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Health Service Journal
20 September 2007

View all stories from this issue.

  • All Our Yesterdays

    September 19, 1941, Public Assistance Journal and Health & Hospital ReviewThe potential positive impacts on children of being evacuated were discussed this week. Changes in behaviour had already been noted.‘It is not the country children who imitate those from the town but the other way about. Evacuated boys have often developed into experienced helpers on the land while the girls have often become proficient at many of the tasks of the country women in dairies and around the fa

  • Andrew Jones on world-class commissioning

    'World-class commissioning sounds exciting but the definitions need sharpening up. What does it mean? You might ask: does anyone know and does it really matter?

  • Anna Donald on

    The summer witnessed another episode in the ongoing ‘rationing’ saga about NHS provision of the Alzheimer drugs rivastigmine, donepezil, and galantamine. The High Court upheld the substance of NICE’s guidance, which means that these drugs continue to be recommended only for people with ‘moderate’ Alzheimer’s. In my line of business, this is a classic evidence-based scenario which apparently pits the state (aka NHS and NICE) against a patient group. As a patient with a seri

  • Bipolar disorder 'shrinks brain'

    Dr Andrew McIntosh, a Health Foundation clinician scientist and research fellow, has discovered thatpeople with bipolar disorder suffer from an accelerated shrinking of their brain.

  • BMA coming back to table

    The British Medical Association’s GP committee looks set to come back to the negotiating table with NHS Employers. The two sides have met ahead of talks on the general medical services contract for 2008/09. The BMA pulled out of negotiations nine months ago and this year received a 0 per cent pay award. NHS Employers is currently gathering information from primary care trusts for its evidence to the Doctors and Dentist

  • BMA new deputy chair

    Dr Kate Bullen, an associate specialist anaesthetist from Bristol, has been elected as the deputy chairman of the British Medical Association’s council.She will take over immediately from Dr Sam Everington, who was deputy chairman of BMA Council from 2004 to 2007.In addition to being a member of BMA Council and the BMA’s equal opportunities committee, Dr Bullen is also an associate specialist anaesthetist at the Frenchay Hospital in Bristol.

  • BMA U-turn on GP pay plan

    The British Medical Association has distanced itself from proposed changes to GPs' pay that it jointly produced. It has argued that too many GPs will lose out under the proposals.

  • Call for comparable data across care services

    All health and social care providers must publish comparable data and information, Healthcare Commission chief executive Anna Walker has said.

  • chan wheeler

    The new commercial director at the Department of Health has committed himself to breaking down barriers and creating a level playing field in the NHS to enable the independent sector to provide care.Speaking at the inaugural annual conference on the independent sector Chan Wheeler delivered his first public address after three months in the job.He urged delegates to understand local areas in order to be successful.He said: 'The independent sector has much to offer primary

  • Chapter and diverse

    Assessing your organisation for equality, especially in regard to the less legislated areas of sexual orientation and faith, does not have to be daunting, says Katherine Cowan

  • children's health

    The UK can do more to stop children being harmed by environmental hazards such as air pollution, says a new report by the Health Protection Agency.The document is a first step towards a UK Children’s Environment and Health Strategy, which will be put into action by local and regional public health chiefs.The report reviews health protection initiatives to date and highlights priorities and gaps.

  • Colleges back clinical case for specialist acute service centres

    England's clinical leaders have backed moves to reconfigure specialist acute services - but urged caution over changes to the district general hospital.

  • Darzi citizens' jury gives PM and Johnson wish list

    The prime minister this week joined the health secretary and health minister Lord Darzi at one of a series of ‘citizens’ juries’ on health.Gordon Brown, Alan Johnson and Lord Darzi talked to around 120 patients and selected members of the public about their priorities for the health service at an event in Birmingham.

  • David Amos on the case for change

    'The experience of the Blitz was used as evidence that, on the whole, people wanted to stay put - sixty years later, and the NHS is at it again.'

  • DoH publishes long-awaited review plan

    The Department of Health has published its overdue plans to provide a better service following a damning government review.

  • Don't blame the weatherman

    Although it may feel like there will be no discernable change in the weather from summer to winter this year, make no mistake shifts in temperature can have a serious impact on the Nation's health.As primary care trusts and GPs continue to work out ways to keep costly hospital admissions down, an innovative pilot, centred on the long term condition chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is taking flight in the deep South West. More than 15m people are living with a LTCs, in 2

  • Emma Dent at the dentist

    'Half an hour later I would emerge bleary-eyed, in pain and incapable of eating for days'

  • EU, Europe

    The NHS Confederation this week launched a new unit to help NHS organisations get to grips with European policy and its potential impact on UK health services.The NHS European Unit will be funded by the strategic health authorities and based in London and Brussels.It will be headed up by Elisabetta Zanon, former deputy head of London's European office.She told HSJ the unit's main role would be to monitor EU policy and legislation and represent the NHS's interests in Europ

  • Executives face fresh scrutiny on hospital infection outbreaks

    The government wants a new power to place a legal requirement on NHS chief executives to report MRSA and Clostridium difficile outbreaks to the Health Protection Agency.

  • Heather Walker on clinical measures

    'Death is only one outcome. As far as the NHS is concerned, very little is known about the other outcomes of those discharged from hospital. Do patients actually feel any better for the healthcare intervention they have just undergone?'

  • How pharmacists can help with PBC

    NHS Alliance and the Primary Care Pharmacists' Association have published a guide for practice-based commissioners and GPs, highlighting the contribution that pharmacists can make to patient care and practice budgets.PCPA chair Shailen Rao said: '

  • In this week's HSJ

    NewsEngland's clinical leaders have backed moves to reconfigure specialist acute services - but urged caution over changes to the district general hospital.More than half the contracts for the NHS to provide patient transport services are at risk of being given to private or voluntary-sector providers, ambulance trusts have warned.The prime minister this week joined the health secretary and health minister Lord Darzi at one of a series of 'citizens' jurie

  • irp

    The Independent Reconfiguration Panel has put into action new powers that give it a greater say over which service changes go to it for a full review.Members of the group this month gave health secretary Alan Johnson members’ opinion on whether it should embark on a review of service changes in West Suffolk.Previously the IRP was not consulted on which reconfigurations it should conduct a full review into. The decision rested with the secretary of state when matters were sent to

  • Keele celebrates 20 years of health management

    Celebrating the 21st anniversary of the Centre for Health Planning and Management next month, Keele University will be taking time out to reflect on past achievements and look to the centre's future.

  • Lean principles

    Lean working principles have enabled Airedale General Hospital cut referal to diagnosis times for suspected bowel cancer patients.Developed by staff at Airedale NHS Trust, the project saw the Lean Healthcare Academy, based at Airedale General Hospital, West Yorkshire, working with its founding partner, The Virtual College in Ilkley, to streamline the process and implement a new leaner pathway.The Colorectal Cancer Fast Track Pathway was mapped out and redesigned in one week.

  • Lesley Wright on walking the walk

    'Many healthcare teams are undertaking the lean approach and systematically removing waste to improve the flow for patients.'

  • Lib Dems: time to scrap PCTs

    Primary care trusts should be scrapped and replaced with elected local health boards, the Liberal Democrats have proposed.

  • Long-term sick leave is a pain in the neck

    Nearly 10 million working days are lost each year to musculoskeletal disorders. With evidence that lack of work can be bad for people's health, Stephen Bevan argues 'signing off' is not the only option

  • Looky likey

    Professor Sir Bruce Keogh; KBE, new NHS medical director, distinguished heart surgeon, president of the Society for Cardiothoraic Surgery and so on. But never mind all that - what End Game wants to know is, do readers not agree that Professor Sir Bruce is the spitting image of that maestro of stage and screen, Sir Kenneth Branagh? Should Sir Kenneth take on the part of a leading medical man we know whom he should shadow to get into character; indeed, we think it would be like looking in a mir

  • Mastering strategic asset management

    NHS organisations must keep tabs on their estate by compiling comprehensive information on their properties, writes Mark Paget Skelin

  • McNab to shake up DoH on public health

    The Department of Health has brought in a former primary care trust chief executive to shake up performance on public health.

  • Michael White on panic politics

    'I imagined patients queuing outside their local hospital, just like Northern Rock'

  • Money management

    Reform and reorganisation in health services is not new. But arguably the most recent changes have had the most fundamental impact on the working lives of staff and there is increasing concern about the personal financial implications of these developments

  • New medics say abandon computerised job system

    A junior doctors' group has called for a return to a paper-based, local recruitment system to fill thousands of specialty training posts in 2008.

  • Old-style GPs may go the same way as Britain's motor industry

    ‘Dr Buckman is in danger of doing for primary care what Derek ‘Red Robbo’ Robinson did for the British motor industry in the 1970s’

  • 'Patient engagement has flatlined'

    The government's vision for a patient-centred NHS is a long way from becoming a reality, two major studies have claimed.

  • Picture probe as four sacked in Newcastle

    Two hospital trusts are investigating staff for viewing inappropriate images on work computers.

  • Poor access costs businesses

    Rigid and inflexible GP services are costing workers and businesses millions of pounds every year, according to the Confederation of British Industry.Restricted opening hours, difficulty in booking forward appointments and the limited range of services on offer cost the

  • Primary care inequalities to be Johnson's top focus

    Health secretary Alan Johnson has pledged to put primary care at the centre of the government drive to improve the UK's health.

  • Private sector 'jaded' over contracts

    The private sector is growing increasingly concerned that the government will row back on its plans to use independent healthcare providers to expand its NHS choice programme.

  • Renewed efforts to set up national tariff

    Mental health trusts are signing up to new payment by results pilots, although fears remain that a national system will not be implemented.

  • Sophia Christie on facing up to diversity

    'Her one-year-old's diet was two packets of crisps a day and a glass of milk'

  • Star quality

    A rich variety of activities can help ease boredom for inpatients and lower aggression. Emma Dent reports on how the Star Wards scheme uses pastimes as therapy

  • Staying informed on healthcare

    Christine Halpin talks about establishing a health information service for disadvantaged groups.

  • Stephen Thornton on engaging clinicians

    'One of the most powerful motivating factors for clinicians to be involved in improving services is seeing its direct impact on the quality of patient care'

  • The NICE threshold

    How costly or cheap, relative to its benefits, does a healthcare technology have to be to justify its rejection or acceptance by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence?

  • The nuclear option that's increasing patient safety

    A colour-coded early warning score system adapted from nuclear submarines has significantly reduced mortality rates at Luton and Dunstable hospital.

  • Time to come clean on the private sector

    ‘The role of independent providers under Gordon Brown is one of the most opaque areas of health policy’

  • Transforming care at the bedside

    Health Foundation quality improvement fellow, Annette Bartley has been asked by the Welsh Assembly to pilot a programme to transform bedside care based on her fellowship research in the United States.

  • Unions launch next year's pay campaign

    Unions are already pushing for a better pay deal for NHS staff next year after 'reluctantly' accepting this year's offer.

  • Unit sets out to scrutinise Euro policies

    The NHS Confederation this week launched a new unit to help its members get to grips with European policy and its potential impact on UK health services.

  • Weird world health

    Readers, are those days of restructuring still fresh in your mind? Are the wounds still fresh or has the healing begun?Well until today (20 September) you get at least one small chance to express your opinions on the difference it has made to you and your job. Thanks again to NHS Networks; where a PCT forum member is carrying out a poll on 'restructuring and your job'. Is it: 'a change for the better', 'same job different title', 'a change for t

  • Why is it essential to go on the record

    Good patient records are crucial to safety and quality of care. Mala Bridgelal Ram and Iain Carpenter make the case for standardisation

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