All News articles – Page 1306

  • News

    Time to break the circle of negativity

    2007-02-08T10:27:00Z

    There's no row like a family row and the NHS family is not an exception. It has long been recognised that the NHS's own staff can often be the worst ambassadors for what is happening in the service, nationally and locally.

  • News

    National Audit Office slates DoH over £12m Dr Foster deal

    2007-02-08T10:26:01Z

    The Department of Health has been savaged by the National Audit Office for the handling of its £12m deal with healthcare information analysts Dr Foster.

  • News

    GPs to face tougher tests on surgery

    2007-02-08T10:24:30Z

    The government is to publish national standards for minor surgery carried out in primary care.

  • News

    Government warns PCTs over dentistry capacity

    2007-02-08T10:23:32Z

    Patients may have to resort to emergency care, or find an alternative practice, because their dentists have fulfilled their annual contracts too soon.

  • News

    SHA pays £2m for firm to size up PCT commissioning

    2007-02-08T10:22:35Z

    South Central strategic health authority has called in turnaround specialists PricewaterhouseCoopers to assess whether its nine primary care trusts should contract out their commissioning functions to the private sector.

  • News

    Patients could be told costs of care

    2007-02-08T10:21:21Z

    Patients could be told the 'actual value' of the health services they are using in a bid to make them use the NHS more responsibly and relieve pressure on staff.

  • News

    News anlaysis: germinators look to Europe for next ideas in superbug war

    2007-02-08T10:20:10Z

    The Dutch experience shows it is possible to get on top of MRSA and other superbugs - but it will be costly. Meanwhile, some UK hospitals are pioneering simple but effective strategies that could help turn the tide of deadly infections, writes Alison Moore

  • News

    New funding for parent support services

    2007-02-08T00:00:00Z

    Families minister Beverley Hughes has announced that £7.5m will be spent on information and support services for parents.From April 10 pilot areas will offer new mothers extra help from their midwife and health visitor. The health-led schemes are modelled on a version in the US which helps to reduce accidental ...

  • News

    NICE to develop new range of guidance

    2007-02-08T00:00:00Z

    The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has been asked to develop guidance on new treatments for breast and lung cancer, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, obesity and rheumatoid arthritis.The additional topics for its forward work programme were welcomed by chief executive Andrew Dillon. He said that the treatments were ...

  • News

    MHRA to consult on Cyclo-f

    2007-02-08T00:00:00Z

    The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is to carry out a consultation on whether Cyclo-f, a medicine for the treatment of heavy periods, should be available over the counter.Dr June Raine, director of vigilance and risk management of medicines at the MHRA, says that being able to buy the ...

  • News

    Society calls for end to unnecessary suffering

    2007-02-08T00:00:00Z

    The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has called on the government to stop the unnecessary suffering caused by accidents to 2 million children each year by backing the recommendations in a new report from the Audit Commission and Healthcare Commission.The report, Better ...

  • News

    BMA warns on prison healthcare

    2007-02-08T00:00:00Z

    The British Medical Association says that 'incoherent government policy and inadequate funding' is creating a crisis in the prison healthcare system.At a BMA conference on prison health today, its civil and public services committee will call on ministers to address a range of problems undermining health service provision in prisons.Committee ...

  • News

    Babies to be screened for metabolic disease

    2007-02-08T00:00:00Z

    The Department of Health has announced that newborn babies will be screened for medium chain acyl CoA dehydrogenase deficiency, a metabolic disease.The screening will be included as part of the standard 'heel-prick' test that screens babies for other diseases such as sickle cell disorders and congenital hypothyroidism.MCADD affects between one ...

  • News

    New chief for allied health professionals

    2007-02-07T09:00:00Z

    Chief nursing officer Christine Beasley announced today that Karen Middleton will take up the post of chief health professions officer for England from 1 March 2007.The chief health professions officer is the government's most senior allied health professions adviser, leading the allied health professions team at the Department of Health.The ...

  • News

    Long-term leadership strategy in medicines launched

    2007-02-07T00:00:00Z

    The ministerial industry strategy group and key figures from the pharmaceutical industry have launched the long-term leadership strategy, developed to look at improving relations between the NHS and industry.Health Minister Lord Hunt said: 'The pharmaceutical industry in the UK has discovered and developed more leading medicines than any other country ...

  • News

    Guidance to improve information for disabled people

    2007-02-07T00:00:00Z

    Minister for disabled people Anne McGuire has announced the launch of a five-point guide that will help public sector organisations improve the way that they provide information to disabled people.The guide, written by the Office for Disability Issues, follows research which shows that a third of disabled people have difficulty ...

  • News

    Draft cancer care measures out for consultation

    2007-02-07T00:00:00Z

    A second draft version of Cancer Research Network Measureshas been issued by the Department of Health for a three month consultation.It intends to add the measures to the Manual for Cancer Service 2004. The ...

  • News

    Demand management at odds with choose and book

    2007-02-07T00:00:00Z

    Bedford Hospital is rejecting GP referrals not made through choose and book in an attempt to manage demand for its services, according to local GP representatives.The trust's decision mirrors that of Milton Keynes primary care trust, which recently told GPs that all referrals to Milton Keynes General Hospital must be ...

  • News

    Public unaware of abuse to the elderly

    2007-02-07T00:00:00Z

    Half a million older people are believed to be neglected or abused - sexually, physically, emotionally or financially - at any one time in the UK, according to a new survey for Help the Aged.The survey shows that more than a third of people have not heard of elder abuse ...

  • News

    Inquiry into electronic patient record launched

    2007-02-06T00:00:00Z

    The Commons health select committee is to hold an inquiry into the electronic patient record, looking at what patient information will be held on the systems, who will have access to it and whether patient confidentiality can be protected.Organisations and individuals are invited to submit written evidence.Find out more here