Health Service Journal
7 January 2010
View all stories from this issue.
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Ambulance targets review urged
Claims that patient care is suffering because of targets imposed on the ambulance service have prompted calls for a government review. -
Andrew Jones on healthcare Darwinism
What is the most important book ever written? Most clinicians will refer you to On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. -
Andy Burnham gets personal with tailored care drive
Last month’s five year NHS strategy gave fresh political impetus for the NHS to provide more personalised care. Vital to making this happen will be a combination of consistent quality and collaboration with the patient, finds Moya Sarner -
Basildon and Thurrock making progress on hygiene, says CQC
Basildon and Thurrock University Hospital Foundation Trust has made an “encouraging start” to improving hygiene standards, inspectors have found. -
Basildon faces legionnaires' probe
Health chiefs are investigating a possible outbreak of legionnaires’ disease at a hospital that was recently under scrutiny for blood splattered equipment and an unusually high patient mortality rate. -
Book Review: Change by Design
In the context of the urgent challenges facing the NHS, Change By Design is both timely and significant. And, while booksellers’ shelves bow under the weight of organisational thinking and change management manuals, there is a sense of daring, optimism and humanity running through its chapters that strikes a more resonant chord. -
Call to be proactive on measuring patient experience
Financial rewards to hospitals for improving patient experience should be based around seven “core” areas of care, according to the patient charity the Picker Institute. -
Cally Bann: bah humbug
Now I’m no Scrooge, and the words bah and humbug have never once crossed my lips, if you ignore that time in 1986 when I got caught under the A&E mistletoe by a lothario of the Superbrew. But - looking back in the cold light of January - never again will we combine a Secret Santa buffet dinner with a quiz night and karaoke. And I don’t care about the £2,000 we raised for charity. -
Cameron: 'Tories are the party of the NHS'
Conservative leader David Cameron has insisted the Tories are “the party of the NHS” and health service spending is safe only with them. -
Chief medical officer supported over tough line on drink pricing
Introducing minimum pricing for alcohol should be the priority of chief medical officer for England Sir Liam Donaldson during his last months in post, say public health directors. -
Commissioners need to be ready for surge in population over 85
The number of 85 year olds will increase by a third by 2020, putting pressure on health and social services, researchers said today. -
Conservatives to divert NHS resources to deprived areas
Tory leader David Cameron is to pledge to divert NHS resources to deprived areas at the launch of the Conservative manifesto today. -
Cross-sector clusters set up to fast-track NHS innovation
The government has announced the creation of 17 new bodies designed to help speed up the implementation of innovative ideas at the frontline. -
Demand for veterans PTSD service on the rise
A groundbreaking pilot scheme for military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder is to continue in the next year if it can secure long-term funding. -
DH appoints first clinical director for informatics
The Department of Health has appointed Charles Gutteridge as its first national clinical director for informatics. -
DH appoints new urgent and emergency care tsar
The Department of Health has appointed Professor Matthew Cooke as the new national clinical director for urgent and emergency care. -
DH urged to put off Monitor search
The Department of Health should wait until a new government is in place before appointing a permanent Monitor chair, the organisation representing foundation trusts has said. -
Dr Foster misses out on NHS Choices mortality data contract
The contract to provide hospital mortality ratios and other information on quality for NHS Choices has been awarded to a US based firm. -
Drink danger video removed from web
Derbyshire Primary Care Trust has been left disappointed after a video it made about the dangers of drinking too much alcohol was removed from YouTube. -
Drinking 'an unsustainable burden on the NHS'
Britain’s growing culture of heavy drinking is placing an “unsustainable burden” on the healthcare system, costing the NHS £2.7bn a year, according to a report. -
East of England reaches deal on swine flu vaccine
NHS East of England has become the latest strategic health authority to agree a regional deal with its GPs for delivering swine flu vaccine to the under fives. -
Extent of thefts from Scottish NHS revealed
Thousands of items worth a total of around £725,000 have been lost or stolen from Scottish hospitals over the past two years, it has been disclosed. -
Fit for Work Service – Work Survival Courses
The Nottinghamshire: City and County Employment and Skills Board -
Four SHAs have swine flu jab deals in place
Four strategic health authorities have now agreed regional deals with GPs for delivering swine flu vaccine to the under fives. -
Gloucester Community Hospital
NHS Gloucestershire -
Here's one I read earlier
Top marks to the NHS Sustainable Development Unit for its imaginative use for old copies of HSJ. -
Holyrood to consider pay cuts for senior staff
The Scottish government will consider an NHS official’s call for a pay cut for senior health workers, finance secretary John Swinney has said. -
Hospital staff strike over pay and conditions
More than 200 cleaners, porters and cooks have staged a 48-hour strike at an NHS trust in Devon over implementation of Agenda for Change terms and conditions. -
How to make clinical commissioning work
In Kent, clinicians and managers are working together as teams to concentrate expertise on specific clinical areas -
Invitation to provide Leadership Development support and interventions for NHS NE Leadership Academy
NHS North East -
Invitation to Tender: Provision of Education and Training for the South East Coast Health Trainer Hub
Kent County Council -
John Deffenbaugh asks what next for foundation trusts
How would a Tory government bring up Labour’s young provider model? -
Ken Jarrold: what is the future of NHS regulation?
The row about regulation did not come at a good time for the NHS and it raises some profound questions. Just how likely is it that self assessment will be objective? How many of us have the capacity to see ourselves, our performance and the world around us as it is rather than as we wish it to be? -
Knighted Nicholson pays tribute to NHS staff
NHS chief executive David Nicholson, cancer tsar Mike Richards and National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence chief executive Andrew Dillon have been given knighthoods in the New Year honours list. -
Knighthoods for top NHS leaders
NHS chief executive David Nicholson, cancer tsar Mike Richards, and NICE chief executive Andrew Dillon have been given knighthoods in the New Year’s honours list. -
Let HSJ help you find or fill an interim role today
HSJ, in association with people4business Limited, is offering readers a new way to find or fill interim posts in the healthcare industry. -
Medical director for Islington PCT
A new medical director has been appointed by NHS Islington. -
Michael White on the Conservatives' election campaign
Why did my heart sink watching David Cameron launching what amounts to the Conservatives’ general election campaign on Monday, complete with well trailed health pledges and a wholesome poster proclaiming “I’ll cut the deficit. Not the NHS”? -
More than 3,000 living organ donors
There are now more than 3,000 approved living organ donors - 2,978 for kidney, 81 for liver and two for lung transplants - according to the Human Tissue Authority. -
MPs call for investigation into 'fat cat' public sector salaries
A top pay commission should be set up to investigate “fat cat” salaries in the public sector and name and shame organisations that pay too much to senior managers, a committee of MPs has said. -
NHS Alliance predicts positive results from changes to tariff
Altering the tariff to a maximum price system should result in “very positive” outcomes for both the NHS and the taxpayer, according to the NHS Alliance. -
NHS at centre of Tories’ election campaign
The Conservative Party has placed the NHS at the centre of its newly launched election campaign with a “realistic” draft health manifesto that scales down several earlier pledges. -
NHS Direct appoints permanent chair
The acting chair of NHS Direct has had her position made permanent after 20 months in the job. -
NHS Medway appoints chair
NHS Medway has appointed Denise Harker as chair. -
NHS South East improves on race equality
A race equality review by NHS South East Coast has found the plight of black and minority ethnic staff is improving but there is still much work to be done. -
NHS trusts count cost of free parking
Plans to phase out hospital car parking charges for a significant proportion of patients will cost NHS organisations up to £140m a year. -
NHS Wales trials online GP service
The Welsh Assembly has announced plans for an online service that will allow patients in Wales to book appointments with their GPs and order repeat prescriptions. -
Nicola Sturgeon hails NHS capital expenditure
Scottish patients will benefit from health projects given the green light this year, health secretary Nicola Sturgeon has said. -
Non-emergency phone number test announcement due
Trials of a new three-digit telephone number for patients seeking non-emergency medical care are expected to be announced by the Department of Health today. -
Norovirus forces ward closures
Patients were turned away from nine wards at a Scottish hospital over the weekend after an outbreak of the winter vomiting bug enforced the implementation of strict infection-control measures. -
Norovirus halts surgery at hospitals
The winter vomiting bug norovirus has forced three hospitals in Cornwall to cancel all non-urgent surgical operations. -
Not so lovely bubbly
In these tighter times, the sight of the champagne flowing all night at the NHS Confederation Christmas reception raised a few eyebrows. -
Nutty boys
End Game believes that DH senior staff should be commended for their candid descriptions of the recession and impending public spending squeeze. -
Operating theatre 'scheduler' could save trusts more than £5m a year
Appointing a dedicated operating theatre “scheduler” could save acute trusts more than £5m a year, latest information from the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement suggests. -
PCT loses out to GPs in battle over branch surgery
The co-operation and competition panel has ruled against a primary care trust in a dispute with one of its local GP practices. -
PCTs falling behind on maternity access
More than a third of primary care trusts are failing to meet a key maternity services access target, despite claiming they have met the government’s flagship “choice guarantees” for pregnant women. -
Priority NHS access charter for armed forces plan
Military personnel and veterans could get legally binding rights of priority access to public services such as healthcare under an Armed Forces Community Charter, defence secretary Bob Ainsworth has said. -
Private patient debt: it pays to check for eligibility
Private patient debt costs millions. Lucy Suddaby finds out how to recover cash from those ineligible for NHS care -
Public health at risk from TV product placement - BMA
Doctors’ leaders have become the latest in a series of groups to express concerns over plans for US-style product placement on UK television. -
Public sector pay scrutiny
It may be a new decade, but it is a familiar story facing NHS managers returning to their desks after the Christmas holidays. -
Put the brakes on NHS car park consultation
If ever there was an example of pointless Department of Health micromanagement it is the launch of the consultation paper on car parking. -
Scheme supports patients leaving ICU
Patients leaving intensive care will be offered a new support scheme under a project being pioneered by the Royal Berkshire Foundation Trust. -
Search for next Monitor chair to begin again in 2010
The post of Monitor chair is to be re-advertised next year, the Department of Health has said. -
Simply long-winded
End Game’s new year reading list includes what must be the Department of Health’s most ironic publication of recent months. -
Snow-hit ambulance service in 999 plea
An ambulance service has pleaded with people who live in areas badly affected by the snow to only call 999 if there is “a true emergency”. -
Tackling social exclusion: an accessible answer to a huge unmet need
Homelessness, drug or alcohol dependency and poor mental health can combine to exclude people from care but access can be greatly improved, reports Ann Dix -
Tariff change may up transaction costs
Commissioners will have to keep a close on transaction costs once changes to the tariff come into play in 2011, the King’s Fund has warned. -
Tories accuse government over A&E waiting targets
The Conservatives claim to have exposed widespread evidence of gaming to meet the four-hour A&E waiting time target. -
Tories target deprived areas in public health reform
Poorer areas with the worst public health outcomes would be given a financial “premium” to reduce health inequalities, the Conservatives’ draft manifesto has pledged. -
Tories’ tempered pledges show the effect of political realities
The Conservatives’ draft manifesto on health offers subtle changes to the party’s health policies. -
Trusts poised to eliminate mixed sex wards, report says
Most NHS hospitals in England are poised to provide single sex wards and facilities for everyone by June next year, according to health minister Ann Keen. -
Turn around destructive behaviour at work
With cost cutting and competition for resources, it is easy for negative attitudes to prevail and productivity to suffer. That downward workplace spiral can be reversed by following four simple steps, say Phil Bardzil and Shelly Rubinstein -
Two primary care trusts awarded teaching status
Two primary care trusts have been awarded teaching trust status. -
Welsh Assembly wants 'soft' opt-out for organ donors
A “soft” opt-out system of organ donation - where everyone in Wales would be classed as a donor aside from those who opt out or whose close relatives object - is being sought by ministers at the Welsh Assembly. -
Why God created FTs
Foundation trusts were created as a key plank of new Labour’s NHS reform process. True or false? Well, false actually. -
Winter chill hits acute services hard
Elective surgery has been postponed, hospital wards closed, and patients moved to other hospitals for treatment, as freezing weather and virus outbreaks hit the NHS hard across the country. -
Yorkshire acute trust appoints chair
Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust has appointed a new chair for the next four years.
