All Policy articles – Page 239

  • News

    Lift-off for air ambulances as government comes calling

    2008-03-20T09:00:00Z

    The NHS is suddenly showing a lot of interest in buying into air ambulances. So are these charity services ready to do business? Alison Moore reports

  • News

    NHS service providers can advertise under new code

    2008-03-20T09:00:00Z

    NHS trusts and independent providers of NHS services have the freedom from today to advertise direct to patients - but must abide by a new code of conduct.

  • Comment

    Ian Watson and Adrian Newland on the role of healthcare scientists

    2008-03-19T09:00:00Z

    Junior health minister Lord Darzi's interim report promotes a radical patient-centred view most would endorse. The concept of local treatment centres where most examinations can be carried out is an attractive one. But such services must not be offered in isolation, remote from high-quality diagnostic services.

  • HSJ Knowledge

    PCTs pledge to tackle race inequality

    2008-03-18T09:00:00Z

    More than 20 primary care trusts have pledged to tackle inequality in healthcare

  • News

    Doctors to get extra training in alcohol-related health problems

    2008-03-17T11:02:10Z

    To help tackle the health effects of alcohol misuse 60,000 new doctors are to be trained to identify and treat people who are drinking too much, public health minister Dawn Primarolo has announced.

  • News

    Scottish government steps up fight against hospital infections

    2008-03-17T10:55:40Z

    Prudent prescribing of antibiotics and a surveillance programme to monitor and provide data on organisms that are resistant to antibiotics is part of a hospital infections action plan released by the Scottish government.

  • News

    Prison drug services falling short

    2008-03-17T10:54:06Z

    Prison drugs services often fall short of even minimum standards, a report by the UK Drug Policy Commission has said. The report says community treatments are likely to more appropriate than imprisonment in many cases but not enough is known about which interventions for drug dependent offenders actually work. ...

  • News

    Services must focus on recovery says report

    2008-03-17T10:47:17Z

    Mental health services need to focus more on recovery and less on medication and symptom control, according to a policy paper published by the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health. The paper says that radical change is needed to give service users more opportunities to get their lives back.

  • HSJ Knowledge

    Médecins Sans Frontières?

    2008-03-17T09:00:00Z

    There are conflicting approaches to providing NHS care to those not entitled to it, and the charity Médecins du Monde is at the front line of the battle. Mark Gould reports

  • News

    New coalition sets out vision for a healthy London

    2008-03-13T11:01:00Z

    The London Health Forum today highlighted the need for effective partnerships between the NHS and other sectors as it published a report on London's health services.

  • Comment

    Political opening hours

    2008-03-13T09:00:00Z

    As a medical student, I sat in on GP clinics and recall whole mornings with patients seeing their charming GP, chatting, then leaving the room reassured but without a new diagnosis or treatment, writes Jake Low-Beer

  • Comment

    Guarantees are vital to ISTC success

    2008-03-13T09:00:00Z

    Your piece on independent sector treatment centres, 'ISTC contract guarantees will saddle NHS with £187m bill', misses some fundamental points, writes David Worskett

  • Comment

    GP hours - what a mess

    2008-03-13T09:00:00Z

    Well, well, well. What a shock the National Audit Office has stated that GPs earn lots more money for working fewer hours. This is something that has been widely known for some time, writes Les Collister

  • News

    GPs urge PCTs to remain flexible

    2008-03-13T09:00:00Z

    Primary care trusts will have to negotiate with family doctors over how to implement extended hours locally after the overwhelming majority of GPs voted to accept the government’s proposed deal.

  • News

    Lib Dems plan PCT tax-raising power

    2008-03-13T09:00:00Z

    The Liberal Democrats would turn primary care trusts into elected bodies that would eventually enjoy tax-raising powers, the party decided at its spring conference in Liverpool.

  • News

    Noel Plumridge on Darling's discipline

    2008-03-13T09:00:00Z

    Yesterday's Budget announcement held few surprises for the NHS. As expected. Nowadays, the important public finance figures are published in the autumn, and it would have been disappointing indeed if chancellor Alistair Darling had revisited the NHS assumptions in last October's spending review.

  • News

    DH under fire over clinical trials

    2008-03-13T09:00:00Z

    Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley has accused the Department of Health of inconsistency after it argued both for and against compelling drug companies to provide more information about clinical trials in a single day.

  • HSJ Knowledge

    Partnership working: taking targets a la carte

    2008-03-13T09:00:00Z

    The 198 national indicators will tear up the 'set menu' of national targets, so local partnerships can tailor priorities to local needs. But regulation of the system will need a rethink

  • Comment

    Michael White on Darling's budget

    2008-03-13T09:00:00Z

    By the time you read this, Alistair Darling's first Budget will have reinforced Gordon Brown's latest promise to make our great public services more competitive and accountable to their customers. They are all Blairites now.

  • News

    Britnell moots PCT rebrand

    2008-03-13T09:00:00Z

    Primary care trusts could change their names over the next year to boost the public’s understanding of their role.