Health Service Journal
10 May 2012
View all stories from this issue.
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London doctors receive new support with revalidation
A support service has been launched in London to offer assistance to doctors at all stages of their careers ahead of revalidation, which is due to begin later this year. -
£300m contract out for Midlands pathology services
STRUCTURE: Community pathology services across the Midlands could undergo a major reorganisation, the publication of a £300m tender document has revealed. -
Access to 'Top Leaders' coaching to be expanded
The Department of Health is considering expanding access to the intensive leadership coaching only currently available to those on the elite “Top Leaders” scheme, HSJ has learnt. -
Air ambulance suspension lifted after fault concerns
Suspended air ambulance services across England will resume operation this week after being grounded over safety fears. -
Analysed: the future structure of community services in East Anglia
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
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. -
Birmingham FT £1.8m behind on CIP
FINANCE: University Hospital Birmingham Foundation Trust achieved 91 per cent of its £18.8m cost improvement plan savings in 2011-12. -
Burstow attacks move to close his local A&E
A panel appointed to look at the options for downgrading a hospital in south west London has recommended closing health minister Paul Burstow’s local A&E and maternity department. -
CCGs appointing non-NHS staff 'must justify' redundancy costs
Clinical commissioning groups that choose to appoint staff from outside the NHS, adding to redundancy costs, should be prepared to publicly justify their decisions, the NHS Commissioning Board has said. -
Chesterfield Royal units get upgrade
STRUCTURE: Work is due to begin next month on a major upgrade to the Women’s Health Unit and a maternity ward at the Chesterfield Royal Hospital. -
Circle publishes Hinchingbrooke patient feedback
Hinchingbrooke Hospital - the first acute NHS hospital to be run by a private company - is collecting feedback from every patient and publishing it on its website. -
'Clinical engagement cannot be considered too expensive now'
Clinical engagement is key for high value organisations, even in times of financial instability, Richard Bohmer tells Daloni Carlisle. -
Commissioning board announces regional directors
The NHS Commissioning Board has this afternoon announced that four primary care trust and strategic health authority bosses have been appointed as regional directors. -
Commissioning board moves to halt NHS director exodus
The NHS Commissioning Board is attempting to stem the rapid drop in the number of senior clinical advisers by bringing in more expertise from primary care, NHS medical director Sir Bruce Keogh has told HSJ. -
Contingency funds secure surplus at Birmingham and Solihull MH trust
FINANCE: Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust achieved a £400,000 surplus in 2011-12, but only after releasing £2.2m of contingency funding. -
David Worskett: implementing reforms requires collaborative open minds
The Health and Social Care Act has had a long, turbulent passage through Parliament. Now it is on the statute book, independent sector NHS providers hope they can get back to sensible partnership working that helps patients. -
Devon CCGs confirm authorisation plans
STRUCTURE: South Devon and Torbay Clinical Commissioning Group is hoping to be among the first wave of CCGs to be authorised, while North East and West (NEW) Devon CCG is aiming for wave three. -
DH appoints civil servant to prepare for Mid Staffordshire report
A senior Whitehall civil servant has been put in charge of preparing the government’s response to the Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust public inquiry. -
Elective activity soars as emergency care drops at Sandwell trust
PERFORMANCE: Elective activity is more than 10 per cent over its planned level at Sandwell and West Birmingham Trust. -
Final days of survey on Leicestershire community services
The East Leicestershire and Rutland Clinical Commissioning Group is asking for views on elective care services such as out-patient appointments, minor injury units and minor surgery. -
Four principles to improve the care of older patients
Ian Philp offers four key principles for overhauling services for ageing patients. -
Growth of senior managers' pay stalls
Senior health service managers have seen their pay “grind to a halt”, new data suggests. -
Harmoni wins £8m out-of-hours and NHS 111 contract
COMMERCIAL: Private provider Harmoni has won an £8m out-of-hours and NHS 111 contract in south London. -
Health economies rush to pilot year-of-care tariff
More than 90 sets of providers and commissioners have shown interest in becoming one of the six trial sites for year-of-care tariff trials, HSJ has learned. -
Health staff expected to join walkout over pensions
A fresh wave of industrial action will be held this week against the government’s controversial public sector pension reforms, with union leaders predicting that up to 400,000 workers could be involved. -
How enhanced recovery can improve elective surgery experiences and outcomes
An enhanced recovery pathway at a London trust has led to benefits including earlier discharge for patients. Lisa Hollins and colleagues explain how they did it. -
How many care scandals are we missing as reform rolls on?
HSJ this week reveals there has been a massive rise in the turnover in staff responsible for monitoring quality for commissioners since the reforms began. -
How NHS employers can successfully resolve workplace conflicts
Gemma Brown identifies the key points to enable NHS employers to make the most of bad situations. -
Increased income at Birmingham trust exceeds overspend
FINANCE: Clinical divisions at University Hospitals Birmingham reported a £1.5m favourable variance in divisional income against expenditure for 2011-12, due to healthcare income £13.3m more than expected. -
Jim Easton: current squeeze 'just a rehearsal'
The current financial squeeze on health services is only a “rehearsal” for a long-term push to make the NHS financially sustainable, efficiency chief Jim Easton said today. -
Joint working to prevent falls could save cash
A more integrated approach to preventing falls could cut incidents by up to 30 per cent, saving money and bed days, a report from the NHS Confederation has found. -
Lansley vetoes reform risk register publication
The government has vetoed the publication of a risk register on the implementation of its NHS reforms, which it had been ordered to publish by an independent tribunal. -
Lessons learned from war injuries
RESEARCH: Lessons learned by doctors and surgeons treating injured soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan in the past decade have been set out in a new report. -
Local commissioning board offices will be fewer than planned
The NHS Commissioning Board has announced it is rethinking the structure of its local offices to avoid “crowding out” clinical commissioning groups. -
Mental health trust wins substance misuse contracts
COMMERCIAL: Derbyshire Healthcare FT has embarked on a new three-year contract to provide substance misuse services to people in the city of Derby and wider county. -
Michael White: driving down the cost of drug deals
I chuckled, then paused, listening to a spokesman for the drug firm Novartis struggling to explain to Radio 4’s Evan Davis why the NHS should not be allowed to use his company’s cancer drug, Avastin, to tackle a nasty eye condition. -
Mid Staffs hit by norovirus
PERFORMANCE: Norovirus has led to three wards being closed at the Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust, which is urging members of the public with symptoms not to visit the hospital. -
Midlands trust helps jobseekers find work
WORKFORCE: A Midlands hospital is helping to get people back into work after teaming up with the Jobcentre Plus. -
Mixed sex breaches at Luton and Dunstable
PERFORMANCE: There were 19 mixed sex accommodation breaches in February at Luton and Dunstable Hospital. -
Monitor admits credit ratings agency plan may not be feasible
Monitor is reviewing its controversial proposals to require key service providers to receive external credit ratings or have limits placed on their debts. -
New chief executive to start at Calderdale FT
WORKFORCE: Owen Williams, the new Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust chief executive, is due to start imminently. -
New patient group to be launched at East Kent Hospitals
PERFORMANCE: East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust is to launch a new patient involvement initiative. -
NHS Hillingdon awards NHS 111 pilot contract to Harmoni
COMMERCIAL: The north west London primary care trust awarded the £1.3m contract to the Watford-based provider as part of the national wave two of the NHS 111 service pilots. -
NHS managers accept government pensions deal
Managers working in the NHS have voted to accept the government’s final pension offer. -
Norfolk and Norwich occupational health service accredited
WORKFORCE: The workforce health and wellbeing service at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals Foundation Trust has been accredited by the Facility of Occupational Medicine. -
Norfolk and Suffolk FT wins £17m contract
COMMERCIAL: Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust has been awarded a £17.7m contract to run the Suffolk Wellbeing Service (SWS) aimed at helping patients manage stress, anxiety and depression. -
Northern Devon ahead on surplus
FINANCE: Northern Devon Healthcare Trust finished 2011-12 with a surplus of £1.6m about £23,000 ahead of its revised agreed plan with NHS South of England. -
Northumbria FT wins grant to help Tanzania health services
FINANCE: Northumbria Healthcare Foundation Trust has won a government grant which will see some of its health professionals train staff in Tanzania. -
Ombudsman criticises care at Sherwood Forest Trust
PERFORMANCE: A patient’s life might have been saved if care at the Sherwood Forest Hospitals Foundation Trust had not been so poor, according to the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman. -
Pathology service delivering clinical efficiencies and quality
At the forefront of innovative managed laboratory services for a decade, Roche’s new managed pathology service delivers an efficient, high quality end-to-end pathology service that answers to the individual challenges faced by clinical teams. -
Prostate cancer rates now top 40,000 annually
More than 40,000 men a year in the UK are being affected by prostate cancer, a charity’s research has show. -
Readers' letters – 10 May 2012
There’s no place for gags about the Samaritans. Plus, commissioners must not rule out telehealth yet -
Reducing emergency admissions key for Derby FT
Derby Hospitals Foundation Trust will seek to cut its number of emergency admissions to help it save £24.6m -
Report urges radical NHS centralisation
STRUCTURE: Health bodies in Wales need to centralise swathes of their services if they are to avoid collapse, according to an industry expert. -
Restrictions imposed again on senior managers' bonuses
Very senior managers in the NHS will have their ability to earn bonuses on top of their pay restricted for the second successive year. -
Safety fears grow as upheaval of care quality staff triples
The government’s health reforms have sparked a tripling of turnover among the NHS managers, nurses and doctors responsible for monitoring hospital care quality. -
Sally Gainsbury: new bailouts required for new deficits
The NHS has had some bad health secretaries over the years, but only one – Patricia Hewitt – can claim to have almost single handedly created a deficit crisis. -
Sandwell trust beats surplus target
FINANCE: Sandwell and West Birmingham Trust has beaten its surplus target for 2011-12. -
Seeing GP of choice would cut elective admissions - study
Significant hospital savings could result from ensuring patients see the doctor of their choice when they visit their GP, latest research findings suggest. -
Sheffield Hospitals to run pioneering stem cell collection centre
COMMERCIAL: Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is to become the first regional stem cell collection centre in the UK outside London. -
South of England region reports 'dramatic improvement' in stroke services
PERFORMANCE: The South of England strategic health authority cluster is reporting “dramatic improvement” in the number of patients receiving specialist stroke care in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Hampshire. -
South Tyne FT overhauls appraisal for senior medics
WORKFORCE: South Tyneside Foundation Trust had overhauled its senior medical appraisal process. -
St George's to begin HIV testing of A&E patients
PERFORMANCE: The pilot will see patients between 18 and 65 who are having a routine blood test in A&E offered the HIV test also. -
St Helens and Knowsley gets top marks for patient safety
PERFORMANCE: St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals Trust has scored top marks in its latest patient safety assessment. -
Staffordshire trusts join new patient body
STRUCTURE: A raft of NHS organisations have signed up to a new independent body created by a Midlands county council to improve public confidence in the health and social care sector. -
Study to assess nursing staff levels
WORKFORCE: Aintree University Hospitals FT has launched a month-long study to assess nursing staff levels. -
TIA clinic leads the way for Nottingham
STRUCTURE: Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has become one the first hospitals in the country to set up a dedicated nurse-led clinic to care for patients who have had a minor stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA). -
Trio of CCGs could be among first to gain authorisation
STRUCTURE: Three clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in Leicestershire and Rutland will be among the first to go through authorisation. -
Trust finalises quality strategy
PERFORMANCE: Leicestershire Partnership Trust has finalised a strategy setting out how it intends to measure and improve the quality of its services over the next three years. -
Waiting times risk rating worsens at Shropshire's orthopaedic trust
More than a third of admitted patients at Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital FT had to wait longer than 18 weeks to be treated. -
'Ward matrons' to manage care 24/7 at Sandwell trust
WORKFORCE: Sandwell and West Birmingham Trust is planning to create “ward matrons” in a bid to balance budgets and improve care quality. -
Why CCGs should prepare for managing financial risk
Managing financial risk is key for clinical commissioning groups so incentives and accountability measures must be established, say Joanne Buckle and Simon Moody. -
Why it's time community healthcare providers stepped up to the mark
There has never been a better opportunity for community health services to demonstrate and evidence the significant contribution it can make to the transformation of healthcare across the system, writes Tracy Taylor. -
Wonderful workplaces: how to design 'doable jobs' for staff
Staff are happiest and most productive when their jobs are “doable” – so how do we go about achieving this state of workplace nirvana, ask Lubna Haq and Sharon Crabtree.
