Health Service Journal
Alison Moore

Peer support works on the road to recovery

7-Jan-2013
A mental health trust is training former service users to help others
Testing, testing: time for change - an HSJ supplement on pathology

13 December 2012
Pathology is undergoing big changes in order to deliver efficiencies that will have an effect on other clinical areas. HSJ’s supplement is a round-up of the key ideas and discussions from the the Pathology: fit for today, fit for future conference, which was organised by HSJ and Roche
Handover guidance expected as ambulance services face challenges

4-Dec-2012
The Ambulance Service Network is about to issue guidance and highlight good practice on reducing delays.
Analysed: Ambulance service performance

4-Dec-2012
We look at moves to improve the ambulance service’s performance amid relentless rising demand, though no extra money is available
Collect my thoughts - an HSJ supplement on mental health

22 November 2012
How patient involvement is improving mental health care, and the increasing role of external suppliers and primary care, are some of the subjects featured in our supplement exploring case studies and the latest developments in mental health
Drug action - an HSJ supplement on primary care

15 November 2012
From recruitment challenges to a greater role for pharmacies, our supplement probes the latest developments in primary care
Why is the road to recovery so far away?

8 November 2012
Is there an alternative to out of area treatments for mental health?
Moves to tackle performance problems at Cambridge University Hospitals

22-Oct-2012
This week’s HSJ Local Briefing looks at Cambridge University Hospitals Foundation Trust, which has recently found itself in some difficulty
Analysed: Performance failings in Cambridge

22-Oct-2012
Cambridge University Hospitals Foundation Trust has a reputation for excellence, but has recently found itself in some difficulty
Acute future - an HSJ roundtable

18 October 2012
A roundtable debate on the role of the hospital
As easy as ABC?: a special report on organisational change

20 September 2012
This special report on organisational change looks at the deep scepticism of the health service’s ability to handle change in accordance with an exclusive HSJ survey and how large-scale transformation is a complicated combination of science and art
Cambridge University Hospitals called into regulator's office

14-Sep-2012
PERFORMANCE: Monitor has called Cambridge University Hospitals to its offices to discuss whether the foundation trust is in significant breach of the terms of its authorisation.
Getting end of life care right

13 September 2012
With no second chances, it will impact not only on the patient, but on those around them
A mountain to climb

30 August 2012
The rise in Nepalese people living the UK is providing a challenge for commissioners
Local nurses for local people

30 August 2012
There has been a move back to practice-centred community nursing teams. But at what cost?
Nursing posts under threat at Hinchingbrooke

14-Aug-2012
Nearly 50 nursing posts could be axed at a trust taken over by the private sector earlier this year, HSJ has discovered.
Analysed: Financial crisis at Peterborough and Stamford

7-Aug-2012
This briefing looks at how to address the anticipated financial deficit of Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals Foundation Trust.
Caution urged on referrals to private centre

30-Jul-2012
A local medical committee has taken the unprecedented step of warning local GPs to consider whether an independent treatment centre is the right choice for their patients.
Whistleblowing: the way ahead

26 July 2012
Strong leaders are essential if future whistleblowers are to prevent harm
Time has 'run out' for Clinicenta, MP warns

20-Jul-2012
Time has “run out” for an underperforming independent sector treatment centre, an MP has warned.
Trial blazers: the benefits of carrying out clinical studies

19 July 2012
Evidence suggests being active in clinical studies helps improve trusts’ performance as well as providing a potential source of income. Alison Moore finds out how trusts of all sizes can lead the way in promoting research.
Quarter of CQC inspections reveal essential standards not met

28-Jun-2012
Fewer than three out of four of the 14,000 health and social care sites inspected by the Care Quality Commission met all essential standards around quality and safety.
Media Watch: England's doctors score own goal

28-Jun-2012
Health policy in the news this week.
Vascular services set for major reconfiguration

27-Jun-2012
A major shake-up in vascular services is planned for the East of England, with several hospitals set to lose work.
The barriers to integration: an HSJ roundtable debate

25-Jun-2012
Integrated care, where every professional can instantly get the patient information they need, is a key goal for the future NHS. So what, HSJ asked a panel of experts, are the obstacles, and how can they be overcome?
The ideas and innovations taking health services by storm

21 June 2012
The Liberating Ideas Award was established to encourage the spread of service improvements. Alison Moore catches up with the 2011 winners to find out how they have fared.
Media Watch: strike coverage is just what the DH ordered

21-Jun-2012
Health policy in the media this week.
Health servants recognised in Queen's birthday honours

18-Jun-2012
NHS managers and board members - and a hospital porter - have been honoured in the Queen’s birthday honours list.
Media Watch: getting cross about cuts to social care

14-Jun-2012
Health policy in the news this week.
Exclusive: top foundation forms million-pound advertising agency

31-May-2012
A leading foundation trust has set up a joint venture with a private company to sell advertising in NHS hospitals and on trust websites.
How to buy: outsource car parking services for an easier ride

31 May 2012
Running a trust car park that keeps patients, staff and coffers happy can seem an impossible task, but success is all in the outsourcing, writes Alison Moore
Lansley looking forward to 'time when there are no more Mid Staffs'

30-May-2012
The government and the law are on the side of NHS staff who raise concerns about patient care, the health secretary has said.
Media Watch: RCN congress sparks raft of health warnings

17-May-2012
Health policy in the news this week.
Concern over board FT meetings held in private

15-May-2012
Only two out of the five acute foundation trusts which hold board meetings in private in the East of England have changed their policies, nearly a year being told to do so by the health secretary.
Analysed: the future structure of community services in East Anglia

8-May-2012
HSJ Local Briefing is our new in-depth analysis of the key issues facing the NHS’s major health economies. This week, HSJ looks at the long term viability of community services in East Anglia.
'Big beast' required to counterbalance hospitals' power, says chief

8-May-2012
STRUCTURE: A primary care trust chief executive has said he wants to see a local community services trust reach foundation status so there is a “big beast” to counterbalance the power of the acute sector in the East of England.
How to utilise digital dictation technology for cost and time efficiencies

26 April 2012
Digital dictation and related technology can save the NHS time and money, as long as trusts think carefully first about their needs, writes Alison Moore.
Media Watch: the overnight hot topic

19-Apr-2012
Health policy news from around the media.
Serco wins £120m deal to take over support partnership

17-Apr-2012
One of the biggest shared services organisations in the NHS has effectively been taken over by Serco in a four-year £120m deal.
Staff shortage forces closure of Herts community hospital beds

12-Apr-2012
PERFORMANCE: Inpatient beds at a community hospital in Hertfordshire are to be closed from next week because of staffing problems.
Free online innovation webinar for HSJ subscribers

3-Apr-2012
HSJ invites subscribers to view and participate in an exclusive webinar “Innovations in Healthcare”, in association with the Healthcare Advisory Forum and sponsored by Oracle.
Privately-run centre breaches 18-week standard

30-Mar-2012
Patients are being diverted away from a privately-run treatment centre because the 18-week referral-to-treatment standard is being breached.
Keeping afloat: how trusts can survive under the new NHS failure regime

29-Mar-2012
Takeover or oblivion are possibilities for some NHS organisations in the new order – so what are they doing to clutch victory from the jaws of defeat, asks Alison Moore.
Media Watch: alcohol strategy fails to go down a treat

29-Mar-2012
Health policy in the news this week.
Mental health trust in breach of authorisation despite 'improvement'

26-Mar-2012
A mental health trust has been found in significant breach of its authorisation by Monitor, after the Care Quality Commission raised concerns about care.
New tools for new commissioners: an HSJ special supplement

22-Mar-2012
This week’s exclusive 28-page commissioning supplement brings a range of key topic articles to HSJ’s audience that will help commissioners to achieve more in their role.
Media Watch: racket over locum's pay packet

22-Mar-2012
Health policy and the NHS in the media.
Media Watch: former trust boss Heatly neatly defends position

15-Mar-2012
Health policy in the news this week.
Most powerful NHS trust chief executive quits

14-Mar-2012
One of the NHS’s most prominent chief executives is leaving to take up a job in Australia.
Media Watch: Cameron dishing out the Gove love

8-Mar-2012
The health headlines from across the British media.
Pathology services a target for cost savings in the East

8 March 2012
Pathology is not immune to the need for cost savings affecting all areas of the NHS - nor the pressure from GPs for a better service.
New treatments receive £102m boost

5-Mar-2012
Nineteen trusts are to share £102m in research funding to develop new treatments.
FT faces 'absolutely enormous' £56m loss

1-Mar-2012
A foundation trust with a turnover of just over £200m a year expects to make a loss this year of more than £56m.
Media Watch: the chips are down after Crisp attack

1-Mar-2012
Health policy and the NHS in the news.
Government told NHS needs competition

28-Feb-2012
The government must push for greater competition in providing services, a thinktank has demanded.
Restraint urged after BMA decides to ballot for industrial action

27-Feb-2012
NHS Employers has called for employees to be in full possession of the facts on pension reforms before deciding to take industrial action.
Accelerating learning: an HSJ training and development supplement

24-Feb-2012
Continuing professional development, e-learning and developing junior managers are the key themes in this HSJ special supplement on training and development.
Media Watch: constructive Cameron attempts to quash destructive talk

23-Feb-2012
Cameron’s reform summit dominates the media this week.
Free online workforce webinar for HSJ audience

20-Feb-2012
How can organisations best manage as the changes outlined in the Health Bill come into force and they need to protect services whilst striving to meet its challenging targets?
Marmot demands focus on inequality as cuts bite

15-Feb-2012
Renowned epidemiologist Sir Michael Marmot has criticised the government for its lack of action on health inequalities - and called for the health impact of economic policies to be considered.
Reforms spell end of joint commissioning in Peterborough

14-Feb-2012
A long-running agreement on joint commissioning of health and social care has come to an end because of the government’s health reforms.
Campaigners demand social enterprise future for community hospital

13-Feb-2012
A campaign has been launched for a community hospital to be run as a social enterprise - to stop it becoming part of a foundation trust.
Unite warns of further strike action over pensions

10-Feb-2012
The health union Unite has warned of a “real prospect of strike action” if its members reject the government’s revised pension offer.
Ethics expert urges health service to consider losers when cutting costs

9-Feb-2012
The NHS needs to think more about who is being harmed by decisions as it battles to reduce costs, a leading researcher has said.
NHS 'to have 2,800 consultants more than it needs'

9-Feb-2012
The NHS could end up with more fully trained hospital doctors than it needs - and potentially an increased wage bill - unless it makes changes to the way they are trained and used, the Centre for Workforce Intelligence has said.
Institute of Healthcare Management joins 'drop the bill' calls

9-Feb-2012
The Institute of Healthcare Management has become the latest professional body to call on the government to drop its plans to reform the NHS.
Integrate treatment for mental and physical conditions, NHS told

9-Feb-2012
The NHS could improve care and reduce costs by improving how it treats patients suffering from both mental and physical health conditions, a new report says.
Media Watch: the NHS money lost in translation

9-Feb-2012
Health took a back seat this week as the news was dominated by atrocities in Syria, the resignation of Chris Huhne and the snow that Media Watch was so sceptical about last week.
Stroke care in the East of England proving problematic

9 February 2012
Providing first class stroke care is problematic in the East of England.
Circle faces £10m hole in Hinchingbrooke budget

8-Feb-2012
FINANCE: Circle will have to cut costs at Hinchingbrooke Healthcare Trust by 10 per cent if it is to break even next year, it has emerged.
Sacked Mid Staffs lawyer awarded £100,000

2-Feb-2012
A lawyer who was sacked by Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust after allegedly trying to cover up failings in a patient’s care has won more than £100,000 at an employment tribunal.
Media Watch: it's beginning to look a lot like winter

2 February 2012
Freezing temperatures kept most of the press preoccupied this week. By the time you read this, Britain will probably have entered a mini ice age with Siberian blasts immobilising the country - or at least the readers of the Express.
Media Watch: January gloom continues as colleges are next to oppose bill

26-Jan-2012
‘Blue Monday’ might have been last week but the downbeat mood has continued for many in the media coverage of the health service.
HSJ roundtable: education and training

23-Jan-2012
Training in the NHS costs £5bn a year. Alison Moore reports from a lively HSJ roundtable discussion on the government’s plans to reform it.
Liberating Ideas: the award-winning projects that could truly liberate the NHS

9-Jan-2012
Which of the Liberating Ideas Award 2011 winners’ projects has the greatest potential to be adopted by the rest of the NHS? Alison Moore watched the final judging session.
The quest for best practice: discovering and implementing new ideas in the NHS

6-Dec-2011
Putting good ideas into practice in the NHS has been made easier by adapting the format of a successful TV programme. Alison Moore ventures into the dragons’ den to find out how.
The future challenges facing pathology - an online Q&A

5-Dec-2011
Burning questions such as what will drive collaboration between trusts to make savings for pathology drew HSJ readers to link up with an expert panel. Alison Moore reports from the online Q&A, sponsored by Roche Diagnostics.
HSJ supplement - special finance report

2-Dec-2011
This HSJ special finance report looks at the financial future for trusts eyeing foundation status, new legislation designed to stop bribery that could catch some organisations out, and why it can be difficult to find a finance director.
United Lincs spent £120,000 on legal fees in chief exec case

30-Nov-2011
A trust spent £120,000 on legal fees in the run up to an employment tribunal hearing with its former chief executive - only to agree an “amicable resolution”.
Putting patients first: an HSJ primary care supplement

25-Nov-2011
This week’s special HSJ supplement looks at how patients can benefit from being at the centre of primary care services.
Fertility treatment bans reversed by PCTs

17 November 2011
A number of primary care trusts which imposed tight restrictions on infertility treatment have now reversed the policy.
Get the skills - an HSJ training and development supplement

10 November 2011
With clinicians taking more of a driving seat in commissioning, this special HSJ supplement looks at the skills required in this new role, and how they can be gained.
'Amicable resolution' to United Lincs whistleblower saga

3-Nov-2011
A trust has reached an “amicable resolution” with a former chief executive who was sacked after whistleblowing to NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson about pressure to meet government targets.
The future of pathology - an HSJ roundtable discussion

3 November 2011
A roundtable discussion on the future of pathology, in association with Roche Diagnostics, led to a lively debate on how it will exist in the future, what effect it will have on clinicians, and whether there is even a proper definition of pathology. Alison Moore reports.
HSJ special supplement: primary care

13-Oct-2011
This week’s HSJ supplement takes a look at primary care, featuring articles on regulation, referral management, community services and sustainability.
Will commissioning reform aid integration? A special HSJ supplement

28-Sep-2011
A special supplement from HSJ, in association with KPMG, this week looks at whether reforming how healthcare services are commissioned can break down the existing barriers to offering and delivering integrated services.
Eighty trusts call in lawyers over board level exits

1 September 2011
Nearly 80 NHS organisations have employed law firms to deal with the departure of board members over the past five years, an HSJ investigation has revealed.
Maximising the mutually beneficial value of apprenticeships in acute care

30-Aug-2011
The value of apprenticeships is proving to be beneficial to an acute hospital trust, its staff and its patients. Alison Moore finds out how both parties are getting the best out of apprenticeships.
How third sector hospital ownership is keeping healthcare close to home

15-Aug-2011
The transfer of an NHS community hospital to charitable ownership is helping provide key healthcare services to users closer to home, as Alison Moore discovers.
Musculoskeletal services: accessing physio need not be a pain in the neck

19-Jul-2011
A dedicated phone line can help patients to self-manage or to see a physiotherapist sooner, says Alison Moore
Why patient safety should remain the priority in healthcare

5-Jul-2011
Responsibility for the safety of patients is a cornerstone of healthcare. Alison Moore looks at how changes to the NHS will affect its approach to this fundamental commitment.
Improving end of life care: how IT processes can help comply with final wishes

15-Jun-2011
Many terminally ill patients have strong views on where they would like to die and IT is offering healthcare professions a method of responding, says HSJ’s Alison Moore
Care eclipsed by 'management goals' at Suffolk mental health trust

13-May-2011
PERFORMANCE: A Suffolk mental health trust’s governance and leadership was criticised in an independent review commissioned after the suicide of an inpatient and following nine homicides caused by service users and former service users over two years.
How a chemotherapy outreach service is putting care into the community

4-May-2011
An outreach chemotherapy van is part of a new approach to improving care delivery in the community, says Alison Moore.
Managing long-term conditions: an HSJ special report

28-Apr-2011
Alison Moore and Daloni Carlisle look at the increasing importance of improving care for patients long-term conditions in an HSJ special report.
Are commissioners in it for the long haul?

28-Apr-2011
Long-term conditions are likely to take centre stage as GPs get to grips with commissioning - but reforming care for patients with chronic diseases may require changes closer to home, says Alison Moore.
Good call: why telehealth is so important to patients with long-term conditions

28-Apr-2011
Telehealth will be one of the weapons in the armoury of the NHS as it deals with the increasing number of patients with long-term conditions. Alison Moore asks whether telehealth will be the next big thing and what the barriers are to wider use.
A new era for IT? A special HSJ supplement

6-Apr-2011
The IT revolution has started. The way information is collected, and the technologies available to utilise it, is transforming previous approaches to healthcare. Now all clinicians have to do is embrace the change, and reap the rewards…
The £80bn man: GPs get ready to hold the NHS budget

31-Mar-2011
HSJ’s special supplement on GP commissioning looks at the challenges facing commissioners in the new NHS.
£252m underactivity bill sparks renewed calls for contract renegotiations

24 March 2011
The NHS has paid £252m to private providers for work that was never carried out, leading to renewed calls for contracts to be renegotiated.
Midwife-led units threatened by falling birth rates

10 March 2011
Standalone midwife-led centres are under threat from high costs and falling numbers of deliveries, HSJ can exclusively reveal.
Half of PCTs employing temporary executives

3 March 2011
Almost half of primary care trusts have executive directors working in an “interim” or “acting” capacity, an HSJ investigation has revealed.
York PCT financial problems probed

17 February 2011
A strategic health authority has launched an independent review into the finances of a cash-strapped primary care trust.
Shake-up opposed by Lansley gets green light

17 February 2011
A controversial reconfiguration criticised by Andrew Lansley before he became health secretary has finally been given the go ahead.
Absence savings targets will be hard to achieve, says Audit Commission

10 February 2011
NHS organisations should be realistic about the savings they can make by tackling sickness absence, the Audit Commission has said.
Council planning change could slash hospital site value

10 February 2011
A hospital trust is facing a potential £8m shortfall in funding because of changes in local planning policies and land values.
Chief dismissed for 'seaside humour' wins tribunal

3 February 2011
A former interim chief executive of an NHS trust was unfairly sacked for sending emails containing “seaside humour” just 15 days before he was due to be made redundant.
No time to be reining in training

17-Jan-2011
Public sector austerity is not an excuse to cut back on training and appraisals but a reason to forge ahead with them and make organisations stronger, writes Alison Moore
Kent maternity services to be reviewed

12-Jan-2011
Maternity services across Kent are under review following the controversial decision to centralize services in one part of the region and the closure of a midwife-led birthing unit in another.
East Sussex chair to step down

10-Jan-2011
The chair of a struggling trust is to step down because she does not want to commit to seeing it through foundation trust status.
Personal goals to improve physical fitness in NHS staff

31-Dec-2010
A plan to get 2,012 NHS staff engaged in physical activity in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics should do much to inspire a traditionally unhealthy sector.
Lansley confirms Maidstone to close maternity unit

22-Dec-2010
Controversial plans to centralise maternity and children’s services in West Kent have been given the go-ahead by health secretary Andrew Lansley.
PCTs restrict many treatments as overspend looms

2 December 2010
Treatment restrictions such as bans on “low priority” procedures or tough referral thresholds are now common across the NHS, HSJ has established.
Maternity units may close, despite pre election pledges

30-Nov-2010
The controversial closure of three maternity units in Greater Manchester looks set to go ahead – in spite of health secretary Andrew Lansley’s personal intervention in the case in the run up to the general election.
All NHS reconfigurations look set to progress despite moratorium

19-Nov-2010
The government’s new set of tests for service reconfigurations has yet to lead to a scheme being turned down, an investigation by HSJ has found.
Migration caps may jeopardise service quality and safety

18-Nov-2010
Proposed limits on migrants from outside the European Economic Area could affect the ability of trusts to continue providing high quality patient care, NHS Employers has warned.
A&E closure plan accelerated by six months

5-Nov-2010
One of the first reconfigurations to be approved under health secretary Andrew Lansley’s criteria is to go ahead earlier than expected because of safety concerns.
Trust loses cancer screening service over biopsy failings

5-Nov-2010
The breast screening service in north Cumbria is to be restructured after an investigation concluded it failed to carry out needle biopsies in enough cases, leading to delays in diagnosing 16 patients.
Healthcare 100: Happy staff are best for patients

18-Oct-2010
In the first of a series of articles, we look at some of the top performers from this year’s Healthcare 100. Here, Alison Moore examines the importance of engaging staff to deliver tangible results - and says there are no shortcuts to achieving it
PCT asked not to claw back wage overpayment

23 September 2010
Staff at a primary care trust who were overpaid for up to four years have been asked to pay the money back.
CQC warns mental health trust of legal action

23 September 2010
The Care Quality Commission has issued its toughest warning yet to a trust for failing to make sufficient improvements after receiving an initial warning.
Rose Gibb lawsuit bill could pass £250,000

23 September 2010
The government’s legal bill to defend the decision to dismiss Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells chief executive Rose Gibb is likely to match the £265,000 she has been awarded, HSJ understands.
Report calls for overhaul of social welfare

15-Sep-2010
The health service in 2020 could see more co-payments, preventative services funded by social bonds and every citizen receiving an annual statement detailing their contributions to and consumption of public services.
Cardiac care pathway: all hands to the pump

1-Sep-2010
A countywide angioplasty service is speeding up recovery times through multi-trust cooperation, reports Alison Moore
CQC tells United Lincs to improve on dignity and workforce support

26 August 2010
An acute trust has been told to improve standards on quality and safety following an unannounced inspection by the Care Quality Commission.
Cost of axing hospital redesigns must be counted

8 July 2010
The financial consequences of halting proposed service changes should be taken into account, the Independent Reconfiguration Panel has said.
Has Lansley called time on falling NHS waiting lists?

1-Jul-2010
Some see the abolition of central performance management of the 18 weeks referral to treatment target as a big mistake, others think it heralds a more flexible system. Alison Moore looks at the early outlook for a controversial change of policy
Minister visits hospital at centre of A&E reconfiguration row

1 July 2010
Health minister Simon Burns is to visit Newark Hospital today after the local MP raised objections to changes to accident and emergency.
Rose Gibb wins payout in appeal

1 July 2010
Rose Gibb, the former chief executive of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust, has won £175,000 in her appeal against the Department of Health’s intervention in her severance deal with the trust.
Rose Gibb wins £175k appeal

24-Jun-2010
Rose Gibb is £175,000 better off today after the Court of Appeal ruled the former chief executive of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust should be paid her severance deal.
PCT to downgrade A&E despite Lansley policy

24 June 2010
The first major reconfiguration decision since the general election was taken last week, with NHS Nottinghamshire County deciding to downgrade an accident and emergency department.
BAMM ceases trading and cancels conference

17 June 2010
The influential British Association of Medical Managers has ceased trading, just days before its annual conference.
First test to Lansley's new reconfiguration policy

16-Jun-2010
The first decision to downgrade an accident and emergency department since the coalition government was elected is due to be taken by NHS Nottinghamshire County tomorrow.
CQC sends inspectors into United Lincolnshire

16-Jun-2010
The Care Quality Commission has sent inspectors into an acute trust after the former chief executive passed on staff concerns about care quality.
BAMM ceases trading days before annual conference

14-Jun-2010
The influential British Association of Medical Managers has ceased trading, just days before its annual conference.
Will NHS building plans stay on the drawing board?

27 May 2010
All spending commitments approved by the DH or Treasury this year have been called in for review as the new government seeks massive savings in the public sector. Some major NHS development plans now face uncertainty, reports Alison Moore
Lansley orders probe into chief's sacking

18-May-2010
Health secretary Andrew Lansley has ordered an investigation into NHS South West’s role in the sacking of a trust chief executive.
Cornwall trust chief unfairly dismissed after 'irritating' SHA, tribunal rules

7-May-2010
A former trust chief executive was unfairly dismissed when he raised concerns about a controversial cancer reconfiguration, an employment tribunal has found.
Election 2010: how to survive the calm after the storm

7-May-2010
The post-election period heralds change but meanwhile the NHS must maintain its own momentum, says Alison Moore
Sacked trust chief executive to stand against health minister

25-Mar-2010
A trust chief executive who was sacked from his job is to stand against health minister Gillian Merron in the general election.
NHS public engagement: showcase services with all the fun of the fair

24-Mar-2010
Three large NHS organisations in Kent recognised its summer county show was an ideal venue for getting people familiar with their NHS, reports Alison Moore
Judgement reserved in Rose Gibb appeal case

18-Mar-2010
The final outcome of the Rose Gibb case may not be known until after the election, after judgement was reserved today in her Appeal Court hearing.
Trust questioned closely in court over Rose Gibb payout

17-Mar-2010
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust’s decision not to pay its former chief executive an agreed payoff came under intense scrutiny today.
Rose Gibb returns to court to battle for pay-off

17-Mar-2010
Rose Gibb returns to the courts today in her battle to get a £175,000 pay-off - two and a half years after she left her job as chief executive at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust.
Sussex chief to step down without notice

17-Mar-2010
The chief executive of a Sussex acute trust is to leave at the end of the month without working out her notice.
A&E waiting times not misreported deliberately, says chief

10-Mar-2010
The chief executive of a trust where thousands of records were changed to make it appear that accident and emergency patients were treated within four hours has said it was not done deliberately to distort the hospital’s performance.
Nottingham trust criticised over waiting time irregularities

3-Mar-2010
One of England’s busiest accident and emergency departments failed to report breaches of the four hour treatment targets for at least four years, an independent report has said.
Colchester chief to step down

1-Mar-2010
The chief executive of a hospital trust has announced he is stepping down - three months after the trust’s chair was sacked by Monitor.
Why NHS volunteering is all round value

1-Mar-2010
Aintree is one of many trusts that both benefit from and give advantages to volunteers, reports Alison Moore
Trusts face hard task to achieve 18-week ‘right’

18 February 2010
Trusts are facing a difficult six weeks before the promised right for patients to be treated within 18 weeks comes into force on 1 April, at the likely start of a general election campaign.
Imperial readies for new foundation trust bid

11 February 2010
Imperial College Healthcare Trust is expected to begin the formal process of applying for foundation status in the spring.
Lincolnshire trust chief exec sacked for swearing

10-Feb-2010
The chief executive of an acute trust has been sacked for swearing in meetings, seven months after he went on sick leave with stress.
More patients pick private care

4 February 2010
There has been a significant increase in patients opting for NHS funded treatment in the private sector, latest Department of Health figures on choose and book reveal.
Care UK chief hits out at renewal process as ITC contracts expire

21 January 2010
The process for renewing contracts for the first independent treatment centres has been described as a “pig’s ear” by the chief executive of the largest independent provider in that sector.
Four nations research reignites row over targets

20-Jan-2010
A report comparing the healthcare systems within the UK has reignited the political row over targets.
Four countries’ pulses beat to different tunes

20-Jan-2010
The devolved nations of the NHS are showing striking contrasts in productivity and performance, with Scotland’s policy paths in particular appearing to have led its services into a much less healthy state than England’s. Alison Moore reports
United Lincolnshire in turmoil as disciplinary action starts

14 January 2010
United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust is in further turmoil after questions over the treatment of the incumbent chief executive and the resignation of a suspended non-executive director.
Red-rated Bristol foundation trust chief steps down

6-Jan-2010
The chief executive of a foundation trust has stepped down by mutual agreement, just as it was revealed the trust had been given a red rating by Monitor for failing to meet targets.
Tory pledge on NHS targets might not hit the spot

10 December 2009
As the Conservatives promise voters a shift from targets to a service shaped by outcome measures and what patients say about their healthcare experience, Alison Moore looks at why many managers are sceptical about the idea
Ambulance trust to put bonuses for top team on hold

9-Dec-2009
The chief executive of an ambulance trust has pledged there will be no bonuses for its top team after it was given just two weeks to make substantial improvements to cleanliness and infection control by the Care Quality Commission.
John Lewis checked out in NHS productivity drive

3 December 2009
Politicians of all hues are talking about public services being owned by staff - like John Lewis - to increase productivity. Alison Moore examines how this might work and, where staff cannot hold shares, whether just a sense of ownership is enough
Conservative win could kill local NHS shake-up plans

26 November 2009
The Conservatives have pledged to scrap current government proposals for reconfiguration in major services if they are voted into power. What could this mean for the many local changes already being deliberated? Alison Moore reports
Out of hours contact can prevent unnecessary admissions

24-Nov-2009
People with long term conditions who can contact a clinician fast may avoid going into hospital, reports Alison Moore
Could a swine flu surge see a slump in targets?

19 November 2009
A sustained outbreak of swine flu will put any region’s critical care services under pressure and a pandemic could have national consequences on workforce and resources. Will normal targets survive the winter unscathed? Alison Moore reports
Rose Gibb wins full right to appeal compensation claim

17-Nov-2009
Rose Gibb has won the right to a full appeal hearing on her claim for compensation against her former employer, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust.
Ambitious reconfiguration plan abandoned

12 November 2009
One of the most ambitious service reconfiguration programmes in England is likely to end this month, with a board decision expected to keep the status quo.
How to champion patient dignity

6-Oct-2009
Privacy and dignity champions from across your workforce can enhance the patient experience, explains Alison Moore
Rose Gibb wins right to appeal judgement on Maidstone pay-out

23-Sep-2009
Former Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust chief executive Rose Gibb has won the right to continue her battle for a severance package.
Incentive paradox dogs weight loss procedures

17 September 2009
Despite NICE guidance, the fatter you get and the poorer your health outlook the better your chances may be of accessing bariatric surgery. Alison Moore reports on criteria that are proving hard to standardise across commissioning groups
NHS staff benefits: for the chop?

4-Sep-2009
Cherished perks for NHS staff such as workplace nurseries and subsidised canteens could be the first thing cash-strapped employers look to cut. Alison Moore investigates
Bullying row trust appoints new non execs

12-Aug-2009
Two new non-executive directors have been appointed at a trust at the centre of a row over alleged bullying and harassment to hit targets by the strategic health authority.
DH will probe how row over NHS targets led to bullying claims

29-Jul-2009
The Department of Health is to launch an independent review into allegations of bullying and harassment against East Midlands strategic health authority.
Resigning trust chair calls for David Nicholson to investigate 'SHA pressure'

27-Jul-2009
The chair of an acute trust has resigned, calling on NHS chief executive David Nicholson to investigate the behaviour of East Midlands strategic health authority in pressurising him to meet access targets.
Trusts offer A&E doctors generous paid leave

16 July 2009
Trusts are offering middle grade doctors jobs with additional paid hours and generous study leave to keep their accident and emergency departments running.
The calm after the storm: what chief executives do after 'goodbye'

7-Jul-2009
NHS chief executive is a high profile job and every now and then one such leader suffers a public execution - but these days there is no guarantee of another job in the system for those who leave under a cloud. Alison Moore asks what fate has in store for an ex-manager
Does my daughter have swine flu?

7-Jul-2009
It’s been a tough month for my 12-year-old; she dislocated an elbow on an activity trip, was involved in a car accident, and then, last Friday, went down with suspected swine flu.
NHS Counter Fraud Service slated after trial collapses

25 June 2009
The former chief executive of a private hospital group has criticised the NHS Counter Fraud Service and police after his trial for fraud collapsed.
Heatwave planning gets PCTs hot under the collar

18 June 2009
While public attention has been diverted by swine flu, the predicted heatwave this summer also poses a danger to life, particularly to older people
How long can Southend Hospital remain off the NHS Agenda for Change?

21 May 2009
Southend University Hospital opted out of Agenda for Change and local terms and conditions for 95 per cent of its eligible staff. Alison Moore looks at how this independence is working out
Eccleshill to stay in Care Quality Commission’s spotlight

20-May-2009
An independent treatment centre has been warned the Care Quality Commission will continue “to cast a very bright light” on its services to ensure it continues to improve.
Sink or swim: how small hospitals survive competition

20-May-2009
Small district general hospitals are often the heart of their communities but their survival is only assured by outmanoeuvring the big trusts. By Alison Moore
Rose Gibb to take case to Court of Appeal

18-May-2009
Rose Gibb is to fight on in her battle to get her £250,000 payoff - making a double-pronged approach to the Court of Appeal and an employment tribunal.
NHS out of pocket as contract ends for cataract treatment centre

14 May 2009
The first independent treatment centre to complete a five year contract will have delivered about 20 per cent less work than it was paid for, HSJ can reveal.
Rose Gibb: The case that puts a stop to big pay-off cheques

7 May 2009
Former chief executive Rose Gibb’s failure to secure the large severance sum she believed she was assured of marks a sea change in how the NHS handles pay-offs, reports Alison Moore
Rose Gibb judgement ends era of pay-offs

28-Apr-2009
NHS managers could increasingly turn to employment tribunals with the rights and wrongs of their dismissals debated in public after Rose Gibb lost her claim for breach of contract, her union leader has warned.
Rose Gibb: what the judge said about Maidstone and the SHA

28-Apr-2009
Rose Gibb said after the judgement: “This matter has been difficult for all parties and there can be no winners.” Read what the judge, Mr Justice Treacy, had to say about those involved.
Rose Gibb judgement is 'the right decision', says Maidstone chief

28-Apr-2009
The chief executive of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust has welcomed the High Court judgement that it did not breach its former chief executive Rose Gibb’s contract.
Shock Rose Gibb court judgement

28-Apr-2009
Rose Gibb has lost her claim against Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust for breach of contract.
Surgicentre contract signed after six years

23 April 2009
An independent treatment centre that will treat up to 15,000 NHS patients a year has been given the go-ahead - six years after it was first proposed.
Corporate skills required for foundation trust governance

2 April 2009
Boards require the skills of blue-chip firms to deal with the risks that come with foundation status. Alison Moore examines how trusts have adapted to make the most of their freedoms
Next stage review: SHAs steer Darzi plans through financial storm

19 March 2009
The recession and the subsequent question marks over funding mean SHAs’ visions published last year are being recast. But, as Alison Moore finds out, many have made strong progress regardless
Pay-off was not irrationally generous, says Rose Gibb's lawyer

30-Jan-2009
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust was not 'irrationally generous' in giving former chief executive Rose Gibb a £250,000 pay-off, because it took into account all the relevant considerations, a court heard yesterday.Read more on the Rose Gibb case>>
Rose Gibb’s loss of career was “not a small price to pay”

29-Jan-2009
The government would never have permitted any payment for Rose Gibb beyond her contractual entitlement, her barrister told the High Court today.
£250,000 payoff to Rose Gibb was unjustified, court hears

29-Jan-2009
The board of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust acted beyond its powers in agreeing a payoff of £250,000 to former chief executive Rose Gibb, the High Court heard yesterday.
David Flory admits Rose Gibb was 'unjustly denied' employment rights

28-Jan-2009
David Flory has admitted in the High Court that Rose Gibb was ‘unjustly denied’ of her right to claim unfair dismissal from her position as chief executive of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust.
Rose Gibb ‘hounded, victimised and demonised’ by Alan Johnson

28-Jan-2009
Rose Gibb has described in court how she was “hounded, victimised and demonised” by the local health service and health secretary Alan Johnson.
Rose Gibb defends NHS chief executives in witness box

27-Jan-2009
Rose Gibb told the High Court today that if NHS chief executives resigned every time a patient died “there would be an awful lot of empty seats in the NHS”.In the witness box this morning, Ms Gibb defended her record running Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust. She said the trust had never been complacent about patient safety.
Rose Gibb lawyer claims payoff was fair

27-Jan-2009
Rose Gibb’s battle to get her compensation payoff went to the High Court yesterday – where she was met by a barrage of photographers and cameramen.Ms Gibb - who is expected to give evidence today - is suing her former employer, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust, for breach of contract. She was chief executive.
Rose Gibb goes to court to fight for payoff

26-Jan-2009
Rose Gibb, the former chief executive of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust, goes to the High Court today to try to get her controversial payoff.Ms Gibb, who left the trust just days before the publication of a critical Healthcare Commission report into outbreaks of C difficile, is claiming damages for breach of contract of between £250,000 and £300,000.
Rose Gibb's pay bid heads for court

22-Jan-2009
The former chief executive of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust goes to court next week in a bid to get her controversial pay-off.
Patient safety reporting: the eyes have it

19-Jan-2009
In the second in our series on improving patient safety, Alison Moore looks at a trust whose team of frontline 'risk eyes' has encouraged a good reporting culture
Maidstone celebrates huge strides in war on C difficile

15-Jan-2009
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust has been praised for the progress it has made on tackling infection control - but has been warned it should not relax.
Health tourism: don't forget your toothbrush…

12-Jan-2009
Estimates suggest as many as 150,000 Britons will travel abroad for medical treatment this year. But how is health tourism likely to affect the NHS, asks Alison Moore
Maidstone praised for infection control progress

9-Jan-2009
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust has been praised for the progress it has made on tackling infection control - but trust managers have been warned they should not relax.The Healthcare Commission made a series of visits to the trust in October and November - a year after its critical report into a series of deaths from C difficile at the trust. In its report, published today, it said the trust had made 'substantial improvements' and 'huge ...
PCTs struggle to cope with cost of increased referrals

11-Dec-2008
Primary care trusts are struggling to cope with the financial fallout of increased referrals, with some now expecting the extra costs to drive them into deficit.
Patient safety: communication solution

8-Dec-2008
Reporting errors helps trusts to spot problems early on. How can you persuade staff to open up? Alison Moore finds out
Hygiene inspections: trusts must clean up in fear of harsh penalties

4-Dec-2008
Last week's Healthcare Commission report found most trusts are not sticking to the hygiene code. The launch of the new regulator next year means they may not get away with it for long. Alison Moore reports
Obesity leaves eating disorders in the shade

20-Nov-2008
While national guidelines have stimulated change in crisis areas of mental health, eating disorders are only just beginning to receive the attention and specialist services sufferers need. Alison Moore reports
Bringing business leaders to the NHS board table

14-Nov-2008
An innovative scheme is allowing managers in big companies to put themselves forward as non-executive directors in the NHS - getting themselves valuable experience for their CVs, as well as bringing their skills and business acumen to trust and PCT boards
Proposed supertrust could start life £200m in the red

13-Nov-2008
A new supertrust could provide health services throughout much of south east London from next April - but would start life with a debt of more than £200m.
Trafford Healthcare trust urged to restore confidence

13-Nov-2008
A trust that withdrew the offer of a chief executive's job two weeks after announcing the appointment has been told it should be open about the reasons.
Trust withdraws job offer from chief convicted of drink-driving

5-Nov-2008
A hospital trust has withdrawn the offer of a job from its new chief executive - two weeks after publicly announcing she was to take up the post.Jane Perrin had been due to take over at Trafford Healthcare trust towards the end of the year and had already met some staff.
Providing healthcare on a small island

1-Nov-2008
Some islanders 'would rather be crippled than go to the mainland for an operation'. Alison Moore reports on the goldfish-bowl world of remote island healthcare
NHS rationing: the time of their lives

27-Oct-2008
An ageing population means the question of whether some patients have more right to treatment than others will increasingly cause financial and moral conflicts. So whose quality-adjusted life year is it anyway, asks Alison Moore
Colonoscopy review triggers nearly 100 recalls

23-Oct-2008
Around 100 patients treated at an independent sector treatment centre have been offered further tests after concerns their procedures may not have been carried out thoroughly.
Maidstone boosts pay offer to tempt new chair

23-Oct-2008
A salary of £44,000 is being offered for a new chair for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust.
Why a health service redesign hit the rocks

23-Oct-2008
With controversial reconfiguration plans in Sussex appearing shelf-bound, Alison Moore looks at the lessons for other trusts and asks whether changes on that scale are just too unwieldy to succeed
Kent council launches NHS complaints helpline

16-Oct-2008
A county council has launched a new service to deal with complaints about the health service.
West Sussex puts hospital plan on ice after backlash

16-Oct-2008
A hospital reconfiguration plan has been suspended two years after controversial plans were first floated.
Mid Yorkshire Hospitals trust faces steep savings battle

9-Oct-2008
A hospital trust given a £77m financial rescue package this year will face considerable challenges to break even over the next few years, a confidential report has revealed.
Trust merger derails controversial reconfiguration plan

9-Oct-2008
A controversial reconfiguration plan has been put on hold - because two of the trusts affected are likely to merge. The boards of Royal West Sussex trust - based in Chichester - and Worthing and Southlands Hospitals trust have agreed the merger in principle and are now doing detailed work.
NHS infection control: a clean bill of health

6-Oct-2008
Last October Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust was the subject of sensational headlines over deadly superbug outbreaks. A year on, under a new chief executive, it is being transformed from ward to board
ISTCs: where are all the patients?

18-Sep-2008
Under-capacity independent sector treatment centres look set to leave the health service £350m out of pocket, despite an upturn in the number of patients treated. Could a system facelift improve usage? Alison Moore investigates
Whitehall will pay buildings costs on ISTCs

18-Sep-2008
The Department of Health has said it intends to pay any buy-back costs for independent sector treatment centres - taking a massive financial burden off primary care trusts.
NHS vocational training: branching out

15-Sep-2008
A mental health and learning disability trust has helped one of its rehabilitation schemes become a social firm. Alison Moore reports
Birkdale Clinic was 'in tolerable range'

11-Sep-2008
A private provider whose contract with a leading trust was suspended did not have significantly poor outcomes, an investigation has found.
Surge of acute contracts puts strain on PCTs' spend targets

11-Sep-2008
Primary care trusts are battling to stay clear of deficit as their finances come under pressure from a surge in secondary care work.Many PCTs overspent on their commissioning budgets for the first three months of the financial year and some are now looking to make savings in other areas to ensure they meet their financial target.
National service: health policy performance across the UK

28-Aug-2008
A&E attendances and emergency admissions have shot up in recent years - but only in England. Alison Moore asks why the record is so inconsistent across the UK
Emergency units traumatised as Darzi plans develop

21-Aug-2008
The next phase of reform will see major trauma go to regional centres, leaving smaller A&E units facing an uncertain future. Will they become unviable? Alison Moore finds out
Spring surge in GP referrals leaves managers mystified

14-Aug-2008
Referrals by GPs shot up in spring - putting extra pressure on trusts battling with December's 18-week referral to treatment target.
Managers losing sleep as 48-hour week nears

7-Aug-2008
The clock is ticking on the European working time directive, with only a year until junior doctors’ hours are cut. Alison Moore asks if trusts are ready to make the change
Reconfiguration panel is left kicking its heels

7-Aug-2008
The independent reconfiguration panel has been left with no referrals to examine after delivering three reports to the health secretary.
Trusts warned C difficile probe decision sets no precedent

7-Aug-2008
The decision not to launch a criminal investigation into deaths at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust will not set a precedent, NHS managers have been warned.
West Sussex refers reconfiguration decision to health secretary

31-Jul-2008
Major changes to hospitals in West Sussex have been referred to the health secretary after councillors said there was 'insufficient clarity' about which services would be provided where.
No prosecutions over Maidstone deaths

30-Jul-2008
No-one will face prosecution over the deaths of 90 patients from C difficile at a Kent trust, it was announced today.Kent police and the Health and Safety Executive said they would take no further action after a review prompted by the critical Healthcare Commission report into Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust.
Darzi drives doctors to scale the dizzy heights

10-Jul-2008
The next stage review makes a priority of getting more clinicians into leadership roles. Alison Moore explores the implications of the workforce strategy for clinical professionals
Recruitment questions: overseas staff in the NHS

7-Jul-2008
A few years ago, the service was in the spotlight for plugging staffing gaps with overseas workers. Now restrictions have been imposed as vacancies evaporate. Is the NHS right to aim for a 'self-sufficient' workforce?
Service improvement: dignity by design

7-Jul-2008
One trust's training programme around respect and sensitivity towards the patient is reaping rewards. Alison Moore explains how it works
Board members resign from troubled Scarborough trust

3-Jul-2008
Three board members have resigned from the troubled Scarborough and North East Yorkshire trust.
Trust ends contract after pay nightmare

3-Jul-2008
University Hospital of North Staffordshire has withdrawn from its contract with a payroll provider after months of mistakes in the pay packets of hundreds of staff.
NHS60: Retrospective

30-Jun-2008
Former chief executives and health authority leaders compare their challenges and ambitions with the picture they see emerging for managers today. By Alison Moore
Former trust chief suppresses pay details

26-Jun-2008
The former interim chief executive of a hospital trust has stopped it publishing details of his pay.
Inquiry into manslaughter case criticises care

19-Jun-2008
An independent inquiry into the treatment of a paranoid schizophrenic with delusions about prominent politicians and the royal family has criticised mental health services.
Regions braced for change as plans put Darzi's vision on map

19-Jun-2008
The strategic health authorities have set out their stalls but is there anything new in the proposals and are they likely to make regional variations in care inevitable? Alison Moore investigates
NEDs who guide trusts in crisis

30-May-2008
Non-executive directors often have to step into the breach when a trust is in meltdown. But what prompts NEDs to step forward at these times and what can they contribute? Alison Moore reports
End of postcode lottery could put PCTs in a spin

29-May-2008
The Primary Care Commissioning Network will pool PCTs' expertise to help them make decisions on using new treatments while they wait for NICE guidance. But trusts that choose to ignore the network's advice could find themselves facing a media storm. By Alison Moore
SHA releases psychiatric killers' reports

29-May-2008
Two reports into psychiatric patients who killed have been released by NHS East of England - more than five years after the incidents.
Turnaround troubleshooter at the top

26-May-2008
NHS fixer Jan Filochowski believes honesty with staff is the first step to dealing with a trust in crisis. Alison Moore reports
Call to curb Liverpool's pub and food outlets

15-May-2008
A ground-breaking commission looking into how to improve health in Liverpool has called for health impact assessments for planning applications to help fight obesity and alcohol-related problems.
Rising fuel prices push up healthcare overheads

15-May-2008
Sharp rises in oil and food prices are hitting the NHS hard, with energy and catering bills for big trusts in the millions and the situation likely to get worse. Alison Moore reports
Staff payment blunder at United Bristol Healthcare trust

15-May-2008
Hundreds of staff at a hospital trust have been left out of pocket after problems introducing the electronic staff record.
West Sussex A&E campaign undoes reconfiguration plans

15-May-2008
A two-year battle to keep accident and emergency services at all three hospitals in West Sussex has ended in partial victory for campaigners.
Kent council sets up 24-hour NHS complaints hotline

1-May-2008
A county council is setting up its own hotline for people who want to complain about or comment on local NHS services.
Leicestershire Partnership trust rapped over killer's treatment

1-May-2008
An independent review has criticised a mental health trust's treatment of a man who was repeatedly in contact with its services but went on to kill one neighbour and injure another.
Media Watch: nurses' paperwork

1-May-2008
Research suggesting nurses are drowning in paperwork generated a deluge of angry comment. 'The managers who preside over this shambles have blood on their hands,' screamed the News of the World.
Breaking away: Wales maps out its own future

24-Apr-2008
The Welsh Assembly has plans for a third way between an internal market and a command and control system, with local health boards losing control of the commissioning purse strings. Alison Moore explains
Nottingham ISTC delays continue

24-Apr-2008
The opening date of England's biggest single site independent sector treatment centre is still uncertain - amid signs that the potential financial impact on local NHS bodies is causing concern.
Single room hospital gets go-ahead

27-Mar-2008
The NHS's first all-single-room acute hospital has been given the final go-ahead. The Department of Health announced last week that construction work could start on Pembury Hospital in Kent by the end of the month.
Lift-off for air ambulances as government comes calling

20-Mar-2008
The NHS is suddenly showing a lot of interest in buying into air ambulances. So are these charity services ready to do business? Alison Moore reports
Union warns over offensive email activity

6-Mar-2008
NHS organisations need policies in place to deal with staff accessing offensive material on work computers, NHS Employers has said.
Trust reveals price of advice on chief's payout

28-Feb-2008
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust has revealed it spent nearly £23,000 on legal advice over the severance payment to its former chief executive Rose Gibb.
Staff sacked after offensive image probe

27-Feb-2008
A foundation trust has sacked 13 staff and disciplined 28 others after an eight-month investigation into offensive images that were sent by email around its hospitals.Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals foundation trust is still investigating 10 staff members.
Fraud charges

25-Feb-2008
Two former directors of a private hospital group have been charged with conspiracy to defraud the NHS.The move by Norfolk police follows an investigation lasting more than a year into financial irregularities at Cawston Park Hospital, one of three psychiatric hospitals run by Chancellor Care. The NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service was also involved in the investigation.The ...
Hospitals gain ground in acute services battle

21-Feb-2008
Three West Sussex hospitals have moved a step closer to retaining many of their acute services.
All or nothing: patients are told no to private top-ups

14-Feb-2008
Patients who choose to buy drugs that the NHS will not fund are being told they will have to pay for all their treatment - not just that part. Should trusts relent and offer mix-and-match packages of care, or would that mean a two-tier service? Alison Moore reports
Care 'top-up' ban may face day in court

14-Feb-2008
A leading solicitor has warned that the government's ban on NHS patients 'topping up' their care will end up before the courts.
Council opposes East Sussex maternity plans

7-Feb-2008
Changes to maternity services in East Sussex have been put on hold after the county council's health scrutiny committee referred the plans to the health secretary.
Call to bar worst managers

31-Jan-2008
The leader of the UK's hospital doctors is calling for greater regulation of managers - with powers to stop them working in healthcare in extreme cases.
Commission calls for power to suspend non-executives

31-Jan-2008
Chairs and non-executive directors of hospital and primary care trusts that have lost the confidence of their local communities could face suspension in future.
Community hospitals grab local care lifeline

31-Jan-2008
Two years after Our Health, Our Care, Our Say promised to shift care away from the acute sector, community hospitals are redefining how they provide services. Alison Moore looks at the emerging models and asks what has held up progress
At the heart of change - reducing coronary heart disease

28-Jan-2008
ISIP is helping to pull together existing work on prevention and treatment to tackle Hull's high mortality rates, reports Alison Moore
Anger over C difficile pay-off

25-Jan-2008
The former chief executive of a trust at the centre of an infection control scandal is to get a £75,000 pay-off.Rose Gibb, who led Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust, will only get her 'legal entitlement' of six months' salary, the trust said yesterday.
Managers who went from Richmond House to the NHS

21-Jan-2008
Life at the top of the health service is enough to make even the toughest go-getter think of quitting, which is what our interviewees did - only to jump back in at a more grass-roots level. HSJ finds out about now and then
Waiting times: early runners set to be first past 18-week post

6-Dec-2007
The 13 'early achiever' trusts are on the final straight of the 18-week referral to treatment target, although some have yet to clear the last hurdle. Alison Moore reports on efforts to eliminate waiting list backlogs as the rest of the field looks on
Maidstone non-executive directors warn of 'scapegoating'

29-Nov-2007
Three non-executive directors who resigned from Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust are to write to non-executives around the country outlining their experience - and warning it could happen to others.
PCT abandons emergency surgery site

29-Nov-2007
A Lincolnshire hospital is to lose its emergency general surgery for good - nine months after it was suspended as a temporary measure.
Keeping non-executive directors in the NHS game

26-Nov-2007
Non-executive directors in the NHS are increasingly being recruited from business backgrounds. How do they cope with such a different environment, asks Alison Moore
A&E shake-up plans face clinical opposition

15-Nov-2007
Plans to radically change hospital services in West Sussex - including downgrading two out of three accident and emergency departments - are facing competition from new options favoured by clinicians.
All non-executives resign from infection-hit Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells

15-Nov-2007
All the non-executives of a trust at the centre of an infection control scandal have left.
Franchise plan for primary care draws fire from GPs

15-Nov-2007
A primary care trust is planning an innovative strategy to franchise out 'branded' primary care centres.
Systems blamed as North Bristol trust workers overpaid

15-Nov-2007
A hospital trust that overpaid staff by £160,000 has blamed teething problems with the new NHS-wide electronic staff record system.
Treasury may veto golden handshakes for trust chief executives

8-Nov-2007
Future pay-offs to senior managers who leave under a cloud may have to be approved by the Treasury. It follows the furore over severance pay to former Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust chief executive Rose Gibb.
Dropping diagnostic deals could scare away investors

1-Nov-2007
Cancellations of diagnostic contracts with the independent sector could damage confidence in future deals, investors have warned.
Has the PCT reconfiguration delivered the results it promised?

1-Nov-2007
A year after the number of PCTs was slashed, the annual health check has found the reconfigured organisations to be the worst performers. So was the pain worth it, asks Alison Moore
Trusts 'shell' bed space to keep grip on PFI approval

1-Nov-2007
Hospital trusts are being forced to mothball significant numbers of beds to get government approval for private finance initiative deals.
Behind closed doors: is Kent infection scandal a one-off?

25-Oct-2007
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells’ Clostridium difficiledeaths drew intense scrutiny. Alison Moore looks at what went wrong, how it was kept quiet and lessons for the rest of the service
Former Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells chair was 'hung out to dry'

18-Oct-2007
The chair of the hospital trust at the centre of an infection control scandal has attacked centralised control of the NHS as he stepped down.
Foreign affairs: migration and the NHS

15-Oct-2007
Uncertainty about the number of migrant workers in Britain means that planning for demand on local NHS services may become increasingly tricky, writes Alison Moore
Confed tells clinicians to stand up for sacked chief executives

11-Oct-2007
The head of the NHS Confederation has called on clinicians to 'march on the street' if their chief executives are sacked.
Healthcare Commission lists a catalogue of failings in handling of C difficile outbreaks

11-Oct-2007
A Kent trust has been slated by the Healthcare Commission for failing to protect patients against infection.
Leicester interim chief

5-Oct-2007
An interim chief executive is to be paid£33,000 a month to run a hospital trust – thought to be one of the highest salaries the NHS has ever offered.Consultant Derek Smith, brought in at University Hospital of Leicester trust following the resignation of Peter Reading last month, is to be paid£100,000 for an initial three months’ work.David Morgan, staffside chairman at the trust, said: ...
ISTC contract shortcomings are exposed

4-Oct-2007
An HSJ investigation has found that the vast majority of independent sector treatment centres did not deliver the work contracted for in 2006-07.
Money for nothing in the ISTC labour crisis

4-Oct-2007
They were meant to cut waiting times for routine operations, but independent sector treatment centres continue to go under-used while primary care trusts foot the bill. Alison Moore reports
Leicester chief resigns after failed PFI project

27-Sep-2007
The chief executive of one of the country's biggest trusts has stepped down from his job amid claims that he was made a scapegoat for an abandoned private finance initiative deal.
Private company to announce 12 new hospital sites

27-Sep-2007
A private healthcare company will announce sites for 12 new hospitals and five 'mini polyclinics' within the next two months.
Picture probe as four sacked in Newcastle

20-Sep-2007
Two hospital trusts are investigating staff for viewing inappropriate images on work computers.
Trust in bully probe praised for progress

20-Sep-2007
A hospital trust has been praised for the way it has tackled problems of bullying and harassment.
When will NHS digital dreams become a reality for patients?

20-Sep-2007
The internet is helping feed the public's huge appetite for information. But with NHS websites struggling to live up to their potential and fears of a 'digital divide', how is the health service going to meet this challenge? Alison Moore reports
'Albatross' private finance charges slated in research

13-Sep-2007
Trusts with large private finance initiative projects are facing continued pressure to cut services and jobs to meet payments, two leading researchers have claimed.
PFI hospitals plan to lose management posts

13-Sep-2007
Two hospitals with private finance initiative projects are preparing to cut hundreds of jobs.
Trust escapes repayment of debts

13-Sep-2007
A trust which was threatening to make hundreds of staff redundant has been told it need not pay back £20.7m historic debt - provided it manages its finances better.
Shelved report exposes PFI management problems

28-Jun-2007
An unpublished report into private finance initiative hospitals has highlighted the problems trusts face in performance managing and enforcing contracts.
Trust battles with council over 'disastrous' A&E closure plans

28-Jun-2007
West Sussex primary care trust is heading for a battle with the county council over plans to close two accident and emergency departments.
ITC plans scrapped: NHS services are 'better value'

21-Jun-2007
Plans for an independent sector treatment centre at Hemel Hempstead Hospital have been dropped because it would have been too expensive.
Service cuts urged at non-PFI hospitals

14-Jun-2007
Primary care trusts wanting to reconfigure services were given a stark message in an economic analysis prepared for the NHS in London: financially, it will make sense to cut beds and services at non-private finance initiative hospitals.
Why bed-blocking is making an unwelcome comeback

12-Apr-2007
Fines for social services departments brought early success in reducing bed-blocking, but the numbers are creeping up again as more difficult problems - which may be a result of targets and choice - rise to the surface. Alison Moore investigates.
DoH orders review into £257m diagnosis contract

29-Mar-2007
A massive diagnostics contract with the private sector has been delayed. because of concerns about quality and administrative procedures.
East Sussex A&E proposals criticised by local MPs

1-Jan-2007
Trust considers alternating emergency care service between hospitals
Herts and minds: £100m hole that could defeat protesters

1-Jan-2007
Consultation starts next week on the shake-up of services in West Hertfordshire. Later in the summer, it will start for the north and east of the county. Reconfiguration in Bedfordshire and Herts has been talked about for 30 years, so will it happen, asks Alison Moore
Herts consultation labelled a 'sham'

1-Jan-2007
A Hertfordshire trust has announced plans to withdraw services from one of its sites - just 12 days after a public board meeting at which the issue was not discussed.
Maternity unit's near miss

1-Jan-2007
A trust has reversed its decision to close a maternity unit after threats from a local MP to raise the issue with the prime minister.
News analysis Trusts feel impact as PFI and payment by results collide

1-Jan-2007
Cash-strapped trusts locked into expensive and inflexible PFI deals have always faced particular challenges. But with payment by results making no allowance for the extra costs they face, their future is looking bleak indeed. Alison Moore reports
Service 'collapse' warning

1-Jan-2007
The clinical director of a sexual health service has warned that it is on the brink of collapse because of spending cuts.
Test strip price cut is 'step back' in diabetes care

1-Jan-2007
People with diabetes could suffer if the Department of Health goes ahead with planned cuts in the prices for glucose testing strips, an industry body has warned.
Trust faces bill for dropped PFI deal

1-Jan-2007
A £167m scheme to centralise a hospital trust's services on one site has been dropped at a likely cost of £10m. Essex Rivers Healthcare trust made because the decision because the opening of a new independent treatment centre would have made it unaffordable and because the plans did not align with the government's desire to move more services into the community.
United Lincolnshire trust non-execs angry at 'shoddy' treatment

1-Jan-2007
Two non-executive directors have spoken out after they and five others resigned from a trust board - leaving just the chair and executive members in place.
Child visitors face ban

19-Oct-2006
A hospital trust has drawn up contingency plans to severely restrict child visitors if patients are at risk from diarrhoea and vomiting bugs.
New chief for scandal trust

5-Oct-2006
A new chief executive has been parachuted into a trust at the centre of a waiting-list scandal.
A&E under threat in shake-up

28-Sep-2006
Plans for a major shake-up of hospital services in Surrey and Sussex are likely to include closing several accident and emergency departments.
Analyses show under-use of ITC capacity

21-Sep-2006
Independent treatment centres have carried out fewer than three-quarters of the procedures they have been paid for, according to new figures from the Conservatives.
Mental health guidance 'will mean huge extra workload'

22-Jan-1998
Tens of thousands of patients may need to be assessed to determine if they should be sectioned under the Mental Health Act, under new guidance issued by the NHS Executive. Managers fear a huge rise in workload in having to comply with the requirement.

Alastair McLellan

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Health Service JournalAlison Moore

Health Service Journal
Alison Moore