News – Page 1727

  • News

    PCTs suspect trusts may be allowing top ups

    2008-08-14T09:00:00Z

    Primary care trusts have received few requests from patients wishing to 'top up' their care but are concerned that hospitals are doing so without their permission.

  • News

    Spring surge in GP referrals leaves managers mystified

    2008-08-14T09:00:00Z

    Referrals by GPs shot up in spring - putting extra pressure on trusts battling with December's 18-week referral to treatment target.

  • News

    'Struggling' coders threaten tariff improvements in 2009

    2008-08-14T09:00:00Z

    Research commissioned by the Department of Health has warned of huge problems in the way hospital services are measured and costed, saying they could undermine payment by results.

  • News

    Double act for IT leadership

    2008-08-14T09:00:00Z

    The Department of Health has selected the two IT chiefs who will fill Richard Granger's former position at the top of its NHS Connecting for Health agency.

  • News

    Ethnic minority patients and staff

    2008-08-14T09:00:00Z

    There's something that worries me about the wording of your comment on discrimination. You state: 'If [the NHS] cannot treat its own employees fairly it has no hope of providing ethnic minority patients with the service they have a right to receive'.

  • News

    Welfare reforms and drug treatment

    2008-08-14T09:00:00Z

    You ask what the government's welfare reforms mean for the health service. You assert that the government intends to force drug users into treatment. You highlight a claim from Mental Health Foundation chief executive Andrew McCulloch that the NHS is not offering people drug treatment.

  • News

    Fighting fraud

    2008-08-14T09:00:00Z

    Jon Restell, chief executive of Managers in Partnership, raises concern about the sometimes ambiguous terms of reference used by the NHS Counter Fraud Service, and questions whether such matters should be dealt with by auditors.

  • News

    Children on methylphenidate

    2008-08-14T09:00:00Z

    Could HSJ sound less like a tabloid and more like a professional paper with some clarity of concept and message?

  • News

    Sophia Christie on the Naomi Campbell effect

    2008-08-14T09:00:00Z

    At a recent House of Commons gathering to discuss the role of commissioning in delivering improvement, there was silence on the application of world class standards to the commissioning of primary care.

  • News

    Urgent call target triggers cash crisis

    2008-08-14T09:00:00Z

    Ambulance trusts are warning of financial problems caused by efforts to meet a target for response times to life-threatening emergency calls.

  • News

    PCT 'dragons' hunt fresh ideas

    2008-08-14T09:00:00Z

    Primary care trusts are attempting to spice up public health and recruitment initiatives by copying popular TV programmes.

  • News

    Failures led to C diff deaths

    2008-08-14T09:00:00Z

    Criminal charges may be brought against Scotland's largest health board after a review into a fatal hospital infection showed 'appalling and unacceptable' failures.

  • News

    IT may change funding plans

    2008-08-14T09:00:00Z

    A new IT system could pave the way for a substantial change in the way primary care trusts and GPs are funded, HSJ has been told.

  • News

    Guilty by emission as carbon cuts loom large

    2008-08-14T09:00:00Z

    The NHS emits a million tonnes of carbon a year, but it must cut this figure drastically. Helen Crump asks whether trusts are giving this issue the priority it requires and highlights some innovative ideas.

  • News

    Cornwall cancer treatment centralisation plans

    2008-08-14T09:00:00Z

    Your comment on our proposals to relocate upper gastrointestinal cancer surgical services to improve clinical outcomes was very perceptive in setting out the challenges we face.

  • News

    Disgusted by Cornwall cancer conflict

    2008-08-14T09:00:00Z

    I read with disgust your comments on the planned removal of cancer services from Cornwall to Plymouth.

  • News

    Unison warns of impact of inflation

    2008-08-13T12:43:13Z

    Unison has called on the government to 'turn its firepower' on City bonuses in light of yesterday's announcement that inflation has risen to 4.4 per cent.

  • News

    Free heart checks for young Scots athletes

    2008-08-13T12:41:57Z

    Scottish health secretary Nicola Sturgeon has launched Scotland's first cardiac assessment programme for young amateur athletes.

  • News

    Computer deal could save trusts £6.5m

    2008-08-13T12:40:04Z

    Six NHS purchasing organisations have collaborated to buy IT hardware in a deal that could save them more than £6.5m in the first year.The deal, supported by OGCbuying.solutions, part of the Office of Government Commerce, involves 220 trusts across England.

  • News

    Watchdog chair to get tough on obeying NICE rules

    2008-08-13T09:00:00Z

    Care Quality Commission chair Baroness Young has pledged to crack down on NHS organisations that fail to adopt National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance.Ignoring guidelines could result in marked-down annual assessment ratings and lower pay, she told HSJ in her first interview in her role at the new ...