Latest news – Page 2837
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News
Alarm unheard or unheeded?
When things began to go wrong at Bristol Royal Infirmary, who knew, and who could have done more to prevent the tragedy? Linda Davidson talks to whistleblower Helen Stratton and HA chief executive Pamela Charlwood
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A share of the blame
How much responsibility should commissioning authorities bear for detecting the kind of problems uncovered at Bristol Royal Infirmary's paediatric cardiac surgery unit?
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All together now
Integrated healthcare has a royal seal of approval, but evidence of its effectiveness remains limited. Pat Healy reports
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Bristol - the turning point
'The relationship between doctors and their patients, and between doctors and the health service, must change, for the haunting demeanour of the bereaved parents will have a profound impact'
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HOW TO IDENTIFY A LACK OF READING AROUND
Rowena Barnes' and Karen Hansed's article about the effectiveness of clinical audit ('Check-up time', pages 26-27, 21 May) showed such a breathtaking ignorance of both the literature on and the practice of clinical audit and quality improvement in healthcare, it is hard to know how to begin to respond.
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WHY IS THERE SUCH A CLIMATE OF DISTRUST WHEN ALL SPEAK SENSE...
The NHS is to enter a new world from April next year, led by the newly created primary care groups. Yet there is a struggle between the Department of Health and GPs' representatives about how things will take shape.
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...YET GPs NEED TO KEEP A CLOSE WATCH ON CLINICAL SERVICES SO THAT THEY DON'T DISAPPEAR FOREVER
In recent months we have heard a lot about the new NHS and the formation of primary care groups, but little about the effect these changes will have on patients and patient services.
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ARE PCGs A GIANT LEAP OR A LEAP IN THE DARK?
The authors of the article on primary care groups ('The cultivated commissioner', pages 26-27, 30 April) helpfully highlight that the success of PCGs depends - among other factors - on 'the capabilities, commitment and skills of the primary care professionals chosen to run them'.
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THIS IS A HYPE-FREE WAY TO STAY UP-TO-DATE
Congratulations on the publication of Managers and Medicine (30 April). I found it accessible, hype-free and, above all, a good read. It is a timely reminder of the principles that underlie all our work in the health service.
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WHAT'S IN A PROFESSION, FROM ONE WHO KNOWS
Peter Heaton's amusing letter (14 May) raises an interesting issue. My own perception of a 'health professional' is someone who has chosen to spend their career in a healthcare setting, and has trained to do a healthcare job.
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SILENT VIGIL FOR UNBORN CHILDREN AND MOTHERS
I was interested in your picture of campaigners 'celebrating' the 30th anniversary of the implementation of the 1967 Abortion Act (News, page 5, 30 April).
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Sour note on a milk run that seems to run and run
As you read this, several passenger transport vehicles and their crews from the local ambulance service will most likely be at your hospital waiting to take home patients who are probably being assembled at a central collection point. But it makes no economic, logistical or humanitarian sense to continue to ...
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DOCTORS AND NURSES ARE NOT THE ONLY CARERS
While recognising that Royal College of Nursing general secretary Christine Hancock is by necessity an advocate of the role of nurses (Observations, 14 May), it is nevertheless frustrating once again to read that doctors and nurses run the health service between them, and that nurses are the only professionals in ...
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A CULTURE THAT KNOWS HOW BEST TO NETWORK
David Hunter (Live from Leeds, 7 May) raised interesting issues about the co-ordination and networking requirements of health action zones and health improvement programmes.
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News
THE VOICE OF APH SPEAKS OUT LOUD AND CLEAR
Following Barbara Millar's report (News focus, page 9, 14 May) on the prospect of a new organisation for public health emerging from the alliance of the Association for Public Health and the Public Health Alliance, I'd like to point out that I am now co-chair of the APH.
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BY HOWARD BERLINER Anti-tax sentiment in ashes
The debate over the responsibility of tobacco companies for the medical costs of illness related to smoking still rages in the US. Most recently, the tobacco industry agreed to pay $6bn to the state of Minnesota, just as a jury was about to begin final deliberations. This action has given ...
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Branding those who bury their mistakes BY MICHAEL WHITE
I did a little survey the other day and found that there are now 34 Labour doctors in the House, seven Tories and just one Liberal Democrat - Twickenham's Vince Cable. Doctors in the sense of PhDs and DPhils, of course. New Labour retains a touching Old Labour faith in ...
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monitor
The snazzy new NHS Primary Care Group Alliance is a lobby group in tune with the times. Picking up the government's new emphasis on health promotion, its press launch eschewed the wine, nibbles and danish pastries that often feature at such events. Instead, hacks were offered mineral water. And just ...