News – Page 1691

  • News

    What the operating framework means for PCTs, providers and SHAs

    2008-12-11T01:00:00Z

    PCTsContracts with PCT provider services by AprilPreparing for legal right to choiceUpgrading and increasing GP premisesReductions in mixed-sex accommodation"Pricing framework" for community servicesProvidersNew MRSA minimum standardPayments linked to qualityMeeting safeguarding children duties"Least restrictive environment possible" for mental healthcareSHAsProducing talent and leadership plansEnsuring providers use funds to improve trainingWorkforce plans for ...

  • News

    NHS Direct ups its in-house response after referrals criticism

    2008-12-11T01:00:00Z

    NHS Direct is planning to set itself a higher target for the proportion of calls it deals with 'in-house'.

  • News

    Welsh Assembly announces health transition directors

    2008-12-11T01:00:00Z

    The managers who will oversee the creation of new health organisations in Wales have been announced by the Assembly government.

  • News

    PCTs get green light for CQUIN

    2008-12-11T01:00:00Z

    Primary care trusts have the green light to link payment to local quality improvement goals with the unveiling of the methodology for the commissioning for quality and innovation framework (CQUIN).

  • News

    Cancer survival rates vary widely, statistics show

    2008-12-10T12:57:00Z

    Cancer survival rates in England have remained static, new figures reveal. But wide variations still exist between five-year survival rates for different types of cancer, according to Office for National Statistics data for 2005 - the latest available.

  • News

    Norovirus outbreaks hit beds and waiting times

    2008-12-10T12:46:00Z

    A growing number of hospitals were last week facing pressure on waiting time targets as they dealt with norovirus outbreaks.

  • News

    DH looks to PCT property sales to balance its books

    2008-12-10T12:34:00Z

    The sale of up to 6.5bn of primary care trust property will help the Department of Health out of the looming 16bn hole in its capital spending limit.The limit imposed on the DH and NHS by the Treasury will be jeopardised next April when new accountancy rules mean private finance ...

  • News

    Former race equality leader complains of inaction

    2008-12-10T12:17:00Z

    The former head of the Commission for Racial Equality, Lord Ouseley, has accused the new human rights watchdog of failing to fight discrimination in the health service.

  • News

    More GP practices offering extended hours

    2008-12-09T13:00:00Z

    The number of GP practices offering extended hours has reached 5,380 or 65 per cent of 8,263 practices. This is an increase from 58.9 per cent in October.

  • News

    Commission on future of public services launched

    2008-12-09T12:49:00Z

    Former Audit Commission chief executive and NHS deputy chief executive Sir Andrew Foster is to chair a commission on the future of public services. The Commission on 2020 Public Services said it is to define the principles of a post-Beveridge framework for public services in an era of “hard fiscal ...

  • News

    More emergency consultants needed, says college

    2008-12-09T12:45:00Z

    The number of emergency medicine consultant posts needs to increase from 740 to 1,500 by 2012, according to the College of Emergency Medicine.

  • News

    Alan Johnson orders shop cigarette displays to be removed

    2008-12-09T12:38:00Z

    Tobacco displays will be removed from shops and access to vending machines restricted as part of moves to stop children and young people from smoking.After holding a consultation on tobacco control, the Department of Health said cigarette displays promote smoking to young people, prompt impulse purchases of cigarettes and undermine ...

  • News

    Health secretary Alan Johnson announces dramatic reforms to PCT funding

    2008-12-08T13:30:00Z

    The Department of Health has unveiled dramatic reforms to primary care trust funding allocations.Health secretary Alan Johnson announced today that PCTs would receive £164bn funding for 2009-10 and 2010-11, equating to an average of £1,612 per person by 2010-11.

  • News

    DH names Patricia Hamilton as medical education head

    2008-12-08T13:23:00Z

    The Department of Health has named the new director of medical education for England.Patricia Hamilton, currently president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, will take up the position in the New Year.

  • News

    Two thirds of dementia sufferers not known to GPs

    2008-12-08T13:21:00Z

    More than 60 per cent of dementia sufferers are not known to their GPs, according to research by the Liberal Democrats.The party’s health spokesman Norman Lamb said the figures showed the need for improved access to primary care.

  • News

    PCTs urged to master social marketing

    2008-12-08T13:14:00Z

    Primary care trusts must invest more in expertise in social marketing and profiling, a King’s Fund report recommends.Commissioning and Behaviour Change: kicking bad habits is based on a year-long programme of research by the think tank into how people can be convinced to live more healthily.

  • News

    London PCTs to pay off capital's debts

    2008-12-05T13:06:00Z

    London primary care trusts are to pay off the historic debt of trusts in the capital to prevent it reaching £579m by 2011.Backed by NHS London, the PCTs are proposing establishing a collective fund to pay off the debts, consisting of £304m of 'topslice' funding held by the strategic health ...

  • News

    NHS 'wasting time and money' on outsourcing services

    2008-12-05T12:57:00Z

    The NHS is 'wasting precious time and money' on outsourcing services, trade union Unison is claiming.

  • News

    Sir Ian Kennedy to oversee academic health science centre selection

    2008-12-05T12:45:00Z

    Healthcare Commission chair Sir Ian Kennedy is to oversee the process to select the organisations that will be designated academic health science centres.

  • News

    Support for practice based commissioning 'static'

    2008-12-05T12:36:00Z

    Four in 10 GPs are still not supporting the Department of Health's practice based commissioning initiative, new figures reveal.