All News articles – Page 1317

  • News

    'Market rates for nurses' plan

    2007-01-04T07:30:00Z

    Nurses' pay could be dictated by local market rates under proposals being discussed by the board of the Department of Health.

  • News

    NHS faces big risk from back-pay claims

    2007-01-04T07:00:00Z

    NHS staff claims for back pay under the Agenda for Change contract are the 'biggest risk' to the Department of Health's pay and workforce strategy, HSJhas learned.

  • News

    Warning over union action on pay

    2007-01-04T07:00:00Z

    Department of Health senior officials warned of 'a real danger of industrial unrest' if the government set next year's NHS pay award at 2 per cent - just a month before the DoH proposed an even lower figure.

  • News

    Trusts falling short of 18-week target

    2007-01-04T02:17:47Z

    Trusts are currently only treating 35 per cent of patients within the 18-week target, the Department of Health has said.

  • News

    Ruth Hussey on sustainability

    2007-01-04T00:00:00Z

    'Sustainable development is good management. Consider the cost of energy - good management expects efficient energy use. Consider the difficulty in recruiting staff - good management develops skills to meet its needs from the local community. Consider disadvantaged communities - good management procures goods and services locally'

  • News

    Welsh minister welcomes health TV series

    2007-01-04T00:00:00Z

    A six-part TV series will begin on ITV Wales tomorrow aimed at inspiring viewers to make a lifestyle change for a healthier 2007.Fit for a Changewas made in association with Health Challenge Wales.Health minister Dr Brian Gibbons commented: 'The series will encourage all of us to be more active for ...

  • News

    DoH plans mark rewriting of relationship with professions

    2007-01-04T00:00:00Z

    If one image of the dole queue helped finish off Labour in 1979, just imagine what might happen if the jobless wore white coats. The prospect of making large numbers of consultant posts redundant is one rarely articulated in public. That changes this week with HSJrevealing ...

  • News

    New chief for WHO

    2007-01-04T00:00:00Z

    Dr Margaret Chan of China has today taken office as director-general of the World Health Organisation following her election in November.She pledged that her term of office and the effectiveness of the organisation would be judged by the impact they have on two specific populations.'I want my leadership to be ...

  • News

    Green light for care record

    2007-01-04T00:00:00Z

    The government is to push ahead with the creation of an NHS summary care record after making partial concessions to doctors and privacy campaigners on confidentiality and consent.

  • News

    Food labels branded as flawed

    2007-01-04T00:00:00Z

    The National Heart Forum has called the system of guideline daily amounts due to be launched tomorrow by 21 major food companies 'seriously flawed'.The NHF believes the scheme will widen dietary health inequalities as it is difficult to understand and misleading to the most vulnerable.Chief executive Paul Lincoln said: 'If ...

  • News

    Sir Liam announces NPSA 'refocus'

    2007-01-04T00:00:00Z

    The National Patient Safety Agency is to be slimmed down and 'refocused' on collecting and analysing information through its national reporting and learning system.

  • News

    News Analysis: Next era of reform will hinge on Brown being as bold as Blair

    2007-01-04T00:00:00Z

    With Gordon Brown almost certain to take over as prime minister this year, and his reputation for springing surprises, people in the health service are beginning to wonder what it will mean for them and the NHS reform landscape. Daniel Martin looks for clues

  • News

    Plans for consultants 'absurd', says BMA

    2007-01-04T00:00:00Z

    British Medical Association consultants committee chair Dr Jonathan Fielden has criticised the Department of Health’s draft pay and workforce documents, revealed in HSJtoday. He said: ‘It is absurd to suggest that the NHS in England needs fewer hospital consultants. ‘To suggest that there should be fewer consultants, and of a ...

  • News

    High take-up for optician training

    2007-01-03T00:00:00Z

    More than 90 per cent of opticians met the requirement for continuing education and training (CET) by the 31 December 2006 deadline.Final figures for the first cycle released by the General Optical Council show that 95 per cent of optometrists, 89 per cent of dispensing opticians and 86 per cent ...

  • News

    Sir Liam demands faster progress on safety

    2007-01-03T00:00:00Z

    Chief medical officer Professor Sir Liam Donaldson has called for more speed in improving patient safety in his newsletter published today.Although Sir Liam praised a 'greater awareness among clinicians, managers and policymakers that patients are not as safe as they should be', he said that the pace of change had ...

  • News

    Stomach pain tops Christmas complaints

    2007-01-03T00:00:00Z

    Stomach and jaw pain dominated calls to telephone helpline NHS Direct over Christmas, statistics show.Vomiting, toothache and diarrhoea were also among the top 10 reasons for calling the helpline in England.Over the whole of 2006 the service received around 7 million calls, while during the Christmas period there were a ...

  • News

    BMA hits back at training 'cuts'

    2007-01-03T00:00:00Z

    The British Medical Association has raised concerns about the current situation in medical education and voiced opposition to the cap on student fees being lifted in its response to the Commons education and skills committee inquiry, published today The doctors' union is concerned that medical ...

  • News

    Smarter prescribing could save millions

    2007-01-02T00:00:00Z

    More efficient prescribing of generic statins rather than branded versions could save the NHS £85m a year, according to the Department of Health. Latest 'better care, better value' indicators found that the savings could be made if every primary care trust prescribed such drugs to the level achieved by the ...

  • News

    Health figures honoured

    2007-01-02T00:00:00Z

    Christie Hospital trust chair Joan Higgins has been made a DBE in the New Year Honours list. NHS Confederation chair Peter Mount, former Greater Manchester strategic health authority chief executive Neil Goodwin, Royal College of Nursing president Roswyn Hakesley-Brown and health economist Anne Mills have been made CBEs.To see the ...

  • News

    'Hooked' stop smoking campaign launched

    2007-01-02T00:00:00Z

    A campaign that shows people being seized by fish hooks and dragged to their smoking spots has been launched. The campaign, which includes TV adverts, outdoor advertising, direct mail and a dedicated website, reveals that the average smoker needs over 5,000 cigarettes a year.www.gosmokefree.co.uk/getunhooked