Primary Care – Page 245
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HSJ Knowledge
How to score public accountability points
Primary care trusts must start to come under local public accountability, argue Richard Lewis and Ruth Thorlby
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HSJ Knowledge
Do GPs with special interests have a future in the NHS?
GPs with special interests fear being elbowed out as more care moves into primary settings, writes Daloni Carlisle
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Leader
PCTs must take action to tackle quality framework disparities
The data HSJ reveals today on the patients GPs exempt under the quality and outcomes framework raises questions about whether the system is being abused.
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News
Care Quality Commission: a chance to peep under the primary care carpet
With the launch of the Care Quality Commission, GPs will be directly regulated for the first time. The government concedes that the number of reported patient safety incidents is too low, so how closely should the new inspector look, asks Charlotte Santry
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News
Patient access put at heart of quality framework
Changes to the GP quality and outcomes framework unveiled this week by NHS Employers reflect the government's intention to improve patient access to general practice.
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News
High exception rate worth £15k income
High exception reporters could be gaining more than £15,000 a year through their exception reporting - approximately 12 per cent of their total funds from the quality and outcomes framework.
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News
Large scale screening may affect access
The implementation of the government's flagship vascular screening programme for 40 to 74-year-olds must be clearly set out and carefully managed, primary care specialists have warned.
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HSJ Knowledge
GPs in the dock: case for the defence
Around 90 per cent of NHS work is done by family doctors, so why is there so much heat around their pay and workload? The Royal College of GPs' president answers the critics
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News
PCTs face tough questions on QOF reporting
Data published for the first time today by HSJ reveals the GPs who exclude the most patients from their quality incentive scheme.
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News
Training for the third age: responding to the needs of an ageing workforce
As the country's workforce ages, employers and employees must dispense with the notion that some members of staff are too old for training and development
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Leader
Practices' minimum income is a guarantee of health inequity
Figures obtained byHSJ this week reveal huge variations in the amount GP practices are paid for doing their job, regardless of how many patients they serve or the severity of their needs.
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News
PCTs dub assurance test tough but useful
Primary care trusts that tried a new test of commissioning abilities say the process was hard but helpful.
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News
GPs in poorer areas 'prescribe fewer drugs'
GPs in poorer areas prescribe fewer drugs and spend less on them than GPs in richer areas, research by Suffolk primary care trust has found.
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News
Jon Restell on valuing all frontline staff
I have had the people who work in general practice on my mind recently. At this time of especially heightened clinical engagement, it is easier than ever to forget that good healthcare is delivered by teams.
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News
Huge variation in GP practice pay regardless of size of list
Figures obtained by HSJ reveal the extent to which the national GP contract has driven inequity across the country, with huge variations in payments to practices, regardless of the number and need of their patients.
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Comment
Care as a career: raising the public perception
The public's view of caring as a profession is often negative, but this can be changed by bringing people closer to the realities of this work at its best, argues Helen Joy
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HSJ Knowledge
Are PCTs redundant?
The Thatcher government introduced the purchaser-provider divide in 1991. Ever since governments have been rebranding and “redisorganising” the structures of what are now primary care trusts. However these reforms of structure have had little impact on process and outcome. PCTs are viewed as largely feeble organisations that facilitate the continuing ...
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HSJ Knowledge
Using the Commissioning Simulator to guide confident and innovative commissioning
With the recent launch of the Department of Health’s world class commissioning agenda, there is increased pressure on primary care trusts to manage their budgets effectively while at the same time improving public health and patient satisfaction.However, many PCT staff have not had specific training in commissioning, and sometimes little ...
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HSJ Knowledge
After the smoking ban: early conclusions
Early conclusions about the impact of the smoking ban since its introduction in England in July 2007 can be drawn from an Information Centre report into NHS stop-smoking services.
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HSJ Knowledge
Obesity drugs: a growing issue?
More than 1 million NHS prescription items were dispensed to treat obesity in England in 2006 - eight times the number dispensed in 1999 - according to a compendium of statistics on obesity, physical activity and diet published by the Information Centre for health and social care.