Latest news – Page 2773

  • News

    Talks shambles kicks new pay system into touch But protracted delay runs risk of fuelling unrealistic expectations

    1999-03-25T00:00:00Z

    There would appear to be little chance now of a new pay system for the NHS during the lifetime of the present parliament. It is true to say that even The New NHS white paper talks about restoring a national pay system only as a 'longer-term' objective, but last week's ...

  • News

    OT to trot - keeping in step with clients' needs

    1999-03-25T00:00:00Z

    I read with interest, Annie Phillips' article 'Out of step' (page 25, 25 February). I agree wholeheartedly that social workers do work in an empowering way, but to say this was 'virtually unheard of in medicine' takes no account of healthcare professionals who do work with clients in an empowering ...

  • News

    PFI is handy smokescreen for opposing change

    1999-03-25T00:00:00Z

    'Building anxiety' (special report, 4 March) was a good try at summarising the private finance initiative debate.

  • News

    Primary care groups can be local heroes

    1999-03-25T00:00:00Z

    Anna Coote, in her article 'Local heroes get stuck in' (Think tank, 25 February) highlights the central role communities can play in improving health, but underlines the need to reconcile and harness the dynamics of a locally driven process with the bureaucracy of the statutory and other interested agencies. She ...

  • News

    Going into reverse to see another point of view

    1999-03-25T00:00:00Z

    Having had the opportunity to participate, as a service user, in the King's Fund living values project (cover story, 25 February), I applaud the strengths of this research.

  • News

    Detention of people with severe personality disorders Assess danger, not diagnosis

    1999-03-25T00:00:00Z

    Home secretary Jack Straw has angered civil liberty campaigners with his insistence on preventive detention for people with a severe anti- social personality disorder, while leaving those involved in delivering mental health services bemused by his lack of detail (news focus, 25 February).

  • News

    Should we not congratulate Straw?

    1999-03-25T00:00:00Z

    The civil liberties response to Jack Straw's announcement has forgotten that for decades we have been sectioning mentally ill people who have not committed any offences. The NHS used to treat psychopathic disorder in a similar way, as evidenced by figures produced by Mr Straw after Michael Stone's trial.

  • News

    It's jargon. Government jargon. Not plain jargon

    1999-03-25T00:00:00Z

    John Paton is not alone in finding the titles of government initiatives 'cloying, sentimental, inane and downright meaningless', with their 'mania for the colon followed by the apple-pie and motherhood adjectives' (letters, 25 February). Unfortunately, this style is not limited to the covers of documents, but extends to the text ...

  • News

    All the recommendations of the Continuing Care conference must be speedily implemented

    1999-03-25T00:00:00Z

    I was interested to see you refer to the Continuing Care conference's calculation that 'a 1 per cent annual reduction in morbidity would cut the costs of publicly provided care by 30 per cent, saving more than £6bn by 2030' (comment, 4 March).

  • News

    telephone services

    1999-03-25T00:00:00Z

    'It seemed a bit robotic, but you pick up vibes from the caller and use your clinical judgement'

  • News

    A year down the line

    1999-03-25T00:00:00Z

    By the end of the year, 60 per cent of the population will be covered by the nurse-led telephone helpline NHS Direct. But doubts remain about whether it really helps cut visits to doctors or accident and emergency departments. Janet Snell reports

  • News

    All systems go

    1999-03-25T00:00:00Z

    March 1998

  • News

    telephone services

    1999-03-25T00:00:00Z

    Phone bills: costs and calls

  • News

    Three calls to get help: patients' views

    1999-03-25T00:00:00Z

    The community health councils in each of the first-wave pilot areas have reported positive feedback from the public. The Sheffield researchers also asked people what they thought of the service, with varied responses.

  • News

    REFERENCES

    1999-03-25T00:00:00Z

    1 Evaluation of NHS Direct First-wave Sites. First interim report to the Department of Health. School of health and related research, Sheffield University, 1998.

  • News

    Their levelling best

    1999-03-25T00:00:00Z

    news focus

  • News

    'Sheer unadulterated misery': life - and death - in the Russian Federation

    1999-03-25T00:00:00Z

    If Frank Dobson provided the up-beat message, Richard Alderslade, regional adviser for partnerships in health at the World Health Organisation European regional office, came up with the gloom. He focused attention on the state of public health in the newly independent states of the Russian Federation where the average man ...

  • News

    Common target

    1999-03-25T00:00:00Z

    The Amsterdam treaty ensures 'health protection' in all policy areas. After bringing down the Commission, MEPs want to go further, reports Tony Sheldon