Health Service Journal
30 August 2007
View all stories from this issue.
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£80m 'wasted' on killing inquiries
More than £80m has been 'wasted' on inquiries into murders and manslaughters by mental health patients, a leading charity has claimed following an exclusive hsj.co.uk investigation. -
alcohol
There are more binge drinkers in Yorkshire and the Humber than in any other English region a report has shown.The report has been written by the North West Public Health Observatory as part of a series of Indications of Public Health in the English Regions from the Association of Public Health Observatories, commissioned by the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson.It shows that 23 per cent of men and 12 per cent of women binge drink in Yorkshire and the Humber and -
All Our Yesterdays
August 29, 1941, Public Assistance Journal and Health & Hospital Review‘The Ministry of Food have announced that from October 1 liquid milk for use in tea, as well as tea, will be available for groups of industrial, business and clerical workers for consumption during working hours,’ said the Journal this week.All current tea permits in use would be valid until September 27, after which suppliers would have to return them to the Food Office -
Andrew Castle on the perfect process
'Just knowing what should be happening, or what we think is happening, does not help us make informed decisions' -
Apollo mission to improve
A free tool created by the national diabetes audit enables GP practices to save time by extracting data from primary care clinical systems automatically -
Call to action as killings continue to fail service users and public
A lack of government guidance means SHAs and mental health trusts have little clarity in how to examine why service users were able to kill. Investigations drag on and findings from cases as long ago as 1996 have not been acted on. Charlotte Santry reports -
Commissioning's stakeholders design their world-class future
Primary care trusts that demonstrate they are 'world-class commissioners' could be rewarded with foundation trust-style freedoms. -
Day-case rates
Recent research by Dr Foster and the NHS Institute analyses productivity opportunities across a range of key areas such as reductions in emergency admissions, statin prescribing and increases in day-case rates. For the last of these there the most recent quarter shows an opportunity of£12m, down from£16m in Q1 2006. This data-briefing provides a more detailed drilldown by SHA, over time and by procedure to highlight where some of these opportunities still exist.The f -
Day-case rates on nationwide increase
Research by Dr Foster and the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement analyses productivity savings across a range of areas including reductions in emergency admissions, statin prescribing and increases in day-case rates. For the latter, the most recent quarter shows a saving of £12m, down from £16m in quarter 1 2006. This data briefing provides a more detailed drilldown by strategic health authority over time and by procedure to highlight where some of these savings opportunit -
Doctors may strike over contract delays
Twelve and half thousand senior hospital doctors may take strike action after walking away from negotiations over their contract, complaining the government is taking too long to sign it off. -
Finance chiefs confess to burying bad news
Trust chief executives and finance directors are reluctant to publish bad financial forecasts for fear of losing their jobs. -
Green shoots of recovery
In the last of our series on organisational turnaround, we peer through the breaks in the clouds around two once-troubled trusts -
Healthy Schools is raising the bar, not slipping behind
I am pleased that HSJ recently chose to publish an article on the National Healthy Schools Programme, emphasising its importance as a good example of health and education collaboration at the local level (see 'A gam -
Heroes face up to a day full of crisis
The HSJ Challenge gave participants a series of hair-raising 'problems' to resolve, report Charlotte Santry and Victoria Vaughan -
Hilary Thomas on differing points of view
Regulations should enable hospital and community settings to work together on care appraisals, says Hilary Thomas -
Improvements in heart attack treatment
The Information Centre for health and social care has welcomed the publication of the fifth Myocardial Infarction National Audit Project. -
In this week's HSJ
NewsPrimary care trusts that demonstrate they are 'world-class commissioners' could be rewarded with foundation trust-style freedoms.Health secretary Alan Johnson has been commended for backing managers' plans to reconfigure hospital services in Manchester - as Conservatives face the fallout from a row about district general hospitals.More than£80m has been 'wasted' on inquiries into murders and manslaughters by mental health patients, a leading charity h -
Inequalities masked at local level
Progress made towards the national target to reduce health inequalities is masking the areas that are facing the worst problems, public health experts have warned. -
Informing NHS Choices
NHS Choices has been working closely with the Information Centre for health and social care over the past three months to help primary care trusts check and validate the data on this official government website, which covers more than 40,000 organisations and comprises more than 1 million pieces of information. -
Johnson praised for backing reform plans
Health secretary Alan Johnson has been commended for backing managers' plans to reconfigure hospital services in Manchester - as Conservatives face the fallout from a row about district general hospitals. -
Johnson praised for backing reform plans
Health secretary Alan Johnson has been commended for backing managers' plans to reconfigure hospital services in Manchester - as Conservatives face the fallout from a row about district general hospitals. -
Ken Jarrold on staff carers
'Caring is a burden and for some carers it can be overwhelming, making work difficult and sometimes impossible, and severely restricting life chances' -
Learning to let go
More than half of employees spend some of their holiday worrying about work. Managers could help staff plan ahead and get ready to relax -
Managing the commissioner-provider divide
Primary care trusts face a confusing array of options in handling their provider arms, says Jeremy Roper -
Media Watch
There's a whiff of former health secretary Patricia Hewitt's infamous map of NHS-trouble-spots-which-could-cost-Labour-MPs-their-seats to the weekend's coverage of service changes in Greater Manchester. -
Michael White on politics
'Cameron promised a bare knuckle fight. He certainly got one' -
Misleading forecasts could spell disaster
'Chief executives and others must encourage openness and transparency in financial reporting' -
New acting chief executive
Tim Straughan has been appointed acting chief executive of the Information Centre for health and social care, after the departure of Denise Lievesley. -
Noel Plumridge on ambition to expand
'Market advocates praise choice, but those within them do their best to create a monopoly' -
Paul Allen on a fashionable performance
'All teams should take a long hard look at their communication and decision-making processes' -
Paul James on sustainable IT
The fate of worn-out electrical equipment may not seem a top priority but new environmental regulations may have caught managers in the health service napping, says Paul James -
PCTs under pressure to open doors wider
With the disappointing results from last month's primary care access survey, the government is expecting a fast response from PCTs. David Stout suggests competition between practices could be the answer -
Pilots making little difference
Pilots designed to drive the government's flagship policy of shifting services from hospitals into the community have made little difference, according to research. -
Pilots making little difference
Pilots designed to drive the government's flagship policy of shifting services from hospitals into the community have made little difference, according to research. -
Restrictions eased for staff transferring to private sector
Restrictions on staff leaving the NHS to work in second-wave independent sector treatment centres are to be scaled back. -
Scotland urged to look beyond GPs for out-of-hours services
NHS boards will have to look beyond GPs to provide primary care out of hours if services are to be sustainable, Audit Scotland has warned. -
Strategies for managing the market
The Care Services Improvement Partnership has rolled out a pilot information-gathering project in East Lancashire to help commissioners and providers work together for patients. Tony Ryan and colleagues explain -
suffolk
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Suffolk delays terminating PMS contracts
Suffolk primary care trust has said it will delay terminating the personal medical services contracts it holds with 46 practices in the area. -
Terminal care provision has 'major flaws'
Terminally ill people are suffering needlessly uncomfortable and distressing deaths, a report by Help the Hospices has claimed. -
Tesco and Boots opt out of GP scheme
Virgin, Tesco, NetCare, and Boots have said they will not be bidding to provide GP practices under a scheme designed to extend services in under-doctored areas. -
The language of business
A national English language teaching project has proven that setting resource materials in the context of healthcare increases learners' interest in applying for jobs in the sector. Kath Jones explains -
Timely action will save lives and restore public confidence
'Media coverage of mental health killings obliterates shades of grey' -
Tongue twisters
English language training opportunities that assist access to and performance in healthcare jobs are under threat, says Paul Gander -
Visa rules could slow recruitment
Plans to restrict the number of foreign midwives on 'fast track' visas will thwart the government's pledge to drastically improve maternity care, campaigners are claiming. -
Weird world health
End Game understands the ability to overcome pain - we once worked with someone who walked around for two weeks with a broken leg and have watched 24 on numerous occasions - but there are limits.However is appears that one can lose a limb and fail to notice. A Japanese man out on his motorcycle one afternoon recently banged into a central barrier. He somehow managed to fail to notice that the collision had severed his right leg below the knee and rode on for -
Your Humble Servant: The Darzi Ultimatum
‘I know the director of nursing was impressed that you poked her’
