All Regulation/inspection articles – Page 156

  • News

    New chair of NHS Litigation Authority

    2007-01-31T00:00:00Z

    Professor Dame Joan Higgins has been appointed as the new chair of the NHS Litigation Authority.Dame Joan is Emeritus Professor of Health Policy at the University of Manchester and outgoing chair of the Christie Hospital Trust. She is also chair of the patient information advisory group at the Department of ...

  • News

    MPs slam £900m construction project failure

    2007-01-30T00:00:00Z

    The Commons public accounts committee has slammed the failed development of the £900m Paddington Health Campus.A report on the collapsed scheme said NHS staff were out of their depth and bad decisions were made worse by appalling planning and cost forecasting.Read the report here

  • News

    New patient experience scores published

    2007-01-29T00:00:00Z

    The Department of Health has published updated patient experience scores for the public service agreement to take account of its 2005-06 primary care trust survey and the latest patient survey results for community mental health services.The overall score for primary care fell from 77.4 to 77.0, with a higher score ...

  • News

    Watchdog appoints three new commissioners

    2007-01-26T00:00:00Z

    The Healthcare Commission today welcomes Professor Deirdre Kelly, Clare Dodgson, and Clifford Prior as commissioners.The trio will join the twelve current commissioners tasked with driving quality in healthcare and public health. Read the press release here

  • News

    'Third sector' inquiry launched

    2007-01-25T00:00:00Z

    The Commons public administration committee has launched an inquiry into the growing trend towards government buying or commissioning services from the third sector - charity or voluntary organisations and non-government organisations.The committee's inquiry aims to explore the costs and benefits of the policy, and to judge the effectiveness of the ...

  • News

    Watchdog seeks people involved in learning disabilities

    2007-01-25T00:00:00Z

    The Healthcare Commission is seeking people with learning disabilities, family members, carers and other workers in the sector to take part in what will be the largest audit of learning disability services ever done in England.Up to 200 services will be inspected and data will be collected from more than ...

  • News

    Public wants politics left out of treatment decision, says survey

    2007-01-25T00:00:00Z

    Decisions on NHS treatments should be made by clinicians, public representatives and managers - and not politicians, according to a MORI poll for the NHS Confederation.

  • Comment

    Joint working: more power for councils will test relations

    2007-01-25T00:00:00Z

    The government has proposed that councils and primary care trusts sign up to joint 'strategic assessments' of local health needs and, potentially, 'a single regime' to meet them (news, page 5). The details will emerge next month, but already a number of things are clear.

  • News

    NHS and councils could be placed under 'single regime' for assessment

    2007-01-25T00:00:00Z

    Local authorities and primary care trusts could have a 'single regime' which assesses them against joint outcome measures, under proposals due to be announced next month.

  • News

    Staffordshire Ambulance trust faces safety probe

    2007-01-25T00:00:00Z

    The Healthcare Commission has launched an investigation into Staffordshire Ambulance Service trust to establish whether it has adequate systems and processes in place to ensure the safety of patients.Serious concerns about the service have been raised concerning arrangements for clinical governance, management and leadership, safety issues and the quality of ...

  • News

    Nursing code gets overhaul

    2007-01-16T00:00:00Z

    The Nursing and Midwifery Council is reviewing its rulebook for UK nurses and midwives. The Code of Conduct is to be made clearer and updated to reflect today's healthcare needs.The draft code was agreed in December and the NMC will be holding a series of focus groups and seminars around ...

  • News

    Commission appoints new head of independent healthcare

    2007-01-16T00:00:00Z

    The Healthcare Commission has appointed Jon Billings as head of independent healthcare.Mr Billing has been acting in the post since March 2006 and was previously in charge of the Commission's London and South East Region operations team.He takes the role as the commission moves to inspecting fewer independent healthcare sites ...

  • News

    Health committee to investigate audiology

    2007-01-15T00:00:00Z

    The Commons health committee has announced a short inquiry into audiology services in England.The committee says it is particularly interested in whether accurate data on waiting times for audiology services is available and why services appear to lag behind other specialties in terms of waiting times and access.It also wants ...

  • News

    Trust chiefs warned on race compliance

    2007-01-12T00:00:00Z

    The Commission for Racial Equality is going to get tougher on NHS organisations that fail to meet race relations legislation, according to NHS chief executive David Nicholson.He has written to trust chief executives to alert them that the CRE 'will be taking a more proactive stance in exercising their enforcement ...

  • News

    DoH considered fines for MRSA failures

    2007-01-11T00:00:00Z

    The Department of Health considered imposing financial penalties on trusts which fail to meet MRSA targets, the leaked memo reveals.

  • News

    Clinical governance at old PCTs was patchy, finds National Audit Office

    2007-01-11T00:00:00Z

    Almost all the old primary care trusts had put in place clinical governance structures and processes but fewer had actually made sure they were working, a report from the National Audit Office says today.

  • News

    More families paying for their own social care

    2007-01-10T00:00:00Z

    Individuals and families are increasingly having to find and pay for their own care, says the Commission for Social Care Inspection in a report published today.The State of Social Careaims to provide a complete picture of social care for children and adults across the public, voluntary and private sectors.It found ...

  • News

    Inpatient waiting times fall

    2007-01-05T00:00:00Z

    The number of patients waiting more than 13 weeks for inpatient treatment in England fell by 22,500 from October to November 2006. Latest waiting time figures published by the Department of Health show that the median waiting time at the end of November was 6.9 weeks, with just 212 people ...

  • News

    Sir Liam announces NPSA 'refocus'

    2007-01-04T00:00:00Z

    The National Patient Safety Agency is to be slimmed down and 'refocused' on collecting and analysing information through its national reporting and learning system.

  • News

    Sir Liam demands faster progress on safety

    2007-01-03T00:00:00Z

    Chief medical officer Professor Sir Liam Donaldson has called for more speed in improving patient safety in his newsletter published today.Although Sir Liam praised a 'greater awareness among clinicians, managers and policymakers that patients are not as safe as they should be', he said that the pace of change had ...