Leader – Page 26
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LeaderIt’s crunch time, but job cuts are not the only way to save the NHS money
While politicians have been quibbling over the size and the semantics of the public sector spending cuts to come, the NHS is quietly starting to get on with them.
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LeaderNHS quality accounts must live up to the name
A year and a half after former health minister Lord Darzi’s next stage review called for all NHS providers to publish quality accounts, there is still no real consensus on what they should look like.
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LeaderUrgent care: confusing jargon – we’ve got your number
The NHS is constructing its own tower of Babel.
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LeaderRegulation must boost NHS managers’ reputation, not voters’ blood lust
Plans to regulate NHS managers are gathering pace. This creates both risks and opportunities.
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LeaderThis is PCTs’ admission of failure – but everyone shares the blame
Analysis of primary care trusts’ emergency and elective admissions data, shared exclusively with HSJ by health intelligence provider CHKS, reveals that in the majority of areas, both trends are going in the wrong direction: upwards.
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LeaderFour nations: was England’s approach to the NHS on target after all?
Research published this week by the Nuffield trust has reignited the debate over the value of health service targets.
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LeaderCQC SOS: high stakes mean it is essential registration succeeds
The Care Quality Commission is in difficulty.
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LeaderPut the brakes on NHS car park consultation
If ever there was an example of pointless Department of Health micromanagement it is the launch of the consultation paper on car parking.
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LeaderTories’ tempered pledges show the effect of political realities
The Conservatives’ draft manifesto on health offers subtle changes to the party’s health policies.
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LeaderIrrational optimism is the best prescription for NHS managers
Monitor’s outgoing executive chair Bill Moyes delivered a typically pugnacious valedictory address.
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LeaderUnions and NHS employers team up to negotiate for a better future
A tough year has ended with news that is no less painful for being inevitable - there are likely to be thousands of job losses in 2010. But despite the implosion of public finances the omens are not all bad.
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LeaderPopulist blame culture stifles openness
The introduction of mandatory safety breach reporting has superficial voter appeal, but problems lurk beneath.
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LeaderNHS regulatory turmoil distracts from the real business of care
Regulation has become politically dangerous territory for health secretary Andy Burnham. Just at the moment when the recent furore over death rates and patient safety has shaken public confidence in the NHS, the two regulators at the centre of the storm are about to be left leaderless.
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LeaderSuccessful trusts must not let their stories be overshadowed
The past week has seen the NHS endure its worst reputational battering since the Mid Staffordshire scandal in March.
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LeaderNHS boards are still not getting the message
The latest Dr Foster Intelligence analysis of trusts’ mortality rates contains both good and baffling news.
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LeaderPragmatism versus populism will prove a tough test for the Tories
Adjudicating on service reconfigurations will prove a tough test for an incoming Tory government.
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LeaderDon’t apologise for executive pay – but you must explain it
Managers’ pay is now under continual scrutiny. This week’s contribution comes from consultancy Hay Group, which has given HSJ an analysis of salary data which it says shows there is no link between pay rises and performance for foundation trust chief executives.
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LeaderOverspends are another reason to move care away from hospital
The revelation in HSJ this week of significant overspends in 33 primary care trusts is a worrying indicator of problems ahead.
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LeaderNHS managers are used to abuse but Mike O’Brien’s attack is a new low
The government is attempting to gag NHS managers, to hide from the electorate the true scale of cuts about to hit the health service.
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LeaderHospitals are blocking stroke care progress, and patients are bearing the cost
HSJ’s analysis of trusts’ performance on stroke care shows there is a long, long way to go.