All Finance articles – Page 480
-
News
Healthcare Commission must 'remodel' work following 17 per cent funding cut
The Healthcare Commission will have its budget cut by 17 per cent in 2008-09 because of the government's decision to delay the creation of a combined regulator by a year until April 2009.
-
News
DoH orders review into £257m diagnosis contract
A massive diagnostics contract with the private sector has been delayed. because of concerns about quality and administrative procedures.
-
Comment
A 'fixed' financial system will bring a legacy of control
One of the worst-kept secrets of the last few months has been that the much-despised resource accounting and budgeting system, which penalised trusts twice for their deficits, would be scrapped at the end of the financial year.
-
News
Nicholson: NHS financial system now fit for the future
NHS chief executive David Nicholson has welcomed the abolishment of the 'inconsistent and unfair' resource accounting and budgeting system.The move was announced by health secretary Patricia Hewitt following recommendations by the Audit Commission. Mr Nicholson said it will be replaced by a system that 'ensures fairness, transparency and responsibility'.Read the ...
-
News
Care UK set for Mercury Health takeover
Care UK has agreed a conditional contract with Tribal Group to buy Mercury Health for £31.5m, as well as assuming debts of £20.7m and repaying inter-company borrowing of £24.6m.Among the conditions for the acquisition to go ahead is approval from the Department of Health for the change of ownership. If ...
-
News
BMA calls GP pay meeting
The British Medical Association GP committee has invited local medical committee secretaries to a meeting to discuss the response to the GP pay award.The meeting will also cover the current state of general practice in the UK. It is scheduled for 19 April and will be chaired by committee chair ...
-
News
Welsh cancer funding announced
Welsh cancer services are to receive £4.5m of extra funding from the Welsh Assembly government.Minister for health and social services Dr Brian Gibbons said the funds were to support the implementation of recommendations from a recent review of cancer services.
-
News
Poor data threatens future of PbR system, warns minister
Trusts must collect better data about patient services and involve clinicians in decisions if payment by results is to expand successfully, health minister Andy Burnham has warned.
-
News
Long-term care patients out of pocket
Primary care trusts failed to reimburse fully patients who funded their own long-term care - because of poor Department of Health guidelines, the health ombudsman has said.
-
News
Asset-sharing will limit the scope for dispute between the NHS and local government
'The commissioning process must have an injection of public involvement at every stage but particularly at the very beginning when need is assessed'
-
Comment
Consistency and agreement are needed to spread success
'The MPs' committee calls for lessons learned from the turnaround programme to be shared. But evidence for its effectiveness is opaque'.
-
News
Committee slams NHS financial management
The Commons public accounts committee has slammed the lack of financial management expertise in the NHS.Its report says in-year information prevents the Department of Health from effectively managing national finances, and that the financial recovery plans of some trusts with large deficits have been based on unrealistic assumptions or short-term ...
-
News
Burnham launches payment by results consultation
Andy Burnham has invited views on a number of ways to develop the payment by results system for 2008-09 and beyond.The ideas include strengthening payment by results data, more unbundling of tariffs, setting prices based on effective practice rather than on average costs and extending the system to more services.Read ...
-
Comment
Tristan Reuser on clinical engagement
The re-engineering of health systems requires traditional barriers between primary and secondary care to come down, writes Tristan Reuser
-
Comment
Restoring confidence requires an end to financial fudges
.'With the NHS moving .towards a more transparent. market, top-down decisions. on the distribution of funds. must not become the norm.'.
-
News
Government envisions a budget for every patient
Individual budgets as piloted in social care could be used in healthcare, according to the government's Commissioning framework for health and well being.
-
News
PCT network attacks 'unfair' reporting of top-slice effect
Primary care leaders are calling for changes to the way finances are reported after it emerged that the vast majority of current primary care trust debts are the result of top-slicing.
-
News
Payment by results and productivity
Noel Plumridge is perplexed by the dilemma of paying for payment by results-induced productivity within a closed, cash-limited system (HSJ, 22 February). I.thought the answer to that was price. As the volumes go up so unit prices go down.
-
News
NHS to become unaffordable, says think tank
The cost of technological advances in healthcare will make the NHS increasingly unaffordable, the think tank Reform says in a report today. It says that diseases like cancer will become much more manageable and will not necessarily be fatal, increasing costs.www.reform.co.uk
-
News
Prescription charges to rise by 20p
Prescription charges will rise by 20p - or 3 per cent - to £6.85 from 1 April, according to health minister Lord Hunt. Revenue from prescription charges is expected to raise around £425m for the NHS in 2007-08. Dental charges will rise by an average 2.7 per cent to £15.90 ...