Health Service Journal
22 July 2010
View all stories from this issue.
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‘Heroic’ NHS managers get their due from friend and foe
“Heroic” is not a word often used to describe NHS managers, so well done to NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson for praising the individual efforts of primary care trust and strategic health authority leaders. -
Access to kidney transplants 'varies widely across UK'
An organ donation manager has welcomed a study that reveals wide differences in kidney patients’ access to life-saving organs. -
Answering the NHS's £14bn productivity question
Government efforts have reduced the NHS productivity challenge by £6bn, but also increased its instability -
BMA GP leader lends support to managers
GPs and senior executives in the NHS have this week looked afresh at the skills of primary care trust managers as the scale of the changes implied by the Liberating the NHS white paper becomes apparent. -
BMA leader urges GPs to hire NHS managers rather than private companies
GPs have been told by the chair of the British Medical Association’s GP committee to turn to NHS managers for their commissioning support and advice, rather than to the private sector. -
Book Review: Back of the Napkin
Simple drawings can make concepts instantly clearer, says James Potter -
Centralising stroke services improves care, says NHS London
The centralisation of stroke services across London has more than tripled the number of patients receiving life-saving clot busting treatment in just five months, according to latest figures from NHS London. -
Concerns over standard of specialist care
There are concerns over how specialised service commissioning will be controlled at regional level after strategic health authorities and primary care trusts are abolished. -
Consortia to 'challenge' GP practices on quality and productivity
The NHS commissioning board will be able to delegate its role of ensuring GP practices improve on quality of care and financial management to consortia themselves, the Department of Health has said. -
Controversial urgent care unit will not revert to full A&E status
Burnley urgent care centre will not return to full accident and emergency status but will be upgraded to treat more emergency patients. -
Cost effective commissioning for rheumatoid arthritis
Agreed standards for early diagnosis aim at managing inflammatory arthritis better and making savings as a result, say Richard Watts and Jenny Snell. -
CQC report: PCTs failed to monitor out of hours provider
A Care Quality Commission investigation into out of hours GP provider Take Care Now found that the five PCTs using the firm had “limited understanding of the service and did not monitor performance adequately”. -
Decision on cancer target 'will be down to NHS commissioning board'
The decision over whether to scrap Labour’s cancer treatment guarantee will be made by the NHS commissioning board, Downing Street has clarified. -
Don’t sideline sexual health, warn clinicians
Leading figures in sexual health have called on health secretary Andrew Lansley not to ignore the sector. -
East of England opens up hospital quality figures
A strategic health authority has published hospital trusts’ performance against dozens of quality indicators on the internet. -
East Sussex chief exec made permanent
East Sussex Hospitals Trust has appointed a chief executive. -
Election bid PCT chair leaves role
The chairman of Dudley Primary Care Trust who stood down from her post in order to stand in the general election has announced she will not resume the role. -
Experts respond to new NHS standard measures
The government has set out how NHS standards are likely to be measured in future, with a focus on how well treatments and care are working for patients. -
Fundamentals of Patient Safety
A business critical briefing from HSJ’s Fundamentals of Patient Safety conference. -
Fundamentals of Patient Safety - conference sessions
A business critical briefing from HSJ’s Fundamentals of Patient Safety conference -
Government selects CQC chair
The government has selected a permanent chair for the Care Quality Commission. -
GP consortia management budgets could be as low as £9 per person
GP consortia could receive an annual management allowance of £9 per head of population, HSJ has been told. The figure represents an even larger cut in management costs than previously proposed. -
GP consortia should not start from 'clean sheet' on public involvement
GP consortia and the NHS commissioning board must ensure they involve the public in decision making and commission services in line with their needs, the government has said in a consultation paper on commissioning published today. -
GP consortia will be a ‘minority’ interest
The burden of commissioning will fall on a relatively small number of GPs, a leading member of a right wing medical think tank has warned. -
GPs ‘won’t guarantee out of hours quality’
Transferring commissioning of out of hours services to GPs will not generate improved quality, primary care representatives have warned. The caution came in the wake of a damning report into the out of hours provider Take Care Now. -
Hard-nosed Lansley will be no ‘softie’ in negotiations
Health secretary Andrew Lansley told MPs he will not be a “softie” when it comes to dealing with GPs, in his first health committee appearance since the election. -
Health outcomes consultation launched
The government has launched a public consultation aimed at defining how the NHS should be judged over healthcare outcomes for patients. -
Health workers suspended over website use
Health service advice workers have been disciplined for accessing inappropriate websites, it has been revealed. -
How New Labour changed NHS management culture
Deep shifts in management team culture may be Labour’s most enduring legacy to the NHS, says Russell Mannion. -
How to develop NHS workforce mentoring
In the second of two articles on effective mentoring relationships, Ben Chambers looks at the skills needed by the mentor and mentee -
How to improve your health website
Redesign your website to allow visitors to amble through, rather than wall them in with words, says Ann McGauran -
HSJ Awards 2010: Acute Organisation of the Year
Take a look at last year’s winners to help you put together a winning entry -
HSJ Awards 2010: Enhancing Quality and Efficiency in Services for Children and Young People
Take a look at last year’s winners to help you put together a winning entry -
HSJ Awards 2010: Procurement Initiative of the Year
Take a look at last year’s winners to help you put together a winning entry -
HSJ webcast - white paper major challenge for PCT management
Senior managers at primary care trusts are facing the tough challenge of managing major change while dealing with staff who have been publicly criticised, Ealing PCT chief executive Robert Creighton said on HSJ’s webcast on the government’s white paper. -
HSJ.co.uk named health website of the year
HSJ.co.uk has won the prestigious health website of the year award from the Medical Journalists’ Association. -
Information revolution 'could confuse public'
The government is being warned its proposed “information revolution” could cause public confusion rather than empowerment if not properly managed. -
King's Fund seeks clarity on NHS cost pressures
Pay freezes, the removal of waiting time targets and slowing hospital improvements could reduce the total of NHS efficiency savings needed from £21bn to £14bn, the King’s Fund has estimated. -
Known unknowns form the white paper’s core
Last week’s white paper poses many more questions than it answers about how GPs and providers will manage their new freedom. The solution, says Andy McKeon, is to find the right balance between independence and accountability -
Lansley refuses to rule out GP pay rise
The health secretary declined to rule out a pay rise for GPs as he discussed plans to hand them most of the NHS budget. -
Laurence Buckman's email to BMA GP members
The NHS White Paper heralds potentially huge changes for the NHS, and for NHS general practice in particular. Like us, you will probably be wondering what these developments could mean for you, your practice and your patients, and where to get the support you will need to tackle these forthcoming challenges. -
Long term care funding commission set terms of reference
The government has set out the terms of reference for a commission on the funding of care and support, which will consider a range of methods including voluntary insurance and partnership schemes. -
Mark Britnell: PCTs can carve out a new role
Judging from the anxious reaction to the white paper this is not a time for the faint-hearted. It is time for bold leadership. For those who relish disruptive innovation, this is the time to seize the opportunities presented by discontinuity. -
Media Watch: eye-watering, mouth-watering NHS cash
As the dust settles on last week’s health white paper, it seems the newspapers believe the reforms will lead to somebody somewhere making easy money. -
Michael White: the cancer target
A thoughtful politician friend of mine said with uncharacteristic impatience the other day: “No, I don’t think the coalition knows what it’s doing at all. I think it’s all over the place.” -
Model for managing consortia financial risk remains unclear
How GP consortia manage the financial risks associated with commissioning will be left to “evolve over time”, the government has said. -
MP calls CQC in over South London Healthcare Trust
One of the largest NHS hospital trusts in the country was referred to the independent health regulator amid concerns over patient safety, staffing levels and equipment shortfalls, it emerged. -
New outcomes measures may be de facto targets
A draft NHS outcomes framework is being welcomed despite fears it could amount to a set of “proxy targets”. -
NHS Bury appoints former newspaper editor as chair
A struggling primary care trust has turned to a former journalist to help turn it round. -
NHS IT programme faces further cost cutting
The government is expected to confirm a further scaling back of the NHS IT programme as part of central cost cutting measures announced in the emergency budget. -
Nicholson warns of tightening central grip over PCTs and providers
The Department of Health will seek to assert strong financial controls over foundation trusts as well as primary care trusts during the transition period to implement last week’s health white paper. -
Nicky Spencer on making your career your business
Inspiration on steering your career through a recession is peculiarly sparse. But by applying the plethora of business advice to your career you can create some useful tips. -
Norfolk community service provider appoints chair
Carrie Armitage has been appointed shadow chair of the provider arm of NHS Norfolk, which is seeking to become a community foundation trust. -
Patient involvement lacking in South West cancer service reconfiguration
Patients and user representatives were not adequately involved in the development of the proposals to centralise upper gastro-intestinal cancer services in the South West peninsula, the independent body on NHS change has found today. -
PCTs should ‘reinvent’ themselves, says Britnell
Primary care trusts should seek to reinvent themselves as social enterprises providing commissioning support to GP consortia, according to the architect of the world class commissioning programme. -
Quality vascular surgery ‘requires centralisation’
Vascular surgery should be centralised before strategic health authorities and primary care trusts are abolished, the president of the Vascular Society has argued. Cliff Shearman’s comments follow the publication of an audit calling for greater centralisation to improve quality. -
Runaway bull captured in hospital grounds
A bull has been captured in the grounds of a Kent hospital after escaping from a nearby farm. -
Sir David praises 'heroic' PCT and SHA managers
Sir David Nicholson is “incredibly proud” of the “remarkable work” done by primary care trust and strategic health authority managers. -
Spending cuts 'increase fraud risk'
Public sector bodies face a growing risk of economic crime and fraud as spending cuts start to bite, new research has found. -
Top public sector salaries published
The salaries of 160 public sector bosses who get paid more than £150,000 have been published by the government. -
Welsh NHS must find £2bn in savings
Spending cuts could force the NHS in Wales to find savings of almost £2bn over the next five years, health minister Edwina Hart has warned. -
Whitehall unlikely to meet saving target
Whitehall departments are unlikely to be able to deliver £35bn of value-for-money savings promised by the end of this financial year, a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has found. -
Your Humble Servant: Going La La
‘Up pops La La at the Royal Marsden Hospital, in Parliament and on Newsnight saying he had no idea it would come to this’
