Health Service Journal
12 June 2008
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Acquisitions need to be more attractive says takeover chief
The chief executive of England's only foundation trust to take over a failing hospital has urged the government to make acquisitions more attractive.In an exclusive article for HSJ, Heart of England foundation trust chief executive Mark Goldman warns ministers not to rely on 'heroism'. His comments follow plans to -
Adult care threat
Congratulations on your leader responding to Sally Gainsbury's report on councils' potential loss of £7bn social care funds to the Department for Work and Pensions. -
Alan Johnson steps up pace of inequalities reform
Health secretary Alan Johnson has outlined plans to ramp up the pace of reform in the face of a struggle to meet health inequalities targets. -
Ambitious plan will require innovation
The evaluation by the Audit Commission and the Healthcare Commission of the progress of NHS reforms is a wake-up call for foundation trust managers. -
Angela Greatley on what Darzi can do for mental health
Introducing the latest proposals for the next stage review last month, Lord Darzi said: 'The nature of healthcare means services will always need to change, and sometimes that means reorganising how services are provided.' -
Assessment for venous thromboembolism
Regarding the HSJ investigation into levels of risk assessment for venous thromboembolism being undertaken for hospital inpatients, the all-party parliamentary thrombosis group was disheartened to hear that more than half of -
Awards previews
Acute Healthcare Organisation of the Year sponsored by CHKSSouth Tees Hospitals trust has been on what can only be described as a quite extraordinary journey. You don’t have to go back very many years at all to find an organisation struggling under the burden of£56 million of debt and two consecutive one-star NHS performance reports.In what seems like no time at all however that changed and South Tees, the only non-foundation status trust to make it on to a shortlist of five, ha -
Better on pain management
In HSJ's Chronic Pain Management supplement, Shropshire GP Louise Warburton said the wait to see a pain management team in her area was six months. -
Board diversity
I read with great interest the article by Nicola Bullen about diversity on NHS boards. Even after 60 years of the NHS, it is still run by middle-aged, middle-class white people, albeit with a few more women. S -
Confed warns of globalisation risks
The long-term sustainability of the NHS faces multiple threats from globalisation, the NHS Confederation has warned. -
County council tries to wrest control of PCT
A county council has launched an audacious bid to take over its local primary care trust. -
David Amos on NHS apprenticeships
Last autumn, Chinese premier Wen Jiabao delivered a speech to the Communist Party congress entitled, 'Hold High the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Strive for New Victories in Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in all Respects'. -
David Baker on men's health
According to independent body the Men's Health Forum, too many men suffer unnecessary poor health and die too young from preventable causes. -
David Woodhead and Adrian Kelly on reducing teenage pregnancy
With the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in western Europe, the UK needed to take serious steps to meet its goal of halving incidents by 2010 -
DH warns Treasury of chaos after accountancy rule changes
Department of Health officials warned the Treasury that accountancy rule changes affecting the private finance initiative would ‘throw the NHS system into chaos’. -
Emma Dent on Scottish drinking habits
I read the following recent story with interest: 'Recalculated figures from the 2003 Scottish Health Survey show 40 per cent of men and 33 per cent of women are binge drinking at least double the recommended daily intake on their heaviest drinking day.' -
Engaging the public in commissioning
Engaging patients and the public has long been policy mantra. Now legislation is making it a reality. Andy Cowper explains -
Failed, fired but not yet fixed: the new realities
Shape up or we'll find someone else to do your job - that's the new, tough message from the Department of Health. But how attractive will the 'someone else' role prove to be, asks Charlotte Santry -
Familiar ring to private takeover talk
I am staggered at the fuss over the announcement that failing hospitals may be handed over to private sector management teams or taken over by successful trusts. -
Freeing bottlenecks in vital services
When you have highly qualified, expert staff in costly facilities, the last thing service managers need are bottlenecks that make it difficult for patients to access vital services quickly, writes Christina Pond -
Future of commissioning: progress report
In December 2007, the Department of Health and the NHS launched the vision for world class commissioning. -
Good Hope Hospital one year on
Last week the Department of Health announced a tough new performance regime that could see failing managers replaced with teams from the private sector or foundation trusts. Will anyone want to take on the risk of running a bankrupt business? Heart of England foundation trust chief executive Mark Goldman argues that the lessons from Good Hope Hospital could be applied in other troubled organisations -
GP incentives are not needed, 'inverse care' doctor tells MPs
The GP who developed the 'inverse care law' - which says those most in need of healthcare are least likely to receive it - has told MPs he objects to giving family doctors financial incentives to do their job. -
Health check for writing skills
Health service professionals read and write mountains of paperwork. Developing a clearer, more direct style of writing will save time and money for all concerned, as Robert Ashton explains -
Health inequalities in primary care
Benchmarking can help PCTs tackle deprivation and achieve performance and funding practices that compare with the best, says Nigel Crew -
How does the UK compare at commissioning?
World class commissioning will require an international perspective on health and well-being. It is not enough for PCTs and SHAs to compare similar organisations in England or even the UK. -
Integrated care pilots tipped for Darzi review
Significant changes to how primary care trusts commission services are being considered as part of Lord Darzi's next stage review.Sources have revealed to HSJ that pilots for integrated care schemes are strongly tipped to feature in the report due out in two weeks. -
Is the doctor a museum piece?
A consultation among doctors has revealed discomfort about their future but detected a degree of optimism. Steve Dewar explains the results -
Labour's NHS vision let down by reforms
New Labour's reforms have failed to deliver its vision to transform the health service, a major report has concluded.The joint Audit Commission and Healthcare Commission report finds the overhaul of the health service under the 2000 NHS Plan has, in many areas, fallen well short of expectations. -
Legal briefing: patients ineligible for NHS treatment
What do you do if a patient who is not entitled to free treatment comes to you for help? Melea McFarlane explores the practicalities -
Maggi Rose on clinical supervision
While NHS organisations often get caught up in documenting the benefits and justifying the expense of clinical supervision, the most important thing to keep sight of are the benefits to the people directly involved the process -
Making practice based commissioning perfect
Practice clinicians are being seen as the linchpins of future local procurement of quality care services, as Andy Cowper explains -
Managers will need same support as clinicians, says Wanless
The government must give strong support and guidance to managers to ensure wide-ranging plans to improve the NHS really work, says Sir Derek Wanless. -
Media Watch: polyclinic plans
It seems even apparently mild-mannered Alan Johnson can snap. After months of doctors sniping at polyclinics, he did - via The Observer. -
Michael White on dealing with the Treasury
Right, enough of this gloom. All together now, we are going to say 'let's stay cheerful for the rest of this column, whatever happens'. -
NHS Diamond 60
On 3 July, as part of our celebration of the 60th anniversary of the NHS, HSJ will publish its list of the most influential people from the last six decades. We asked you to suggest who should be on it, and over the next few weeks we reveal some of the proposals. -
Nick Clegg pledges GP rewards in poorer areas
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has said he wants to 'slant the playing field in favour of GPs working in the most deprived areas'. -
PCTs under fire on new GP scheme
Independent providers have slammed primary care trusts' attempts to procure new services under a flagship Department of Health scheme. They say the equitable access to primary medical care scheme is 'appallingly poorly managed'. -
Professor appointed to foundation trust board
The Appointments Commission has announced the appointment of a local professor to serve as a non-executive director on the board of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough foundation trust. -
Prostate cancer protest
We wholeheartedly welcome Adrian Masters' assertion that quality has to bind the Darzi recipe for reform through better and effective commissioning, but we are disappointed the director of strategy at Monitor should -
Putting land assets to use
Faced with a large piece of poorly used prime real estate right next to a top teaching hospital in central London, Guy's and St Thomas' Charity brought the developers in to build housing for key workers. Louise Hunt reports -
Questions to ask yourself about health policy
The Darzi report looks set to unleash another wave of reforms, but those making and implementing new policies must learn from past mistakes. -
Report proposes a single Welsh mental health body
Mental health services across Wales should be overseen by a single body to plan and deliver mental health provision, including hospital and community-based services and social services, says a report for ministers. -
Robina Shah on the patient experience
NHS trusts are aware of patients' views through satisfaction surveys and the complaints process. These have shown patient dissatisfaction in three core areas: communication and information, the manner and attitude of staff and the hospital environment. -
Sacking managers may attract headlines but won't fix problems
After 11 years of public service reform, the government's record is still dogged by poor performance. The failure regime unveiled last week shows ministers are running out of patience. -
Safety records
Regarding 'Those in Peril', I am pleased you report that 'enabling patients to check the accuracy of their own medical records... increases patient safety'. -
Senior doctors back plans for 360-degree patient appraisals
Senior doctors' leaders are backing plans to allow patients to rate consultants' personalities as part of '360-degree appraisals'. -
Service planning: shock of the new
Sherford is a new town being built near Plymouth and plans for its health services promise to test support for new models - just don't mention polyclinics. Lynn Eaton takes a look -
Simon Stevens on on China's plans for healthcare
In Beijing a few weeks ago, discussing alternative health reform models with Chinese government officials, I was struck by the fact that at about the time the NHS Plan was being formulated in 2000, China was embarking on a similar 10-year health plan. -
Solving the staff morale equation
Your trust's performance is improving, staff vacancies and turnover are low and absenteeism is going down. So why is morale still low? Blair McPherson looks at the factors that affect how staff see their jobs and their organisation -
Stephen Ramsden on measurement
There is an old adage, 'if you can't measure it, you can't manage it', and measurement has been a big ingredient of NHS performance management. -
Supporting world class commissioning
Primary care trusts will be able to call on a rich network to help find their way with world class commissioning -
Trust financial forecasts prove wide of mark
Scores of NHS organisations reported end-of-year financial surpluses that were at least 25 per cent wide of their initial forecasts. -
UK health services differ widely
An analysis of differences between the UK's four health services has revealed wide variations in costs and waiting times. -
Unison and RCN pay vote allays strikes threat
Fears of widespread strikes among NHS staff were allayed after the two biggest health service unions voted to accept a three-year pay deal. -
Workforce contracts under fire
NHS workforce contracts represent a 'missed opportunity' for change, today's joint report from the Healthcare Commission and Audit Commission concludes. -
Workforce planning - six steps for success
Using national guidance to plan its whole workforce has been a trust-wide ambition for a South West PCT. Helen Mooney reports on how the work has paid off -
World class commissioning: joint working
Joint working between PCTs and local authorities means a two-pronged attack on health inequality -
World class commissioning: quality assurance
How can PCTs be sure they are on the right path to world class commissioning? We look at the quality assurance system developed by the Department of Health to help clinicians and managers achieve their targets
