Health Service Journal
9 April 2009
View all stories from this issue.
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Severe personality disorders service consultation launched
The South East Coast, East of England, South Central and London regions are set to jointly launch a consultation on how to improve services for people with severe personality disorder. -
Advertising guilt
There is nothing like parenthood for laying on a massive guilt trip - something the Department of Health harnessed for a series of adverts in which small children talk about how they are not as scared of the dark or monsters under the bed as they are of their mum or dad smoking. -
Andrea Sutcliffe: advice on delivering effective NHS care
As the Healthcare Commission cleared the decks in preparation for the launch of the Care Quality Commission on 1 April, some of its final reports made chastening reading for all of us involved in the delivery of healthcare that should be safe, effective and a good experience for patients. -
Angela Greatley on community mental health treatment
Supervised community treatment was one of the most controversial aspects of the 2007 Mental Health Act. The new powers were introduced in November 2008, since which time some 1,200 requests for second opinions to ratify such orders have already been made. -
Audit Commission warns that data quality is still too poor
The NHS has made only limited progress in improving its data quality in the last five years, the Audit Commission has said. -
Book Review: Get Everything Done and Still Have Time to Play
Taming the demands of a hectic life is within your grasp, says James Potter -
Can integrated care usher in a new age of risk taking?
A speedy selection process has led to 16 projects being picked for integrated care pilots. Can they improve quality and test bold ideas or have we seen it all before, asks Helen Crump -
Care combat
A new month, a new season and a new dawn for health and social care inspection as super-regulator the Care Quality Commission came into being on 1 April. And among the million and one things it has to do, upping its internet profile should be on the list. -
Care Quality Commission defends Cynthia Bower
The Care Quality Commission has defended the appointment of its chief executive Cynthia Bower after the Conservatives called for an independent inquiry into the Mid Staffordshire foundation trust scandal. -
Care Quality Commission names trusts registered with conditions
Four foundation trusts and six primary care trusts are among the 21 organisations that have failed to assure the new regulator they are meeting infection control standards. -
Care Quality Commission rules lack teeth on patient experience
Proposed registration rules for NHS providers are “far too weak” to make sure they take account of patient experience, the Picker Institute has warned. -
Child diabetes figure 'higher than expected'
A national survey has found that almost 23,000 children and young people in England have diabetes. -
Commissioner's office monitors NHS information disclosure
The Information Commissioner’s Office has begun monitoring NHS organisations for compliance with the model publication scheme, which came into effect on 1 January under the Freedom of Information Act. Public authorities must ensure people can easily identify the types of information that will be routinely disclosed. -
David Peat on PCT provider arms
The proposed division of primary care trusts’ provider and commissioner arms reminds me of the old legal concept of “one roof with separate rooms”. -
Department of Health 'fails to support' association of LINks networks
A national organisation formed by members of local involvement networks has accused the Department of Health of failing to support the groups, which were established just a year ago. -
Diagnostic test waiting times fall sharply
Diagnostic waits have fallen sharply over the last month, Department of Health statistics show. -
Domestic violence: its cost and the success of prevention
The NHS has long been used to treating the results of domestic violence but targeting the causes and perpetrators is a new avenue in preventive healthcare. Stuart Shepherd reports -
Dumfries and Galloway reconfiguration plans face independent review
Scottish health secretary Nicola Sturgeon has commissioned an independent review into reconfiguration proposals in the rural areas of Dumfries and Galloway. -
East of England trust offered up for merger
NHS organisations are being invited to bid to merge with a trust in the East of England. -
Economic downturn forces many PCTs to rewrite funding forecasts
Primary care trusts are having to redraft their five year strategic plans because of out of date assumptions about funding in 2011-12. -
Fears grow over capital for NHS schemes
There are growing concerns about the availability of capital funding for NHS schemes. -
Foundation trust appoints new chief executive
Tom Cahill has been announced as the new chief executive of the Hertfordshire Partnership foundation trust. -
Foundation trust fights London centralisation
A London foundation trust is rallying members to help protect services against centralisation. -
Four foundation trusts on alert for hygiene failures
Four foundation trusts have had their governance ratings set to amber and been ordered to comply with hygiene standards after failing to meet the criteria for full registration with the Care Quality Commission. -
General Medical Council elects new chair
Peter Rubin is to take over from Graeme Catto as chair of the General Medical Council. -
GP bonus review chief unveiled
The chair of the team responsible for assessing the effectiveness of the GP bonus scheme has been unveiled. -
Health observatories dampen plans for commissioning umbrella body
Commissioning Support for London was established last week as part of region-wide efforts to improve commissioning. -
Hilary Thomas: NHS branding vs NHS trust
After more than two decades in the NHS, the concept of a brand had never consumed much of my intellectual energy. However, over the past year, I have been involved in two different re-branding exercises and have been thinking about what it really means. -
How to use patient feedback to drive service improvement
An information revolution is promised as patients vent their spleen via health websites. Daloni Carlisle finds out how you can use their opinions to improve services -
Humble Servant bids the Healthcare Commission adieu
‘We will all miss the traffic lights and star ratings, its mission to condemn and flagellate, and the valuable role it has fulfilled for the Department of Health in shutting stable doors after horses have bolted’ -
Just 299 comment on Department of Health quality metrics
Just 299 people and organisations responded to an NHS survey on which metrics should be used to measure quality of care. -
Leading patient journeys: challenging stereotypes and perceptions
Clinical leadership is urgently needed to improve the care older people receive. Steve Feast explains -
London ambulance service chair to step down
The chair of the London Ambulance Service trust is to step down after 10 years in the post. -
Lookey-likey: Nick Curtiss and Super Mario
“Staff in the corporate governance directorate at NHS Ealing have all been struck by how much their director, Nick Curtiss (sic), looks like (Nintendo games console character) Super Mario,” writes assistant director for communications Fiona Harcombe. -
Media Watch: hospital parking charges report
The measured reasoning of the NHS Confederation’s hospital parking charges report is failing to quell a mini rebellion in Lancashire. -
Michael White on the recent political populism
Watch out for political populism in troubled times. Most of us have been indulging in banker-bashing, but such enjoyably bad habits can be contagious and beneficial chiefly to extremists on the prowl. I spotted two crowd-pleasers that affect HSJ readers only this weekend. -
MPs launch inquiry into cancer treatment inequality
MPs are to launch an inquiry into “postcode lotteries” in cancer treatment. -
New look hsj.co.uk will give you much more
HSJ’s website has relaunched. The new service at hsj.co.uk features simpler navigation, a more powerful search engine and vastly more links to related articles. -
NHS City & Hackney invites Expressions of Interest...
City and Hackney Teaching Primary Care Trust -
NHS commissioners hold the secret to thriving beyond the recession
With even the chancellor having to admit his forecast was woefully wide of the mark, the NHS could be forgiven for basing its financial planning on sunny spells rather than torrential rain. -
NHS Confederation outlines principles for fair car parking fees
A cancer charity has slammed the NHS Confederation’s position on hospital car parking fees as “morally wrong”. -
NHS Oxfordshire - Invitation to Innovate
NHS Oxfordshire -
Nurses remain under-represented on PCT executive boards
One in five primary care trusts does not have an executive director of nursing with voting rights on the board, a survey has revealed. -
Old school medicine
As everyone knows, despite ever increasing scientific advances, getting decidedly old school can sometimes be the best medicine. But it takes a strong stomach to read in the British Medical Journal that recent studies have proved using larval (maggot) therapy to treat leg ulcers has similar health and cost benefits to more conventional medical therapies. -
PCT boards risk governance failure over provider organisations
Primary care trust boards risk failures in governance because arrangements for appointing the boards of their arm’s-length provider organisations are unclear. -
Richard Lewis and Matthew Bell on healthcare market stimulation
Commissioners will have to sharpen their understanding of healthcare markets and see carefully managed competition as a tool that works for the benefit of patients -
Search starts for new chief executive of NHS Yorkshire and the Humber
The hunt has begun for a new chief executive for the Yorkshire and Humber strategic health authority. -
Sheila Williams: management coaching can stop problems escalating
I was facilitating a workshop on performance management with a group of experienced NHS managers recently. I got to the part about dealing with performance problems when they arise and how using a coaching approach often prevents the problem from escalating. -
Sir Ian Kennedy sets record straight on Mid Staffordshire
Sir Ian Kennedy has written to the chair of the House of Commons health select committee to correct “misunderstandings” over the Healthcare Commission’s investigation into Mid Staffordshire foundation trust. -
Stephen Eames on patients driving change
Delivering radical reform in public services was the government’s battle cry in last month’s white paper Working Together - Public Services on Your Side. Given the parlous state of the country’s finances, the message will be exactly the same from any future government. -
Strategic health authority advice to PCTs when planning for 2011-12
HSJ contacted the following primary care trusts to ask them what advice their strategic health authorities had given them regarding planning for 2011-12. -
Study reveals three-fold cost variation in GP out of hours services
GP out of hours services are costing more than three times more per patient in some parts of England than in others. -
VAT changes prompt concern over NHS staff costs
Tax changes have sparked fears NHS trusts will be hit with significant increases in agency staff costs. -
Warrington PCT and Warrington Borough Council wish to invite...
Warrington NHS PCT -
Working hours target deadline fast approaching
Now is the time to get back on schedule and ensure your trust is ready for the August deadline, since delays could bring penalties.Ingrid Torjesen reports -
Working Hours: a case study in reducing junior doctors' hours
With a successful Hospital at Night pilot behind it and Computers on Wheels in clinical areas, a Liverpool trust significantly reduced junior doctors’ hours -
Working Hours: communication and teamwork generate results
It was communication and collaboration that put Alder Hey Children’s foundation trust on track for EWTD compliance -
Working Hours: how to work less without compromising training
Rethinking its emergency service enabled Homerton University Hospital foundation trust to maintain junior doctors’ training time while achieving compliance on hours -
Working Hours: NHS organisations on track to meet working time directive
Most NHS organisations are on track to have their staff working an average of no more than 48 hours a week by 1 August -
Working Hours: top tips to meet the working time directive
Here is a collation of invaluable tips from experts on achieving the European working time directive -
Working Hours: two ways to reduce junior doctors' hours
Two different trusts have focused on ways of working within specialties as the route to compliance on junior doctors’ hours
