All Government/DH policy articles – Page 66

  • Treasury
    News

    Exclusive: Treasury tightens grip on CCGs with control of £800m fund

    2016-03-01T11:54:00Z

    The spending of £800m of commissioning budgets will be subject to Treasury approval next year, it has emerged.

  • Pay
    News

    NHS Employers admits junior doctor pay calculator may be inaccurate

    2016-02-24T12:00:00Z

    NHS Employers says “variations” will occur between pay calculator predictions and actual salary Rotas including consecutive weekends were an error and have been changed Concerns raised that the rotas will lead to “jetlagged” junior doctors NHS Employers has accepted its pay calculator for junior doctors may not accurately ...

  • Don Berwick
    News

    Berwick: Government ‘should apologise’ to junior doctors over dispute

    2016-02-23T11:53:00Z

    Don Berwick says government “should apologise” to junior doctors and impose three year “moratorium” on new contract “You cannot achieve excellence in combat with your future workforce,” says former government adviser Also says it may be “impossible” for NHS to deliver acceptable standard of care at current funding level ...

  • Mother and baby
    News

    Women should control maternity care budgets, review says

    2016-02-23T00:01:00Z

    National Maternity Review calls for personalised maternity budgets by 2020 Recommendations aim to improve choice and increase community births Review says a significant increase in midwifery workforce is not required Women should be given their own budgets to spend on their maternity care, a national review has said, ...

  • Ian Cumming
    News

    Trusts may lose training cash if they don’t impose contract, warns HEE

    2016-02-17T11:05:00Z

    HEE chief executive Ian Cumming says he is not prepared to see a competitive market between trusts with different junior doctor contracts Adoption of new contract will be key criteria for HEE decisions on training posts with NHS trusts Follows speculation some trusts could choose not to adopt the ...

  • Paul Farmer
    News

    Taskforce delivers blueprint for future of mental healthcare

    2016-02-15T00:01:00Z

    Government mental health taskforce outlines changes for mental health to 2020 Funding pledge of £1bn has previously been announced and DH has confirmed it is not new money Taskforce chair Paul Farmer says recommendations are “feasible and afforable” Mental health services in the NHS should undergo significant reform ...

  • Doctor strike Jan 2016
    News

    BMA will consider 'every form and frequency' of industrial action

    2016-02-12T17:15:00Z

    Junior doctors’ committee chair writes that the BMA will consider “every form and frequency” of industrial action Johan Malawana says the union needs to be “smart” to ensure the government is the target, not other doctors or the NHS Comments suggest sustained strike action could happen in coming months ...

  • Claire Murdoch
    News

    Updated noon: 14 chiefs now deny support for contract imposition

    2016-02-11T13:35:00Z

    14 chief executives out of 20 who were listed on Sir David Dalton’s letter say they did and do not support imposition of new contract Contrasts with Jeremy Hunt’s apparent suggestion to Parliament that he had their backing Sir David tells HSJ the chief executives listed had not been ...

  • Physiotherapy
    News

    HEE under fire for 'inexplicable' physio cuts

    2016-02-11T10:56:00Z

    Chartered Society for Physiotherapy questions HEE’s workforce predictions Physiotherapy training places will be cut by 6.7 per cent in 2016-17 HEE says it stands by its forecast and will deliver 5,124 additional physiotherapy staff by 2020 Health Education England has come under fire for “inexplicable” cuts to physiotherapy ...

  • Treasury
    News

    Treasury gives £1.2bn boost to DH revenue budget

    2016-02-10T17:07:00Z

    DH confirms it will get an extra £205m from the Treasury, and transfer £950m from its capital budget to revenue spending Revised departmental funding estimates will be laid before Parliament today, before being debated and voted on in the coming weeks Bailout comes amid warnings that the DH could ...

  • Hospital staff rushing with patient
    News

    Staff agencies struggle to meet NHS demand following pay cap

    2016-02-10T07:00:00Z

    Survey suggests agencies are struggling to fill NHS shifts following introduction of pay caps Monitor says the majority of trusts are not struggling to find temporary staff but a third of providers have said it is more difficult Jim Mackey says NHS’s financial challenge “should not be at the ...

  • Healthcare assistant
    News

    Higher number of HCAs linked with increased mortality, says study

    2016-02-09T23:30:00Z

    Research shows trusts with a higher number of healthcare assistants relative to bed numbers had an increased risk of mortality Study also found an association between higher numbers of nurses and doctors to patients and a fall in mortality rates Authors warn NHS policymakers against regarding HCAs as interchangeable ...

  • Clock
    News

    Former NHS chief calls for four hour mental health target

    2016-02-09T00:01:00Z

    Commission describes mental health system under pressure after “steady attrition” of funding in recent years Lord Crisp calls for new four hour waiting time target for acute adult patients and an end to long distance transfers Mental Health Network calls on NHS England to invest directly in frontline provision ...

  • Call centre
    News

    Revealed: The costs of closing NHS Direct

    2016-02-08T17:00:00Z

    Dissolution of NHS Direct cost £89m, documents reveal Regulators say “lessons learned” for transactions planning The dissolution of NHS Direct over two years cost £89m, documents reveal.

  • Workforce
    News

    NAO: NHS workforce plans driven by saving cash

    2016-02-05T11:58:00Z

    National Audit Office says existing system of workforce planning is not value for money NHS training 19 per cent fewer nurses in 2014-15 than it was in 2004-05 NAO says trust workforce predictions influenced by financial efficiency savings NHS trusts’ workforce predictions are driven by the imperative to ...

  • Workforce
    News

    New staffing metric 'may lead to unsafe nursing levels'

    2016-02-05T00:01:00Z

    ‘Care hours’ metric to be ‘principal’ measure for nursing deployment Experts say using metric could lead to unsafe staffing Concerns include the mixing of nurse and healthcare assistant numbers Lord Carter says trusts should also use separate data on nurses and HCAs A new headline staffing metric proposed ...

  • Ian Cumming
    News

    HEE chief: Spending review cuts led to fewer nurse places

    2016-02-03T07:00:00Z

    Ian Cumming says Health Education England would have “almost certainly” commissioned more nurse training places for 2016-17 Failure to tackle poor staff retention is biggest risk factor to delivering HEE’s planned workforce growth HEE fears NHS employers’ workforce predictions are not in line with new care models Health ...

  • Doctor strike Jan 2016
    News

    Updated: Junior doctors to strike for 24 hours next week

    2016-02-01T13:16:00Z

    BMA to strike for 24 hours next Wednesday after contract talks fail Doctors will walk out from 8am but will now provide emergency care BMA says good progress was made with Sir David Dalton but government refused to recognise Saturdays as different to weekdays Junior doctors will strike ...

  • News

    Royal colleges wade into junior contract talks

    2016-01-28T10:46:00Z

    Six royal colleges and 15 medical associations warn of “long term damage” without negotiated deal Private letter sent in support of a deal as Acas talks continue Government warned against spreading resources “more thinly” Both sides in the junior doctors’ contract dispute have been urged to reach a ...

  • Agency nurses
    News

    New data suggests agency price cap is working

    2016-01-28T07:00:00Z

    Monitor data suggests 40 per cent drop in number of agency shifts breaching new price caps Largest fall was in nursing, where breaches dropped by 47 per cent Lower levels of pay and new rules to roll out over next few months The number of NHS shifts by ...