Latest news – Page 2830

  • News

    Duncan doughnuts

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    Name: Alan Duncan.

  • News

    Bug bust-up

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    Few trusts are prepared for dealing with the year 2000 bug. And most want more resources and more guidance from the centre. Peter Mitchell reports

  • News

    In similar vein

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    Proposals to reorganise the Scottish blood service bear more than a passing resemblance to recent changes south of the border - and seem set to cause as much controversy, writes Barbara Millar

  • News

    The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service proposals

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    The SNBTS proposals, which are out for consultation until 26 August, involve a two-phase restructuring of services.

  • News

    Dobson's making beds - but should he 'lie' on them?

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    It is rare - perhaps unprecedented in recent years - to witness a government announcement about opening NHS beds, certainly in such numbers as health secretary Frank Dobson boasted last week. The government's pounds500m fund to tackle waiting lists would pay for an extra 2,000 beds in England, he claimed, ...

  • News

    Managers get their OATs

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    At the risk of appearing vulgar, we feel we have to point out that getting their OATs looks like becoming a preoccupation for NHS managers. The government's plans for replacing extra-contractual referrals with retrospective payments for 'out of area treatments' may resurrect some of the problems associated with funding cross-boundary ...

  • News

    Panel beaters please apply

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    For an organisation which restructures itself more frequently than the Italian government, the NHS doesn't seem to do it very efficiently. In its pursuit of political correctness and 'visible equity' the NHS treats its staff unfairly, prolongs disruption and damages clinical services.

  • News

    WEB WATCH

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    There are times when the Institute of Management gives a good impression of suggesting that if you're not running a FT-SE 100 company then you are not really managing. Its last annual management pay survey reported rises of 10 per cent for directors due to 'business growth'. Eat your heart ...

  • News

    A passion for Prudence which fills Gordon's heart

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    This column tries to resist conspiracy theory. All the same I couldn't help wondering why the 'Constitutional Declaration' that Tony Blair and a very happy Paddy Ashdown signed last week had been timed to coincide with Gordon Brown's big public spending statement, which put it in the shade.

  • News

    How to tell if the NHS is serious about improving the nation's health

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    I read with interest 'All quiet on the front line' (pages 24-26, 14 May), as performance indicators are, on the face of it, a very useful tool and appear to provide a sensible transition from management theory to management practice. Defining a standard, measuring performance, comparing performance to the standard, ...

  • News

    Let me know if you care about sharing

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    Roy Sharma (Letters, 4 June) asked: 'Why are we so close to the primary care group deadline without vision, partnership and plans?'

  • News

    There's no need to gloss over the facts

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    An Office for Public Management survey ('Off message', pages 26- 27, 7 May) suggests that many people feel glossy publications produced by the NHS are a waste of public money.

  • News

    The change of career that's not as bizarre as it's made out to be

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    I have spent the past week pondering the bizarre career change I made 15 years ago.

  • News

    Low pay and poor working conditions, but the reward is helping to deliver high-quality care

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    While I agree with Simone Plaut's view (Letters, 4 June) that managerial, secretarial, financial and maintenance professionals in healthcare would not generally have a direct patient interaction role, I would point out that in the case of medical secretaries, it is highly likely that they will interact with patients frequently, ...

  • News

    Laying to rest the question of funding - in beds for those in and outside Herefordshire

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    Your news story (page 7, 4 June) on Herefordshire Community Health trust's funding problems was largely accurate, but the health authority never expected the trust to run a new 32-bed hospital for the same money as an old 18-bed hospital.

  • News

    Involve the voluntary sector in new PCGs

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    Like many of your readers I am interested in the formation of primary care groups - especially since the timescale for introducing them is relatively short.

  • News

    Is the use of such data 'new or true' ?

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    John Appleby (Data briefing, 4 June) is misleadingly dismissive of the substantial body of evidence suggesting a causal relationship between income inequality, poor health and raised mortality.

  • News

    Situations vacant

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    Twenty years ago, the brightest and best medical graduates were queuing up to become GPs. Today, general practice is acknowledged to be in serious difficulties. The number of young doctors entering GP training schemes fell by more than 20 per cent in the 10 years to October 1997, more doctors ...

  • News

    The out-of-hours doctor who quit general practice to 'get a life'

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    Paddy Glackin spent two years as a GP principal in north London before deciding he wanted 'to get a life'. Now he works for two London out-of- hours co-operatives and often takes time off to travel abroad.

  • News

    The locum who switched to the private sector in a search for 'consistency'

    1998-06-18T00:00:00Z

    The uncertain future of general practice in the NHS was one of the factors that made Kevin Ling switch to the private sector.