All Primary care articles – Page 302
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News
MHRA issues safety warning about blood glucose meters
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has identified a safety problem with some blood glucose meters which, under certain conditions, may display the wrong units of measurement.This could result in an insulin overdose and hypoglycaemic coma.The MHRA has issued advice following a number of reports of adverse incidents where ...
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News
Think tank slams NHS reform
The think tank Reform has accused the NHS of failing to develop a coherent vision for change, and warned that unless the government tackles 'centralised, dysfunctional bureaucracy', its funding and policy achievements will go to waste.Author Ian Smith, a private sector manager interviewed for the NHS chief executive's post this ...
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News
DoH puts safety first
The Department of Health has issued a report on improving support patient safety in the NHS.Safety First - a report for patients, clinicians and healthcare managerssays the National Patient Safety Agency should be 'refocused' on collecting and analysing information through its national reporting and learning system, and that this should ...
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News
Call for National IT programme revamp
The British Computer Society has called for a major re-evaluation of the National Programme for IT in the NHS.The society's health informatics forum says the programme has achieved some significant successes around infrastructure, but has slowed the deployment of local systems. It also says elements of the NHS Core Records ...
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News
Seasonal gloom at the BMA
The British Medical Association has picked up on health secretary Patricia Hewitt's comment that the NHS has had its 'best year ever' by publishing its own review of the Best of Years, the Worst of Years.Overall, it says that while there have been some ...
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Comment
A year in review: catching up with the excess in 12 turbulent months
2006 has been dominated by efficiency drives and government reforms. Financial problems began to bite and the public took to the streets over attempts to revamp local services. Amid the financial storm, NHS chief executive Sir Nigel Crisp resigned and only two trusts got top marks in the Healthcare Commission's ...
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News
NICE chair calls for implementation push as GPs warn of drug companies' influence
The chair of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has floated the idea that it should spend more on ensuring guidance gets implemented than it does on producing the advice.
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News
Private provider queries future of comprehensive NHS care
The NHS will be forced to abandon its founding principle of providing a comprehensive service 'free at the point of delivery' by 2015, a leading private sector provider has predicted.
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News
Exclusive: PCT fitness bill hits £6.5m
The primary care trust fitness for purpose programme cost the Department of Health £6.5m, HSJhas learned.
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News
Operating framework: updated principles put new emphasis on dignity
The Department of Health is consulting on a set of 10 principles to which all NHS organisations and contractors must sign up.
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News
DoH accepts 'double deficit' argument, but no decision yet
The government has said it accepts the case against the 'double deficit' accounting system for acute trusts - but has delayed a decision on whether to scrap it until the end of this financial year.
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News
Lord Warner retires
Prime minister Tony Blair has announced the resignation of health minister Lord Warner, who has decided to retire.Mr Blair complimented Lord Warner on an 'outstanding' contribution to health service reform, while the minister described his three-and-a-half years at the Department of Health as 'busy and enjoyable'.The NHS Confederation said Lord ...
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News
Local Government Bill includes legal duty to co-operate
The Department for Communities and Local Government has unveiled its Local Government Bill and emphasised that it places a legal duty on councils and service providers including primary care trusts to co-operate.The bill as a whole is intended to give local authorities a new role as 'place shapers' or leaders ...
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News
Bar humbug
Heart of England foundation trust has produced 50,000 beer mats to remind festive pub and party goers of the dangers of sexually transmitted infections.The mats will be displayed on tables in pubs and bars throughout Birmingham city centre, Sutton Coldfield and Solihull for the next four to six weeks.www.sexualhealthbirmingham.co.uk
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News
NICE publishes guidelines on obesity in adults and children
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has issued its first ever national guidelines addressing both the prevention and treatment of obesity in adults and children.It says diet changes and exercise, supported by behaviour change, should be the first-line treatment for adults who are overweight or obese, followed by ...
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News
Medicines agency reports progress on over-the-counter medicines
Good progress is being made on the better regulation of over-the-counter medicines initiatives, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has found. In its second report on the initiative, the agency found developments include rollout of a self-certification scheme for prescriptions-only medicine and a review ...
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News
Nicholson says £250m surplus should be delivered by 2008
NHS chief executive David Nicholson has said the NHS should achieve a net surplus of £250m by the end of 2007-08. Other priorities, set out in an operating framework for 2007-08, include 85 per cent of patients admitted for hospital treatment and 80 per cent ...
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News
Peter Cardy on a new focus on lung cancer
'While there has been striking progress in some cancers, lung cancer research has languished. Perhaps because of the stigma attached to a disease widely seen as self-inflicted through tobacco use, and the accompanying nihilism, it has had low priority.'
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News
Public sector managers 'must have more flexibility in determining pay'
A major change to the pay and reward system within the NHS and the rest of the public sector is needed to achieve serious improvements in delivery, the Confederation for British Industry has said.In a new report, the CBI has concluded that greater incentives must be created for public sector ...