All Policy articles – Page 262

  • News

    NHS Scotland consultation launched

    2007-10-22T00:00:00Z

    The Scottish government has launched a consultation on plans to introduce independent scrutiny of proposals for major changes to NHS services.

  • Comment

    Michael White on managers and motivation

    2007-10-18T09:00:00Z

    If middle managers don't manage and nurses are poorly motivated, no amount of money can solve the NHS's problems, says Michael White

  • News

    PCTs will be empowered to set 'stretch' targets locally

    2007-10-18T09:00:00Z

    The government has spelled out its long-awaited move from central, top-down targets to local flexibility in the public service agreements that accompanied last week's comprehensive spending review.

  • Comment

    Junior doctors face a difficult job market

    2007-10-18T09:00:00Z

    Already bruised by MTAS, junior doctors are now feeling the effects of market competition - but did the DoH bungle its workforce planning, asks Noel Plumridge, or did it know what it was doing all along?

  • News

    Is Darling's spending review a good deal for the NHS?

    2007-10-18T09:00:00Z

    At first glance, the NHS appears to have done well from chancellor Alistair Darling's comprehensive spending review, but a closer look suggests it falls short of Sir Derek Wanless's recommendations and on the future costs of adult social care, argues John Appleby

  • News

    Health check: IT problems limit patient choice

    2007-10-18T09:00:00Z

    The government's patient choice target is proving too tough for many trusts, the health check reveals.

  • News

    Former Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells chair was 'hung out to dry'

    2007-10-18T09:00:00Z

    The chair of the hospital trust at the centre of an infection control scandal has attacked centralised control of the NHS as he stepped down.

  • News

    LMCs don't want polyclinics

    2007-10-16T00:00:00Z

    GPs are set to challenge Lord Darzi’s blueprint for the NHS inLondon.BMA local medical committees inLondonhave called in doctors from the Royal College of GPs and the London Deanery in a bid to commission research that challenges what they say are assumptions in the plan.GPs are particularly anxious about the ...

  • News

    Cost of obesity equipment doubled

    2007-10-16T00:00:00Z

    Hospitals have doubled their spending on equipment for obese patients, new figures revealed by the Liberal Democrats have shown. Hospitals spent an average of£60,000 on measures to treat obese patients this year compared with£30,000 spent three years ago. This included specialist equipment such as beds and chairs as well as ...

  • HSJ Knowledge

    Payment by Results briefing

    2007-10-15T14:48:43Z

    In the April 2002 budget, the government announced the introduction of patient choice and the abolition of locally negotiated block contracts between primary care trusts and providers. Instead, it set up a system that would see hospitals paid for the activity they undertook under a system called payment by results.

  • HSJ Knowledge

    Foreign affairs: migration and the NHS

    2007-10-15T09:00:00Z

    Uncertainty about the number of migrant workers in Britain means that planning for demand on local NHS services may become increasingly tricky, writes Alison Moore

  • Comment

    Media Watch: an odd week in politics

    2007-10-11T09:00:00Z

    This week kicked off in strange fashion. While prime minister Gordon Brown finally decided not to call an election, and the Conservatives cried foul, health secretary Alan Johnson revealed that he was 'not good enough' to become prime minister himself.

  • Comment

    Simon Stevens on the spending review's hidden shallows

    2007-10-11T09:00:00Z

    Although comprehensive spending review negotiations consume hundreds of person years in Whitehall, this effort is largely pointless, argues Simon Stevens

  • HSJ Knowledge

    Mental health at work: down should not mean out of a job in the NHS

    2007-10-11T09:00:00Z

    People with mental health problems often get chewed up and spat out of work. The NHS can lead the way in breaking a vicious circle that has a high price for both employee and employer, says Steve Shrubb

  • News

    No U-turn on IT programme, says DoH

    2007-10-11T09:00:00Z

    The Department of Health has denied it is reviewing the national programme for IT or NHS Connecting for Health.

  • Comment

    Infection control: we are here for the patients, not targets

    2007-10-11T09:00:00Z

    The Healthcare Commission's damning investigation into outbreaks of Clostridium difficile at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust drives home the message of its report last week on the lack of engagement of some acute trust boards with what is happening on their wards.

  • Comment

    Michael White on Brown's bottler government

    2007-10-11T09:00:00Z

    What a political week! The NHS may have ended up with a better-than-expected settlement from Alistair Darling’s comprehensive spending review, but voters will not be grateful to ‘Bottler Brown’ and his mates for a while.

  • News

    Report questions strategic health authorities' role in junior doctor 'crisis'

    2007-10-11T09:00:00Z

    An independent inquiry into the junior doctors' recruitment 'crisis' has called for a national committee to scrutinise strategic health authorities' workforce planning.

  • News

    £170m funding boost for therapy

    2007-10-11T00:00:00Z

    The Department of Health has announced a £170m expansion of psychological therapies in an attempt to provide better support for people with mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.

  • Comment

    Noel Plumridge on what the spending review means for health

    2007-10-10T10:50:00Z

    In an hsj.co.uk exclusive, Noel Plumridge explains how the government's spending round will affect the health sector