All News articles – Page 1221

  • News

    Handle complaints better, ombudsman tells NHS

    2008-06-13T12:01:00Z

    Parliamentary and health service ombudsman Ann Abraham today urged the NHS to improve how it handles complaints.

  • News

    Talking therapy spearheads named

    2008-06-13T11:54:00Z

    The Department of Health has named 32 primary care trusts that will roll out talking therapies across the country.

  • News

    Unite members reject pay deal and vote for strike ballot

    2008-06-12T15:04:19Z

    Unite’s health service members have overwhelmingly rejected the government’s 7.99 per cent three year pay deal.Nearly 95 per cent of 20,000 members who voted were against accepting the deal, with three quarters of them wanting a strike ballot.Unite represents health visitors, hospital pharmacists, healthcare chaplains and other healthcare and support ...

  • News

    New healthcare commissioners

    2008-06-12T11:40:00Z

    Three new healthcare commissioners today join the Healthcare Commission.

  • News

    NHS reforms need more time to deliver, report claims

    2008-06-12T11:33:00Z

    NHS system reforms have improved management of the health service but need more time to deliver significant benefits for patients.A report published today by the Audit Commission and the Healthcare Commission says reforms such as payment by results and foundation trusts are beginning to work. But patient-focused changes such as ...

  • News

    Hospital cleanliness is patients' first priority

    2008-06-12T11:21:00Z

    Hospital cleanliness and low infection rates are the most important factors for patients choosing an elective care provider, new government statistics show.

  • News

    Unite to ballot on strike

    2008-06-12T11:07:00Z

    Members of Unite, the third largest NHS union, have rejected the government's 7.99 per cent three-year pay deal and voted for a ballot on industrial action.

  • News

    Over a million sign BMA polyclinic petition

    2008-06-12T11:04:00Z

    More than 1.1 million people have signed a British Medical Association petition calling on the government to halt the development of polyclinics.

  • News

    Safety records

    2008-06-12T09:00:00Z

    Regarding 'Those in Peril', I am pleased you report that 'enabling patients to check the accuracy of their own medical records... increases patient safety'.

  • News

    PCTs under fire on new GP scheme

    2008-06-12T09:00:00Z

    Independent providers have slammed primary care trusts' attempts to procure new services under a flagship Department of Health scheme. They say the equitable access to primary medical care scheme is 'appallingly poorly managed'.

  • News

    Trust financial forecasts prove wide of mark

    2008-06-12T09:00:00Z

    Scores of NHS organisations reported end-of-year financial surpluses that were at least 25 per cent wide of their initial forecasts.

  • News

    Familiar ring to private takeover talk

    2008-06-12T09:00:00Z

    I am staggered at the fuss over the announcement that failing hospitals may be handed over to private sector management teams or taken over by successful trusts.

  • News

    Failed, fired but not yet fixed: the new realities

    2008-06-12T09:00:00Z

    Shape up or we'll find someone else to do your job - that's the new, tough message from the Department of Health. But how attractive will the 'someone else' role prove to be, asks Charlotte Santry

  • News

    Labour's NHS vision let down by reforms

    2008-06-12T09:00:00Z

    New Labour's reforms have failed to deliver its vision to transform the health service, a major report has concluded.The joint Audit Commission and Healthcare Commission report finds the overhaul of the health service under the 2000 NHS Plan has, in many areas, fallen well short of expectations.

  • News

    UK health services differ widely

    2008-06-12T09:00:00Z

    An analysis of differences between the UK's four health services has revealed wide variations in costs and waiting times.

  • News

    Emma Dent on Scottish drinking habits

    2008-06-12T09:00:00Z

    I read the following recent story with interest: 'Recalculated figures from the 2003 Scottish Health Survey show 40 per cent of men and 33 per cent of women are binge drinking at least double the recommended daily intake on their heaviest drinking day.'

  • News

    County council tries to wrest control of PCT

    2008-06-12T09:00:00Z

    A county council has launched an audacious bid to take over its local primary care trust.

  • News

    Workforce contracts under fire

    2008-06-12T09:00:00Z

    NHS workforce contracts represent a 'missed opportunity' for change, today's joint report from the Healthcare Commission and Audit Commission concludes.

  • News

    Confed warns of globalisation risks

    2008-06-12T09:00:00Z

    The long-term sustainability of the NHS faces multiple threats from globalisation, the NHS Confederation has warned.

  • News

    Managers will need same support as clinicians, says Wanless

    2008-06-12T09:00:00Z

    The government must give strong support and guidance to managers to ensure wide-ranging plans to improve the NHS really work, says Sir Derek Wanless.