Health Service Journal
15 April 2010
View all stories from this issue.
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‘Few quick fixes’ for London health inequalities
An “ambitious and far reaching” strategy to reduce health inequalities in the capital has been published by Mayor of London Boris Johnson. -
Alternative providers: a good idea is a good idea, whoever had it
After three years editing HSJ I am still struck by the NHS’s antediluvian attitudes to the private and voluntary sectors. It does not want this mirror held in front of it. -
Andy Burnham apologises over organ removal
Health secretary Andy Burnham said he deeply regrets the distress caused to grieving families as it emerged around 800,000 people had their wishes about the use of their organs wrongly recorded due to an error. -
Andy Burnham defends hospital closures
The health secretary has defended the closure of some hospital units while criticising Tory plans for the NHS. -
Big freeze
Word reaches End Game of a serious problem at Richmond House. -
BMA cautious over Tory NHS plans
The British Medical Association has given a cautious response to healthcare plans announced in the Conservative Party election manifesto. -
Book Review: A Guide to Payment by Results in the NHS for 2009-10
This guide takes you through the ins and outs, says Jane Udall -
Conservatives launch election manifesto
The Conservatives have launched their election manifesto. -
Cosmetic register launched
A voluntary registration scheme has been launched for practitioners and organisations that provide injectable cosmetic treatments, such as Botox. The scheme will be run by Independent Healthcare Advisory Services. -
CQC powers were weakened
Powers to prosecute trusts failing to meet registration standards were watered down in a bid to avoid legal challenges and bad publicity, HSJ has learned. -
Crucifix row trust acted reasonably, tribunal finds
A Christian nurse who refused to remove a crucifix at work has lost her discrimination claim against Royal Devon and Exeter Foundation Trust. -
David Cameron to guarantee GP access
David Cameron is set to guarantee access to a local GP 12 hours a day, seven days a week as part of the Tories’ election manifesto. -
Dearth of NHS performance data threatens quality improvement
The dire lack of information on the safety and effectiveness of much NHS care has been spelled out in a report by members of the NHS national quality board. -
DH director leaves for Warwickshire council
Department of Health director of strategic finance John Bolton has been appointed interim director of adult services at Warwickshire county council. -
Disputed branch surgery gets go-ahead from government
The Department of Health has sanctioned the opening of a branch surgery at the centre of a long running dispute between NHS Kingston and local GPs. -
Ealing and Harrow merger gets go-ahead
A proposed merger between two primary care trust provider arms and Ealing Hospital Trust should be allowed to go ahead, the cooperation and competition panel has ruled. -
Expiring drug patents could save healthcare providers billions
Healthcare providers could save as much as £3.3bn a year when patents on leading drugs expire in 2014, independent market analyst Datamonitor has claimed. -
Farewell, Tim Kelsey
Dr Foster founder Tim Kelsey’s leaving do invitation depicts him as John Wayne character Rooster Cogburn, the “fearless one-eyed marshall who never knew a dry day in his life”. -
Fessing up
Most of our readers spotted the date - 1 April - on the “important notice” we emailed last week, warning that a technical error had caused our website to publish the names of anonymous commentators. -
Foreign GP rules need 'immediate changes'
Rapid improvements must be made to the system that vets foreign GPs who travel to the UK for work, MPs have said. -
FT admits selling low-stock drugs
Drugs controversially sold onto the export market by Royal Surrey County Hospital Foundation Trust included cancer drugs now listed as in short supply to the NHS, HSJ can reveal. -
GP language tests 'not blocked by EU rules'
EU rules do not stop national authorities carrying out language tests on foreign doctors working in the UK, the European Commission has said. -
Hospital closures: the taboo has been broken
At the first whisper of a service or hospital closing, local campaigners and politicians launch vociferous protests. But despite this opposition the idea that we need fewer hospitals and beds is gathering momentum, writes Richard Vize -
How to avoid unlawful deprivation of liberty
NHS organisations must ensure patients are not unlawfully deprived of their liberty, write Gemma Brannigan and colleagues -
HSJ management webchats
HSJ regularly hosts free webchats on issues of importance to NHS managers. -
HSJ Offer - Free cinema tickets to see Date Night
Subscribers can get free cinema tickets to see the new film Date Night. Sign in now to claim your free tickets. Hurry, tickets are limited -
HSJ Quick Poll: cancer treatment times debate
Which party do you think came out top in the cancer treatment times debate over the weekend? -
HSJ welcomes new reporter
HSJ is delighted to welcome our new reporter Ben Clover. Like all the news team, he will also work on HSJ’s sister title Nursing Times. -
Jenny Rogers on naked NHS leadership
One of the most interesting, privileged and challenging of my current projects is working with the London Deanery in training a large cohort of doctors who, once they have demonstrated what they can do through a rigorous assessment, work with other doctors as coach-mentors. -
King's Fund: NHS needs rapid change to meet challenges
The NHS has addressed many of the challenges it faced in 1997 but needs to change rapidly to meet the big challenges it now faces, according to a major review of the NHS in England by the King’s Fund. -
Labour and Tories set out health plans to woo electorate
Both main political parties have launched their manifestos pledging extended 8am-8pm GP opening hours, free choice of hospital providers and an extension of foundation trusts. -
Labour launches election manifesto
Labour’s manifesto for the general election will today propose a major shake-up of public services that could see underperforming hospitals taken over by management teams from more successful organisations. -
Labour pledges personalised care revolution
Personalised healthcare tailored to the needs of individual patients is a centrepiece of Labour’s general election manifesto. -
Lib Dems unveil manifesto with pledge to cap managers' pay
The Liberal Democrats have unveiled their manifesto, pledging to protect frontline NHS services by slashing management budgets, scrapping strategic health authorities and capping managers’ pay. -
Lookey-Likey: Richard Vize and Harry Hill
As readers may have heard, HSJ editor Richard Vize is leaving us this week to take up a tricky new post as spin doctor in chief at education regulator Ofsted. -
Media Watch: NHS managers' pay
Grim reading for managers returning to work on Monday as virtually all the papers ran with a report on managers’ pay increasing faster than nurses’. -
Merron Watch - the election campaign
Purdah left last week’s DH media diary rather empty, but as always Gillian Merron was an unstoppable whirlwind of activity. -
Michael White: the election campaign
How is the election going so far for you? No, don’t answer that if you would rather not. What with that ritual controversy over the relative merit of rival tax hikes, week 1 was quietly unimpressive, although the NHS surfaced in the campaign at the weekend. -
Mid Essex trust appoints chair
Mid Essex Hospital Services Trust has appointed Sheila Salmon as its new chair. -
Mis-tweet
The Department of Health’s communications operation has largely shut up shop for the election period - as impartiality rules suggest it should. -
New finance lead for Barking and Dagenham
NHS Barking and Dagenham has appointed a finance director. -
NHS employers hire and fire excessively, says MiP
Rises in salaries earned by NHS chiefs are fuelled by the constant hiring and firing of senior staff, according to Managers in Partnership. -
NHS manager jailed for £110K theft
An NHS manager who stole cheques from the hospital crèche she managed has been sentenced to 27 months’ imprisonment. -
NHS medics must face the issue of productivity
Trusts are taking tentative steps into the landmine riddled territory of their consultants’ productivity. -
NHS online records trial launched
Patients at two health centres in Ayrshire have been given the ability to view their medical records online as part of an NHS Scotland pilot scheme. -
NHS trusts issue wake-up call on consultant productivity
Trusts are challenging senior doctors to spend more time delivering care and to justify hours spent on non-clinical work, in what is being seen as a belated “wake-up call” on consultant productivity. -
Nick Clegg rules out backing immediate Tory cuts
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has said his party would not back a Conservative government that attempted to impose swingeing spending cuts in an emergency budget. -
Noel Plumridge on the NHS budget
Here’s a summary of the financial plan for the English NHS. -
Ones to watch: the 2010 Conservative intake
A guide profiling some of the strongest Conservative candidates with health expertise offers NHS managers an insight into how potential future leaders believe healthcare should be organised and funded. -
Out of hours GP vetting needs clarity
Primary care trusts lack sufficient guidance on how to ensure overseas out of hours GPs have adequate English language skills, the PCT Network has warned. -
Pair up managers and clinicians to build stronger organisations
Pairing up managerial and clinical leaders builds a stronger future, write Yasmin Ahmed-Little and Jane Dunning -
Paul Corrigan and Bill Moyes on foundation trust autonomy
Five key changes must be fought for if autonomous foundation trusts are to flourish -
PCT faces protest over historic building sell-off
A London primary care trust is facing criticism from the chair of a neighbouring acute trust over plans to sell off a pre-war health centre. -
PCT pushes on with community hospital plan
NHS Mid Essex has decided to press on with plans to develop a new community hospital despite the current pressures on public finances. -
PCTs pave the way for GP cash budgets in 2011-12
Primary care trusts in the East of England are planning on giving GP commissioners hard budgets next year, regardless of which party wins the election. -
Preventable disease warning
Doctors at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool have warned cs are reaching epidemic proportions. -
Senior pay: gap narrows in FT board level salary advantage
Board directors at foundation trusts are still leading the “NHS pay league” but the rest of the service is catching up, latest figures have revealed. -
SNP go on the attack over NHS funding
Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon has claimed that the NHS in Scotland would suffer at the hands of a “smash and grab” Labour or Tory government. -
Sustainability: keep NHS procurement carbon conscious
Procurement is the NHS’s biggest carbon producer but this trend can be countered, says Jennifer Taylor -
Swine flu vaccine deal agreed
The government has said it is cutting its swine flu vaccine deal with GlaxoSmithKline in a move that will see it pay two thirds of the original value - but receive just over a third of the doses. -
Tories say Brown abused NHS hospital for political gain
Gordon Brown has been accused of “abusing” NHS facilities for political gain after launching Labour’s manifesto at a new hospital site. -
Tories to slash public sector pay
The Tories would slash up to £2bn from the public sector payroll within a year as part of moves to bring the deficit under control, it has been revealed. -
Tories warned on GP commissioning
A future Conservative government will need “the wisdom of Solomon” if it is to promote GP commissioning while also tackling poor primary care, the new chief executive of the King’s Fund has warned. -
Trusts providing fewer than 2.5 SPAs or planning tougher evaluations
Trusts with fewer than 2.5 SPAs to 7.5 direct clinical care or where there are plans to review SPAsDetailsTrusts that said they are planning tougher evaluations of SPA time Poole Hospital Foundation Trust The Trust is considering a reduction in S -
Trusts that refused HSJ’s FOI request
Only five trusts refused HSJ’s FOI request about SPAs. -
VTE prevention help needed
A standard hospital drug chart should be introduced to help trusts meet demands to prevent venous thromboembolism, say the medical royal colleges. -
West Midlands fares worst on patient dignity target
NHS West Midlands has mounted a robust defence of trusts in the region which failed to meet the target on delivering same sex accommodation. -
What Royal Surrey Foundation Trust sold
Names of products, dosages and units as described in a freedom of information release from Royal Surrey to Health Service Journal, April 2010. -
Workers claim managers are inaccessible
Only one in 10 workers say their bosses are accessible, usually describing them as authoritarian, bureaucratic or secretive, according to a new report. -
Your free pass to an HSJ conference
HSJ is offering interested NHS staff members a special opportunity to attend some of its most popular conferences.
