All Policy articles – Page 263
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HSJ Knowledge
Managing patients' expectations of the NHS
Media storms over postcode lotteries reveal the extraordinarily high standards demanded by the public. Jessica Allen argues that reform of PCTs is the best way to steer expectations and drive up service quality
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News
Health inequalities focus for new national strategy
Reducing health inequalities, cutting healthcare-acquired infections and planning for emergencies will be among the priorities for the health service in 2008.
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Comment
Private sector sceptics take on foundation freedom-fighters
The deal the government carved out with Labour backbenchers to get the foundation trust legislation through Parliament has precipitated a battle between the trusts and Unison over the limits of their freedoms (for more background, click here).
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Comment
Sir Liam's patient safety spotlight shines on PCTs
Chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson is pushing primary care trusts to put his crusade on patient safety at the centre of their work (for more details, click here).
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News
Scotland mulls direct elections to NHS boards
The Scottish government will consider proposals for direct elections to NHS boards under a new strategy for health and well-being launched yesterday.
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News
Doctors highlight postcode lottery for palliative care
Terminally ill patients' access to palliative care services is 'inadequate and inequitable', according to a report published today by the Royal College of Physicians.
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News
DoH is tackling bureaucracy, progress report claims
The Department of Health has published a progress report on efforts to reduce the burden of regulation on NHS and social care services.
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News
Health policy lags behind NHS priorities, says report
Health policy is 'tackling yesterday's problems' and failing to keep up with key priorities such as improving treatment for people with long-term conditions, says a report published today.
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News
Scotland aims to improve dementia diagnosis
Targets for early diagnosis of dementia, guidance on supporting people with substance misuse and mental health problems, and a mental health collaborative to drive change around targets have been announced in Scotland.
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News
NHS money to go on social care
People receiving social care are to be given control of their own budgets. NHS money will be allocated to councils to spend on social care services to keep people out of hospital.The programme, Putting People First, was set up with the support of six government departments and health and social ...
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HSJ Knowledge
Secure care: improving life in locked wards
The latest specifications for housing patients in medium secure care clarify the rules and include welcome proposals to improve life in locked wards. Rebecca Norris reports
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News
GP abortion trials begin
Trials have begun to test whether early abortions could be carried out safely in GP surgeries in England.
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HSJ Knowledge
First wave ISTCs: what do we know?
Four years after the first wave of independent sector treatment centres, the Department of Health has provided data on their performance. Unfortunately, this is almost useless in answering questions about their impact on waiting times.
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News
Mental health advocacy services delayed six months
Advocacy services for mental health patients subject to community treatment orders are not expected to be introduced until six months after the orders are brought in.
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News
Plunging waiting times reopen dispute over clinical benefits
The government's focus on cutting waiting lists can lead to resources being drained away from treatments for those in the greatest medical need, academics have claimed.This week the Healthcare Commission praised NHS organisations for 'genuinely dramatic' improvements in waiting times. But research from the Royal Society of Ophthalmologists has found ...
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News
Stroke victims will get immediate brain scan
Stroke victims will get a brain scan within an hour under a new 10-year government strategy to improve survival rates.
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News
Home care push for cancer patients
Cancer patients will spend less time in hospital and more will be treated at home or by community services under a five-year vision to improve cancer care.
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Comment
Media Watch: cancer strategy
The furore over party funding squeezed most health coverage out last week, but it made a return to the headlines as the government briefed newspapers on its new cancer strategy.
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HSJ Knowledge
Personalised healthcare: put the customer in control
Evidence demonstrates that customising services is effective - patient outcomes are improved and the provider gets better value for money. Angela Coulter and Don Redding argue for a personal health service
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News
Figures underpinning Darzi's London review 'dodgy'
Questions have been raised over the 1.4bn annual savings identified in junior health minister Lord Darzi’s blueprint for healthcare in London.