Health Service Journal
28 January 2010
View all stories from this issue.
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‘Fast track’ healthcare for NHS staff
NHS staff should be fast-tracked into services such as physiotherapy and mental health treatment, according to national director for health and work Dame Carol Black. -
Advisory panel for BME cancer patients
Black and minority ethnic cancer patients are to be given a greater voice through a new advisory panel. -
Bill Moyes calls for DH unit to tackle ‘lethargic’ non-FTs
The outgoing executive chair of Monitor spent his last days in post urging the Department of Health to establish a new body to tackle “lethargic” trusts that have still not applied for foundation status. -
Bill Moyes takes pride in rocking the foundations
Monitor executive chair Bill Moyes leaves the foundation trust regulator this week with no regrets about his stormy journey, as he tells Sally Gainsbury in his final interview -
Book Review: Health Policy in Britain
Chris Ham has left very little out of this sixth edition, promises Rachel Hooke -
Call to scrap compulsory retirement age
People should be allowed to work longer and everyone should have the right to ask for flexible working arrangements, the government has been told. -
Cally Bann: public health nightmare
Not long to go until February, thank God. The tension created by the last flicks of those New Year resolution scorpion tails is intolerable. -
Cancer cost saving
The NHS should save money by decommissioning cancer services for which there is no significant benefit, such as routine follow-up for breast cancer patients, according to King’s Health Partners Integrated Cancer Centre director Arnie Purushotham. -
CQC registration ‘fraught with risk’
Plans for charging NHS organisations to register with the Care Quality Commission are “fraught with potential risks” and should be postponed for at least a year, the NHS Confederation is urging. -
Darling signals pay restraint for top NHS managers
Chancellor Alistair Darling has signalled that generous pay and bonus packages for top public sector posts will have to be reduced to preserve jobs. -
Data on assault admissions released
More than 181,000 people were admitted to accident and emergency after assaults in 2008-09, data from the NHS Information Centre reveals. -
David Nicholson predicts tough NHS pay negotiations
Workers in parts of the NHS can expect pay rises below 1 per cent in coming years, NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson has indicated. -
DH names older people's and dementia tsars
Professor Alistair Burns and Professor David Oliver have been appointed to new directorships in the Department of Health, it has been announced. -
Essex PCT to begin offloading GP surgeries
NHS South West Essex is seeking alternative providers to take over and run some of its general practices. -
Foundation seeks pay rise below Agenda for Change rate
The only foundation trust outside the national pay framework has made its first real attempt to break away from national pay rates. -
Government ends Manx NHS agreement
The government has ended an agreement with the Isle of Man that enabled UK visitors to the island to enjoy free healthcare on the NHS. -
Government pushes for greater public involvement in the NHS
Most people would like to have their say on how health services are run but comparatively few have joined local involvement networks, set up to collect feedback on health and social care services, research has suggested. -
Health Foundation announces quality improvement scheme
The Health Foundation is offering 18 funded places on a new quality improvement leadership scheme. -
Hospital lands low carbon award
A London hospital has joined Marks & Spencer, Chelsea Football Club and high street chain Pret a Manger in earning recognition for its work on reducing carbon emissions. -
HSJ Leadership Forum
A business critical briefing from HSJ’s Leadership Forum -
HSJ Leadership Forum - conference sessions
A business critical briefing from HSJ’s Leadership Forum -
Humour academies
At an HSJ conference last week, a psychologist said NHS managers should try using their sense of humour to bond with staff. -
Improving your website: lessons from the commercial world
Effective web pages that have readers acting on your messages and returning for more are achieved by following some simple principles, says Jed Wylie -
Invitation to host End of Life Care Pilot Studies using Gold Standard Framework (or GSF equivalent) tools in a ‘whole systems’ approach in the East of England
NHS East of England -
King's Fund highlights risks of quality reporting
A King’s Fund report published today has highlighted the benefits of measuring and reporting on quality of care, but also the significant risks. -
King's Fund report calls for end of life care investment
Steps must be taken to continue the existing commitment to end of life care and give patients meaningful choices about where they are to die, a report by the King’s Fund says. -
Lookey-Likey: Ian Gilmore and Nick Hewer
Royal College of Physicians president Professor Ian Gilmore has been a regular face in the news recently thanks to his - as yet unsuccessful - calls for minimum pricing on alcohol. -
Manager wins compensation after 'wrong colour' dismissal
North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust has said it has “learned many lessons” after it was ordered to pay £115,000 to a nursing chief who was told she was from the “wrong colour and culture”. -
Managers face professional regulation and tighter vetting
Managers would be regulated for the first time under a proposal being developed by the Department of Health in the wake of safety fears sparked by hospital scandals. -
Mental health chief says departure not linked to trust deaths
A departing chief executive has insisted her move is unrelated to a police investigation into four apparent suicides at the mental health trust she has run for nine years. -
Michael White: the four nations of the NHS
The devolved regions have consistently had more money per head from central government but have drawn back from the more radical target driven and choice oriented agenda promoted in England. -
Missing you
The DH’s top brass were up before the health select committee last week for their annual grilling on where a fifth of the total public spending goes. -
MMR: it doesn't stand for mild mannered reporting
At the end of this week, the General Medical Council’s case against Andrew Wakefield, the doctor whose Lancet article sparked unfounded fears over a link between the combined measles, mumps and rubella jab and autism, will make its preliminary verdicts on the “facts” of the case. -
NHS improvement: find the right ways to do things differently
With trusts under increasing pressure to improve performance on tighter finances there are some aspects they should all be tackling now, says David McArtney -
NHS IT programme: patient record options urged
The national programme for IT must urgently support short term alternatives to its main hospital patient record products. Otherwise, it will put at risk NHS efforts to save money while protecting patients, the former interim Department of Health chief information officer has said. -
NHS joint appointments: are two heads better than one?
Joint appointments are on the increase across health and care organisations. Carmel Gibbons looks at why -
NICE guidance calls for clot risk checks
All patients admitted to hospital should be assessed for the risk of developing blood clots and then given preventive treatment, according to new NICE guidance on the prevention of venous thromboembolism. -
Out of hours GP complaints pass 500
Complaints about out of hours GP care have risen by more than 50 per cent, latest figures have shown. -
Pathology Modernisation
A business critical briefing from HSJ’s Pathology Modernisation conference -
Pathology Modernisation - conference sessions
A business critical briefing from HSJ’s Pathology Modernisation conference -
Patient experience: what counts for the customer?
A satisfaction score system used by businesses is highly relevant to the NHS, say Richard Ingleton and colleagues -
Paul Corrigan on Tory policies vs Tory politics
Given what the opinion polls are saying, developing a close understanding of Conservative Party policy for the NHS looks like a worthwhile investment. -
PCT benefits from ambitious knowledge and skills framework redesign
A Yorkshire primary care trust has successfully transformed the knowledge and skills framework into a tool to aid workforce planning and boost productivity. -
Peter Reeves: a new deal for NHS non-executives
Fresh thinking is needed to help NHS non-executive directors hold their boards to account - and find self-fulfilment -
Peterborough PCT chief steps down as deficits pile high
The chief executive of NHS Peterborough has resigned, admitting she “cannot shirk responsibility” for its growing deficit. -
Pilots scheduled for 111 urgent care calls
The three digit urgent care number will help commissioners direct patients to the cheapest available service for their need, according to NHS Connecting for Health. -
Police probes deaths at mental health trust as chief exec announces departure
Police have launched an investigation into the deaths of four patients who were under the care of a Sussex mental health trust. -
Provider arms given timetable to vertically integrate
Most primary care trust provider arms will be expected to integrate with acute or mental health trusts by the end of March 2011, HSJ has learned. -
Public health directors push for alcohol minimum pricing
Public health directors have made a minimum price on alcohol their top priority ahead of the general election. -
QIPP leads reveal hit list
Slashing follow-up appointments after surgery and spending on drugs will be two of the controversial areas targeted first by the national quality and productivity leads. -
Regulation must boost NHS managers’ reputation, not voters’ blood lust
Plans to regulate NHS managers are gathering pace. This creates both risks and opportunities. -
Report points to chlamydia waste
The national screening programme for chlamydia run by primary care trusts has proved inefficient, the Commons public accounts committee has said. -
SHA fears Londoners will see care squeezed in 2012
NHS London has warned that healthcare in the capital could be “compromised” if the Department of Health does not provide its share of the £40m estimated costs resulting from the 2012 Olympic Games. -
SHA steps in to GP branch row
NHS London has been criticised for delaying the opening of a branch surgery in Kingston, despite the cooperation and competition panel having already recommended its go-ahead. -
SHAs return to topslicing budgets
Strategic health authorities are introducing stringent financial rules and mandatory topslicing in a bid to keep the NHS in balance next financial year. -
Steve Preston on using social networking to boost your career
Web 2.0 is all around us. Online forums, blogging and tweeting are part of everyday life. Social networking is a powerful way to grow your network and market yourself. -
Test doctors' skills more often, Andy Burnham urges
Doctors’ skills should be checked as often as airline pilots’ to ensure they can perform under pressure as well as Captain Chesley Sullenberger, health secretary Andy Burnham said today. -
Tory reform 'won't be derailed by debt worries'
Financial constraints will not force an incoming Conservative government to ditch the wide-ranging programme of reform the party has drawn up, policy supremo Oliver Letwin has said. -
Tough new standards for STI clinics
Tough new standards have been announced for sexual health services across the UK. -
Treasury whine
At a Number 10 reception for nurses last week, prime minister Gordon Brown was a suitably charming host - with one small exception. -
Trust failings allowed nurse to kill, says report
A series of failings at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust in West Yorkshire allowed former nurse Colin Norris to kill four elderly patients, an independent inquiry has found. -
Trust reviews data security measures after laptop theft
The theft of a laptop computer containing the records of 33,000 patients has led Southampton University Hospitals Trust to review data security procedures. -
Two new chiefs appointed
Chris Bown, previously chief executive at West Suffolk Hospital Trust, will join Poole Hospital Foundation Trust in April. -
Urgent care: confusing jargon – we’ve got your number
The NHS is constructing its own tower of Babel. -
Variations in GP training come under scrutiny
The competence of foreign GPs is to be examined by the General Medical Council following a report recommendation. -
Weak clean
The NHS has done much to change public perception of its cleanliness over the years - PEAT inspections, stringent hygiene codes enforced by the Healthcare Commission and the Care Quality Commission and “deep cleans” of wards. But somehow the message does not seem to be getting through.
