sincere and I share some of his concerns, but I must set the record straight about the more alarming aspects of the impression created by his recent interview, writes Louis Appleby
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Looky likey
Another high ranking medical looky likey this week. Chief medical officer and all round nice chap Professor Sir Liam Donaldson bears a striking resemblance, points out a HSJ colleague, to former Liberal Democrats leader and MP for Ross, Skye and Inverness West Charles Kenendy. What do readers think?