Health Service Journal
2001-01-11
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£200m for sterilisation facilities to help combat CJD
The government has announced that £200m will be spent on modernising sterilisation facilities in the NHS over the next two years, to minimise the risk of transmission of variant CJD. The money will be used to provide new sterilisers and washer disinfectors, with £100m in 2001-02 coming from the Department of Health's spending review settlement and the balance for 2002-03 from the Treasury capital modernisation fund. Single-use instruments for tonsil surgery are also to be introduced -
1,300 consultants needed for labour ward services
The NHS needs an extra 1,300 consultant obstetricians and gynaecologists to provide adequate labour ward services, according to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. The figures are based on government measures to bring in consultant-based services. The RCOG says 200 extra consultants are needed to meet existing guidelines that trusts must ensure labour wards have a minimum of 40 hours' consultant cover by April. It says another 1,100 would provide a full consultant-based ser -
A tough nut to crack
'Nuts to be caged for life by docs'. The Sun is not renowned for its sympathetic coverage of mental health issues. And its piece greeting the launch of the government's mental health white paper just before Christmas had little space to examine the nuances of the overhaul of the 1983 Mental Health Act. -
Blast from the past
A second phase of polio is returning to haunt people who long thought they had put the disease behind them. Alex Klaushofer reports on the problems this is bringing -
Cancer collaborative slashes waiting times
Major reductions in waiting times have been achieved by the nine cancer centres taking part in the Cancer Services Collaborative, according to a report by the National Patient Access Team. -
Cast your net wide and offer real web content
Letters -
CHI report does not bode well for the future
Letters -
Colin Reeves fought finance directors' corner while pulling off a difficult balancing act
Letters -
Crucial not to let agency staff work go unsung
Letters -
Days like this
Alan Langlands, who has been acting regional general manager of North West Thames RHA since David Kenny was taken ill last July, has been appointed to the post on a permanent basis. -
Dear Mel. . .
At a recent Christmas party at our clinic I was approached by a doctor with a lewd suggestion. Try as I might, this medic wouldn't leave me alone. And, well, one thing led to another and we ended up in bed. Do you think this will damage our working relationship ? -
Delayed charter leaves NHS staff guessing on standards
A revised Patients' Charter - originally due to be published last October - has yet to emerge from the Department of Health, leaving NHS staff in a quandary about exactly what standards they are supposed to be working towards before the spring. -
Dishing the dirt HSJ-style
Restoring public confidence in the NHS could hinge on a clean-up -
'Do not limit new models of scrutiny'
The NHS Confederation has given a guarded welcome to the Health and Social Care Bill's proposals for local authority scrutiny of NHS services. -
DoH gives £700m push to IT roll-out
An additional £700m is to be allocated to NHS information technology over the next three years to support the implementation of the targets set out in the NHS plan. -
'Families know they have a timebomb to face'
Louis Appleby was appointed national director for mental health in April last year, with a brief to 'spearhead the government's drive to modernise and reform mental health services'. -
Fears of inaccurate figures overshadow measles drive
Public health directors are considering a London-wide campaign to encourage more parents to have their children immunised against measles, amid fears of an outbreak of the disease. -
Gurus need to do more homework if they are to play a part in solving the nursing crisis
Letters -
Heartlands trust denies 'turbulence'in wake of chief executive departure
Chair of Birmingham's Heartlands and Solihull trust Paul Castle has denied that the trust is facing major internal management difficulties following the departure of former chief executive Robert Naylor to run University College Hospital trust in London. -
High risks, scarce talent leave NHS fighting to fill top jobs
One in four top NHS jobs is vacant - and the gaps at the 'top table' of management mirror recruitment concerns at trusts across the country, HSJ sources have warned. -
Honour high
Many of those who have played a key role in delivering the NHS modernisation agenda found their work recognised in the new year honours. -
Hospitals prepare for the worst as they enjoy 'no flu bug' respite
A spot-check survey by HSJ of 30 of the busiest general hospitals around the country has revealed that, with no flu epidemic, few have experienced major problems - yet. -
In brief: A Tome of Their Own
In last week's news focus 'A Tome of Their Own' (HSJ, page 7,4 January) we referred to the chief executive of Grampian primary care trust as Jeremy Davies. This should have read Jeremy Taylor. -
In brief: Joint consultants' committee
The joint consultants' committee has claimed that the General Medical Council's plans for revalidation could deter doctors who are not in practice from returning to the profession. It is proposing a retainer system to allow doctors not practising to remain on the register. -
In brief: Lord Hunt
Junior health minister Lord Hunt has announced a capital investment programme of around £75m to be made in North West region's four centres for specialist heart surgery over the next 10 years. Priority will be given to a new centre for surgery at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. -
In brief: Multiple Sclerosis Society
The Multiple Sclerosis Society has condemned as 'breathtaking bungling' the announcement by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence that no decision on the drugs beta interferon and glatiramer acetate will be made before July 2001. NICE said new evidence had come to light which needed to be taken into account. -
In brief: NHS walk-in centres
A Which? survey has found that many NHS walk-in centres are failing to provide an adequate service for patients with minor illness. In its survey covering eight centres, the magazine found that staff did not properly assess patients, leading to 'potentially dangerous' and 'shockingly superficial' treatment in some cases. -
In brief: Northern Ireland Ambulance Service
The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service has been given a national award for bravery, for acts of outstanding courage and heroism.The Ambulance Service Institute's bravery award medal has never been presented to an entire ambulance service before. -
Just keep it simple, stupid
Everywhere you look, performance measures are sprouting as the control freaks in Whitehall village seek to oversee every aspect of NHS activity. The old Soviet Union tried to exert this degree of control before the collapse of communism: it failed.We should learn from the comrades to keep it simple. -
Labouring under delusions
In the 1940s health minister Aneurin Bevan retained private practice and NHS pay beds, which represented everything he opposed, as the price of establishing the NHS.But when Barbara Castle became social services secretary in 1974, she launched an all-out assault on private practice, the consultant contract, NHS pay beds and the existence of for-profit medicine.At the same time, the National Union of Public Employees called out its workers who were staffing pay beds. -
Let us hope scrutiny committees adopt a spirit of mutual inquiry
Letters -
Let's drink to that
Fears that the concordat between the NHS and the private sector will lead to privatisation are unfounded. It is more likely to be the nationalisation of private medicine, says Joan Higgins -
Means to an end
Abortions are easy to obtain - but there are wide regional variations in who gets access to NHS-funded services, reports Claire Laurent -
Mirror, mirror on the wall, is Lenin or Liam the most risk-averse of them all?
Talk of health department supremo Nigel Crisp being on TV! Last week there was so much public health news around that it was the chief medical officer, Professor Liam Donaldson, who was scarcely off the silver screen. -
Models for partnerships
Various models for public-private partnership are envisaged. For elective care, the concordat suggests that primary care groups and primary care trusts could rent accommodation from the private sector but use NHS staff, on their normal contractual terms, to deliver the service. Or a trust might 'sub-contract' the provision of a service to a private provider, who would be paid by an NHS purchaser via the trust. Third, a PCG, PCT or health authority might commission the privately provided servi -
monitor
January is a unique month, ponders Monitor, offering the chance to pack one year away neatly while another shyly reveals herself. It is a contemplative time - a chance to look back to the highs - (the dazzling debut of Giggles Denham! How we roared! ) the lows - (the NICE conference lurching between Abbamania and feng shui) and the reassuringly in-between rest. More than anything, though, we look forward. Forward to the space ageyness of 2001 as we wait in wonder and fear to see what its Baco -
More frills than skills
Patients love the trappings of private treatment, says Anne Christie, but they may be less safe than in the NHS -
More joined-up working is the way forward post Langlands
Better regulation of health service professionals, more joined-up working across agencies, and targeted action in selected areas to improve equity of access are all needed to build on the significant progress made by the NHS under Sir Alan Langlands, according to the public accounts committee. -
NAO gives National Blood Service mixed review
There are now effective measures in place to ensure that blood is safe for transfusion, but the National Blood Service needs to improve communication with hospitals, address the factors putting people off giving blood and improve its management efficiency, according to the National Audit Office. The NAO says the service cut its costs by around 5.4 per cent between 1995-96 and 1998-99, but its performance indicators have a number of weaknesses. -
Neurology services failing to meet waiting target
The Liberal Democrats have launched a damning report on neurology services, claiming that only one in five hospitals is able to offer an outpatient appointment within three months and nearly half offering appointments at least six months away. Health spokesman Paul Burstow claims that an extra 200 neurologists are needed urgently to meet the three-month waiting target. -
NHS Pensions Agency 'may be liable for loss'
The NHS Pensions Agency could be held liable for the loss of pension benefits of some of the 18,000 NHS employees who had money invested in troubled insurance company Equitable Life, according to a leading insurance lawyer. -
'Patient advocate'plans aimed at taking sting from CHCs' abolition
The government has conceded ground on the need for independent advocates to support patients' complaints against the NHS, following the decision to abolish community health councils. -
Record funding fails to slow Scots hospital debt
Scotland's hospitals are facing rising levels of debt despite record levels of funding from the Scottish Executive. -
Registration with CPSM can prove lengthy and unclear for applicants
Letters -
Risk pooling cuts cost of trusts' insurance premiums
An estimated £30m will be saved from the cost of trusts' property and liabilities insurance compared to two years ago, as a result of the pooling arrangement for risk that now operates across the NHS, according to health minister John Denham. The schemes set up two years ago mean that members will be paying only about a quarter of the rates they were paying three years ago in commercial premiums. For 2001-02 trusts' contributions will be less than £9m across the NHS, largely because -
Room at the top puts NHS plan in mortal danger
Plethora of key management vacancies is creating leadership vacuum -
Small add
Children make up a disturbingly high proportion of those who fall through the US health insurance/Medicaid net. Howard Berliner reports on the fate of a programme set up to remedy the problem -
Substantial pay hike likely for NHS laboratory staff
NHS staff not covered by the pay review body system are to receive a pay rise of 'at last 3.7 per cent', with substantial rises going to laboratory staff where there have been serious problems with recruitment and retention. Health minister John Denham said rises would be 'fair and affordable', but acknowledged that lab staff in particular will need a significant pay hike. The lowest paid ancillary staff are also to receive an hourly rate of at least £4.20.The trade unions are considerin -
The 'hybrid' patient and their records will come of age as we move to a mixed economy
Letters -
THE PERSUADERS
Name: David Panter. -
This Page is not for turning
Northumbria Healthcare trust and its chief executive, Sue Page, are hailed nationally as a model of co-operative working, yet grassroots staff tell a different story. Paul Stephenson finds out why -
Trust chairs fear Appointments Commission will erode their role
Trust chairs fear that the new NHS Appointments Commission may erode their influence in recommending non-executive members of trusts, primary care trusts and health authorities. -
What the paper says
'Use of compulsory powers will generally only be appropriate if a person is resisting care and treatment needed either in their best interests or because without care and treatment they will pose a significant risk of serious harm to other people.' -
When push comes to shove
Health authorities'powers are no match for the influence of clinical professionals when it comes to changing maternity care.Louise Locock and Sue Dopson explain -
With PALS like these. . .
The framework for the patient advocacy and liaison service is there, but where's the detail, wonders Alison Moore
