All articles by *Helen Crump – Page 2

  • News

    Phil Hope announces national autism strategy

    2009-02-23T12:07:00Z

    Autism campaigners are claiming victory after care services minister Phil Hope announced a new national strategy and guidance for the condition.Mr Hope said a consultation on the strategy would begin in April, and the final document would be unveiled by the end of the year.

  • News

    PCTs urged to promote dental helplines

    2009-02-20T10:50:00Z

    Primary care trusts must do more to promote telephone helplines for patients trying to find a dentist, the Citizen's Advice Bureau has said.

  • News

    DH to embark on sick leave push

    2009-02-20T10:39:00Z

    The Department of Health is looking for organisations to take part in a pilot scheme aimed at getting people on sick leave back to work more quickly.

  • News

    NHS Confederation names new chief executive

    2009-02-19T15:29:00Z

    Acting NHS Confederation chief executive Steve Barnett has been given the post permanently.The confederation has been searching for a new chief executive since last May when Gill Morgan left to become permanent secretary to the Welsh Assembly.

  • News

    NHS top-up rules set for rewrite as fear of litigation mounts

    2009-02-19T07:00:00Z

    The government is expected to rewrite its guidance on implementing cancer czar Mike Richards' recommendations for top-up payments.Trusts have been observing the draft guidance since it was published in November.

  • News

    'Remarkable' PCT beats crisis

    2009-02-19T07:00:00Z

    The recovery of a primary care trust dogged by financial and performance failings has been dubbed 'remarkable'.Brent PCT was criticised for an 'arrogant and isolated' approach, 'serious failings' of corporate governance, 'very poor' financial oversight and creating a 'schism' between itself and its GPs, in a report published last year.

  • News

    Major patient choice study begins

    2009-02-17T10:17:00Z

    The Department of Health is seeking hard evidence that choice improves the quality of services.

  • News

    Out of hours provider to launch judicial review against PCT

    2009-02-16T11:18:00Z

    A GP out of hours provider is to issue judicial review proceedings against a primary care trust after it missed out on a contract to continue providing the services.

  • News

    New PCT provider chair in IT plea

    2009-02-13T11:23:00Z

    The new chairman of the NHS Confederation's primary care trust provider forum, Matthew Winn, has announced his arrival with a plea for better IT systems in the sector.

  • News

    NHS narrowly misses A&E waiting time target

    2009-02-13T11:12:00Z

    The NHS missed its four hour wait target for accident and emergency services by half a percentage point in the period between October and December last year.

  • News

    Decompression sickness fraudsters go to jail

    2009-02-12T01:00:00Z

    Two men have been jailed for their parts in a £250,000 scam to defraud the NHS by billing for bogus decompression sickness treatments.

  • News

    Scottish health minister Shona Robison takes on new brief

    2009-02-11T11:05:00Z

    Scottish health minister Shona Robison is to take on responsibility for sport, following a reshuffle of the Scottish parliament.

  • News

    NHS top-up policy needs more scrutiny - RCN

    2009-02-09T11:34:00Z

    The Royal College of Nursing is calling on strategic health authorities to step up scrutiny of top-up payments to ensure the new government policy 'does not result in a two tier NHS'.

  • News

    Measles cases rise to record high

    2009-02-06T11:25:00Z

    Last year saw the highest number of measles cases in England and Wales since records began, the Health Protection Agency has revealed.

  • News

    Huge bill looms for patient choice information

    2009-02-05T01:00:00Z

    The health service faces a bill of millions for reminding patients of their legal right to choose their own secondary care provider under the terms of the NHS constitution.

  • News

    MPs hear Richards review skirted major top-up areas

    2009-02-05T01:00:00Z

    The government’s decision to allow co-payments for private treatments assumed it is best to make expensive drugs ‘as freely available as possible’, MPs have been told.

  • News

    NHS links to pharmaceutical industry raise suspicions, RCP warns

    2009-02-04T11:25:00Z

    The medical profession needs to distance itself from the pharmaceutical industry to restore public confidence in the NHS, doctors have warned.

  • News

    Centre of excellence needs clearer vision, King's Fund warns

    2009-02-02T11:21:00Z

    The Department of Health's new centre of excellence risks being 'overloaded and ineffective' if it is not given a proper purpose, the King's Fund has said.

  • News

    DH launches children's health survey

    2009-02-02T11:12:00Z

    The Department of Health has launched its biggest ever survey of children's health.