All Government/DH policy articles – Page 119
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News'Raid' FT finances to protect DH budget, ministers were advised
Top civil servants advised government ministers that they could “raid” foundation trusts’ surpluses to prevent them from blowing the Department of Health’s budget, the Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust inquiry has learned.
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NewsNew talks in public sector pension row
Fresh talks will be held today in an attempt to avert a wave of strikes by public sector workers in the continuing row over pensions.
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NewsMinisters should be allowed to intervene in another Southern Cross, says Burstow
Health minister Paul Burstow has hinted the government may seek to introduce legislative changes allowing it to directly intervene in any future cases similar to the collapse of Southern Cross.
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NewsHealth reforms 'a strategic mistake'
Ministers have promised further changes could be made to the government’s controversial health reforms as the plans were branded a “huge strategic mistake” by a senior Liberal Democrat.
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NewsNon-GPs must get exec roles, says top Lib Dem
Clinical commissioning groups should be required to have a nurse and doctor with secondary care experience involved in executive decision making roles rather than on a governing board, Baroness Shirley Williams has said.
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NewsFlory blames HCC for delay in action over Mid Staffs
The deputy chief executive of the NHS has admitted the Department of Health should have acted sooner over failings at Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust, but blamed the Healthcare Commission for not warning them of the seriousness.
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NewsDH launches 'engagement exercise' on social care policy
The government has embarked on a major consultation designed to involve patients, providers and professionals in re-designing social care.
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NewsGovernment drug treatment strategy questioned by new watchdog
A newly formed alliance of drug rehabilitation providers has accused primary care trusts of “strangling at birth” plans to tackle addiction and reduce crime.
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NewsSenior civil servant denies using 'clever tactics' to push through FTs
A civil servant responsible for the foundation trust pipeline has denied he was under political pressure from Number 10 to push through unsuitable trusts but admitted he was trying to get trusts to Monitor “as soon as possible”.
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NewsLib Dem rebels to contest cleared reform legislation at conference
Rebel Liberal Democrat MPs plan to challenge a decision to deny them a vote on the government’s NHS reforms at the party’s forthcoming annual conference.
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CommentGiving dementia the attention and support it needs - and deserves
A recent meeting on dementia suggested that although the condition is widely misunderstood, there’s no reason why progress similar to that made in cancer and HIV care cannot be made for dementia too. Richard Smith, director of the Ovations initiative to combat chronic disease, looks at what needs to be ...
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Comment'We need to build the proper foundations for clinically led commissioning'
Clinicians will only be able to bring real added value to the commissioning process if CCGs have the appropriate infrastructure to both support clinical leadership and provide the expertise to harness its potential, argues Ben Gowland.
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CommentDebate: is general practice pulling its weight in the efficiency challenge?
On 30 June, HSJ columnist Noel Plumridge suggested primary care should carry its share of the £20bn Nicholson challenge, alluding to the Nuffield Trust’s March recommendation that primary care “should become a key focus of the quality, innovation, productivity and prevention agenda”. Noel’s article led to this correspondence with Pat ...
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Comment'If the reforms go wrong, the potential risk to public health huge'
Andrew Lansley’s new vision for public health must overcome tough tests if it is to grow into a healthy being, says Alan Maryon-Davis.
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News'Huge opportunities' for private provision under reform - Howe
The NHS reforms present “huge opportunities” for the private sector, a health minister has said.
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NewsHouse of Commons votes through revised Health Bill
The government will turn its attention to getting the Health and Social Care Bill through the House of Lords after a Commons vote yesterday passed the heavily amended bill.
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NewsHealth Bill amendments could add 'political pressure' to reconfiguration decisions
Service reconfigurations following the failure of a foundation trust could be open to “political pressures” as a result of a proposed change to the Health Bill, lawyers and think tanks have warned.
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NewsGovernment public health scheme 'inadequate', campaign group says
Efforts to improve public health by the government are likely to fail unless major food companies are forced to sign up to tougher guidelines, a children’s health group has warned.
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NewsReforms will curtail access to information, say campaigners
Public access to information may be “increasingly restricted” because NHS reforms could increase the involvement of independent providers, campaigners have warned.
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NewsDH in talks for 'international players' to take on struggling hospitals
The Department of Health has held discussions about “international players” running up to 20 NHS hospitals, according to confidential emails.