Health Service Journal
Dave West

Dave West is HSJ chief reporter. Dave focuses on commissioning and CCGs.

CCG Barometer: Confident commissioners voice gripes with new system

23-May-2013
Clinical commissioning group leaders’ confidence in delivering on their responsibilities has increased, but they are struggling to cope with significant confusion in the reformed NHS system.
Most leaders would leave if groups' budgets were given to councils, survey finds

23-May-2013
Large numbers of clinical commissioning group leaders would leave their roles if the groups’ budgets were given to local authorities, as has been proposed by the shadow health secretary.
Information, patient involvement and service change are weak areas, says CCG leaders

23-May-2013
Informatics, patient involvement, and service change are clinical commissioning group leaders’ weakest areas, according to their responses to the HSJ/GatenbySanderson barometer survey.
David Nicholson to retire by March 2014

21-May-2013
Sir David Nicholson will retire by March next year from his post as NHS England chief executive.
CCGs defy Hunt by planning to increase competition for out-of-hours GP care

21-May-2013
More than one in five clinical commissioning groups are planning to “introduce” competition for out-of-hours primary care in the next year, an exclusive HSJ survey reveals.
Clinical commissioners say GPs under pressure as A&E row escalates

20-May-2013
NHS Clinical Commissioners, which represents a large number of clinical commissioning groups, has said GP “workloads are at breaking points and GPs are ready to buckle under the strain”, which will affect willingness to take part in commissioning.
Updated: Interactive commissioning system map

15-May-2013
HSJ has updated its comprehensive interactive map of the reformed NHS commissioning system, showing critical details about the new organisations.
Hospitals leader: NHS reorganisation 'coming home to roost' in A&E failure

9-May-2013
The organisation representing English hospitals has said the government’s NHS reorganisation is in part to blame for the failure to maintain low accident and emergency waiting times.
Exclusive: Panic over Hunt plan to 'announce' A&E rescue fund

9-May-2013
Jeremy Hunt is seeking to announce a £300-£400m fund to “solve” the accident and emergency performance dive, but the money may not be available, according to emails seen by HSJ.
Health adviser to prime minister appointed

8-May-2013
Nick Seddon, deputy director of right-leaning think tank Reform, has been appointed health and social care adviser to the prime minister.
Exclusive: CCG performance and assurance regime unveiled

7-May-2013
Clinical commissioning groups will be rated four times a year on their performance and annually on their organisational capability, under a draft assurance regime to be published today.
Addressing hearing loss services 'could save £28m'

3-May-2013
The health service could save £28m by introducing a “joined up approach” to diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss and dementia, a charity has said.
One in 10 NHS England posts unfilled as system went live

29-Apr-2013
One in 10 posts at NHS England was unfilled as the organisation took its full powers, despite an “intensive recruitment programme”, board papers show.
Government approves £425m Royal Liverpool construction following delays

11-Apr-2013
The government has approved a £425m private finance initiative rebuild of the Royal Liverpool Hospital, following delays.
CCG representative group names GP leads

25-Mar-2013
A representative group for clinical commissioning groups has appointed two co-chairs of its leadership group.
New contract to be imposed on GPs

19-Mar-2013
The government has confirmed it will begin imposing significant changes to the GP contract at the end of the month.
Nicholson warns high-payout redundancies against quick return to NHS

18-Mar-2013
Sir David Nicholson has warned about the potential for primary care trust and strategic health authority directors to receive large redundancy payouts then seek quick re-employment in the NHS.
Fifteen CCGs given legal directions by commissioning board

15-Mar-2013
Fifteen clinical commissioning groups will be subject to close oversight and control by the NHS Commissioning Board as they take over budgets next month
Exclusive: National chief GP appointed by commissioning board

13-Mar-2013
The NHS Commissioning Board had appointed a deputy medical director for primary care, HSJ has learned.
Berwick will look at Francis report with 'a critical eye'

13-Mar-2013
The NHS faces a fresh wave of reform recommendations this summer aimed at improving quality and safety, with two influential reviews triggered by the Francis inquiry due to report in the same month.
Exclusive: Keogh mortality probe could be 'model' for chief inspector of hospitals

13-Mar-2013
NHS medical director Sir Bruce Keogh hopes his review of care quality at 14 acute trusts will provide a model for the future chief inspector of hospitals.
Aggregate hospital ratings 'risk leaving out what matters'

12-Mar-2013
A study into quality ratings for hospital trusts has found that single organisational measures - which are being explored by the government - “run the risk of leaving out what matters to patients with specific conditions”.
Commissioning board names Barbara Hakin as interim deputy chief

11-Mar-2013
The NHS Commissioning Board has announced that Dame Barbara Hakin will step up to be its interim chief operating officer and deputy chief executive.
Exclusive: Government confirms CCG quality premium rules

8-Mar-2013
Legal regulations are expected to confirm shortly that the clinical commissioning group quality premium bonus can be paid to individual GP practices but must “improve services for patients”, HSJ has learned.
Board approaches Mark Britnell over deputy chief role

7-Mar-2013
Former NHS director general Mark Britnell has been approached about the possibility of becoming the NHS Commissioning Board’s deputy chief executive, it has emerged.
Exclusive: Commissioning board appoints charity chief as patient experience director

4-Mar-2013
The NHS Commissioning Board has appointed Neil Churchill, chief executive of Asthma UK, as its director of patient experience, HSJ has learned.
NHS hospitals could be paid extra under 'cherry picking' rules

4-Mar-2013
Commissioners may need to increase the prices they pay to NHS hospitals left with more complex workloads after other providers have “cherry picked” the easier patients, new Department of Health guidance shows.
Exclusive: Government defends competition rules in letter to Parliament

1-Mar-2013
Lord Howe has written to Parliament playing down the effect of new competition rules, in an attempt to stave off political opposition, HSJ has learned.
Commissioning board chair backs Nicholson

28-Feb-2013
The NHS Commissioning Board has given its backing to its chief executive Sir David Nicholson, amid calls for his resignation.
Clinical involvement and collaboration emerge as key challenges for wave-three CCGs

22-Feb-2013
Joint commissioning and involving clinicians are the major challenges for newly-authorised clinical commissioning groups, HSJ research has revealed.
Government's ex-A&E adviser says it refused to let go of target

18-Feb-2013
The government’s former accident and emergency tsar has criticised its continued rigorous enforcement of the four hour waiting time target.
Only PCT with deficit begins cutting it

14-Feb-2013
FINANCE: The troubled North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust has slightly improved its large expected deficit - but has been asked to reduce it further.
Step up in quality scrutiny of commissioning groups likely to follow Francis

13-Feb-2013
Scrutiny of clinical commissioning groups and support units is set to be tightened in response to the Francis report.
Sheffield to step up community investment and agree risk share deal

12-Feb-2013
The NHS in Sheffield is expected to agree a step-up in investment in community services and a new risk sharing deal as part of a citywide programme aimed at reforming urgent care.
Analysis: system rejects Francis single regulator plans

12-Feb-2013
Robert Francis QC’s proposal for a single quality and finance regulator looks unlikely to be realised after key players rejected the idea. However, the government is working on plans to stiffen the consequences for boards that preside over care failures, HSJ has learned.
Analysed: Sheffield’s Right First Time reforms of urgent care

11-Feb-2013
This weeks HSJ Local Briefing examines the work by NHS organisations and the city council in Sheffield on a programme to reform services, particularly use of urgent care for older people and those with long-term conditions
Francis highlights problems with 'culture' and targets

6-Feb-2013
Robert Francis QC has criticised elements of the “culture” of the NHS and Department of Health, including overly tough performance management.
Exclusive: Hunt says Monitor will survive and run 'failure regime'

6-Feb-2013
Monitor will survive and is likely to take regulation and enforcement action, while the Care Quality Commission focuses on inspection, Jeremy Hunt has told HSJ.
Francis avoids direct criticism of top NHS leaders

6-Feb-2013
The Francis report has criticised the work of the strategic health authorities which oversaw Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust, but includes little direct criticism of specific leaders, including Sir David Nicholson.
CCGs seek to tighten screw on provider contracts

4-Feb-2013
Clinical commissioning group leaders entering their first contract negotiations want to tighten the screw on providers, at the same time as promoting service integration, HSJ’s CCG Barometer survey reveals.
CCG leaders claim confidence in detecting and preventing care failure

4-Feb-2013
CCG leaders say they would detect and prevent a serious care failure, an HSJ barometer survey reveals.
Ian Dalton quits NHS Commissioning Board for BT

31-Jan-2013
Ian Dalton, the NHS Commissioning Board’s deputy chief executive, is leaving the organisation to join BT Global Health.
Exclusive: Leaked DH report signals national A&E shakeup

30-Jan-2013
National officials are considering a major reorganisation of emergency services, including designating units as either “999 emergency departments” or “111 emergency departments”.
Full detail: Emergency care review seeks 'paradigm shift'

30-Jan-2013
A Department of Health review of emergency and urgent care calls for a “paradigm shift” in the NHS’s approach to those services.
CCGs concerned over loss of funds to commissioning board

29-Jan-2013
Clinical commissioning groups have raised concern about overspending in their first year of operation because they have “lost” large sums of money to the NHS Commissioning Board’s specialised services budget.
Three CCGs issued with legal directions

25-Jan-2013
Three clinical commissioning groups have been legally directed by the NHS Commissioning Board because of problems detected in authorisation.
Burnham plans £60bn NHS cash handover to councils

24-Jan-2013
The vast majority of NHS funding would be handed to councils under radical proposals being developed by the shadow health secretary.
Analysed: Labour's health blueprint

24-Jan-2013
What would be the impact of Andy Burnham’s proposals?
Patient leaders concerned over CCG lay member strength

21-Jan-2013
Some clinical commissioning groups have appointed lay people with insufficient experience and skills, patient leaders have said.
Nicholson: leading hospitals to be reshaped by commissioning board

14-Jan-2013
The board will use its position as “a big, powerful commissioner” to reshape England’s largest teaching and specialist hospitals, says Sir David Nicholson.
Sir David embraces partnership but 'hasn't given up on grip'

14-Jan-2013
The NHS commissioning board will not operate a “hierarchy of deference” but its chief executive has not “given up on having a grip”.
Nicholson 'really sorry' for HR problems

14-Jan-2013
NHS Commissioning Board chief executive Sir David Nicholson has told HSJ he is “really sorry” for the poor experience suffered by NHS staff whose jobs are under threat as a result of the reforms. However, he claimed that given the scale of the change, the human resources pprocess had been a “reasonably well ordered thing”.
Nicholson: savings from integration 'already spent'

14-Jan-2013
Policy makers should beware of thinking that integrating health and care services will save money, Sir David Nicholson has warned.
Nicholson argues he should survive to implement Mid Staffs recommendations

10-Jan-2013
NHS Commissioning Board chief executive Sir David Nicholson believes he should survive any criticism levelled at him by the forthcoming report into care failings at Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust.
Providers 'nervous' about commissioning board role in contract disputes

7-Jan-2013
NHS providers have called for clarification about who will arbitrate in contract disputes with commissioners once strategic health authorities are abolished.
Problem CCGs face 'greater scrutiny'

3-Jan-2013
Clinical commissioning groups with financial problems or a major reconfiguration in their area will be subject to additional checks by the NHS Commissioning Board, guidance says.
DH publishes 'cherry picking list' and tariff details

20-Dec-2012
The Department of Health has published a list of procedures which are liable to be “cherry picked” by independent providers, and could be paid for at a lower rate.
CCG budgets published

18-Dec-2012
The NHS Commissioning Board has published clinical commissioning groups’ budget allocations for 2013-14.
Full coverage: Commissioning board sets priorities and rules for 2013-14

18-Dec-2012
The NHS Commissioning Board today publishes its planning guidance for 2013-14.
CCG "progress" to be judged on 35 measures

18-Dec-2012
The NHS Commissioning Board will use 35 measures to track the “progress” of clinical commissioning groups during 2013-14.
Community physio 'first' awarded funding to spread

11-Dec-2012
The first community based service for treating a common orthopaedic problem has been found to improve patient experience and reduce costs, and been awarded funding to spread nationally.
Three quarters of first wave CCGs given authorisation 'conditions'

11-Dec-2012
More than three-quarters of the clinical commissioning groups which passed the national test to take on budgets have had “conditions” imposed on their authorisation.
GP contract: DH proposes new funding formula

10-Dec-2012
GP practice income should be more closely linked to deprivation from 2014, the Department of Health has proposed.
Lansley adviser criticises friends and family test focus

6-Dec-2012
Andrew Lansley’s former policy adviser has criticised the friends and family patient satisfaction test, saying it is “too narrow and too crude” to be the main focus of the NHS.
CCG budgets: Challenging or naive?

5-Dec-2012
Many CCG leaders are approaching important issues with a novel or naive attitude
Commissioners 'bombarded' with care cost claims

4-Dec-2012
Primary care trusts are each facing millions of pounds of unexpected costs after being “bombarded” with retrospective NHS Continuing Care claims, HSJ has learned.
Family GP firm named preferred bidder for 20 practices

30-Nov-2012
A company run by husband and wife GPs has been named as preferred bidder to run 20 practices in Liverpool and Sefton.
CCG bans GP member from governing body

30-Nov-2012
Bexley Clinical Commissioning Group has banned a member GP from standing to become a governing body representative.
Hunt defends return of £3bn to Treasury

22-Nov-2012
Jeremy Hunt has defended the return of nearly £3bn Department of Health funding to the Treasury in the past two years.
Dalton: move on from 'national versus local' debate

22-Nov-2012
The NHS should “move on from the debate about national versus local priorities”, the NHS Commissioning Board deputy chief executive has said, previewing the planning framework for next year.
Operating model published for specialised services

21-Nov-2012
The NHS Commissioning Board has published its operating model and commissioning intentions for specialised services.
Hakin: bear with managers 'trying to do two jobs'

21-Nov-2012
The national lead for commissioning development has urged clinical commissioning group leaders to bear with managers while they try “to do two jobs” during the rest of the transition to the new system.
CCGs told to set aside more than £2bn of budgets

21-Nov-2012
Clinical commissioning groups are being told to set aside more than £2bn of their budgets in their first year of operation.
Minister seeks to defend lack of GPs in CCG lead role

15-Nov-2012
Health minister Lord Howe has attempted to defend the health reforms against HSJ’s finding that fewer than a quarter of clinical commissioning groups will have a GP as their accountable officer.
CCGs reconsider staffing after running-cost funds reviewed

15-Nov-2012
The NHS Commissioning Board has recalculated clinical commissioning groups’ allowances for running costs, prompting claims some may have to consider sacking staff they have just employed.
Formal assembly for commissioners will avoid 'usual suspects'

14-Nov-2012
A formal national group for commissioning leaders launched today will help prevent NHS policy being developed only by the “usual suspects”, officials have said.
Mandate approach will avoid perverse incentives

13-Nov-2012
The government has rejected the use of fixed national targets in its mandate to the NHS Commissioning Board in favour of seeking continuous improvement against the NHS outcomes framework.
DH earmarks £2bn for commissioning system running cost

13-Nov-2012
The government has set the limit for the NHS commissioning system’s running costs at £2bn for 2013-14, including £676m for the NHS Commissioning Board itself.
Providers to be judged on integration and deaths from poor care

13-Nov-2012
NHS organisations will be judged by whether patients report their care as well integrated, and the number of deaths in hospital attributable to poor care, under the mandate.
Analysis: mandate may allow space for CCGs' freedom

13-Nov-2012
The first NHS mandate appears to allow leeway for clinical commissioning groups’ freedom, but there are suggestions some old style targets will remain.
Government reveals ‘historic’ first mandate

13-Nov-2012
The government has published its first mandate for the NHS, in what it said was a “historic” moment.
Exclusive: Hospital chiefs warned to check celebrities' access to patients

13-Nov-2012
All NHS hospitals have been told to review their approach to giving celebrities access to patients in light of the allegations about Jimmy Savile
CCG Barometer: CCGs fear political flak for controversial service shifts

8-Nov-2012
Clinical commissioning group leaders are enthusiastic about their ability to improve services, including through controversial moves such as closing emergency services and limiting treatments, but they fear politicians will stand in their way.
CCG Barometer: 'Weak support' a major concern for clinical commissioners

8-Nov-2012
Weak support services could be one of the greatest barriers to clinical commissioning groups’ success and undermine attempts to control spending, CCG leaders fear.
Exclusive: CCG leaders favour integration over competition

8-Nov-2012
The first survey of CCG leaders has found they want providers to work closer together
Exclusive: Jim Easton's commissioning board role to be split up

6-Nov-2012
Jim Easton will not be replaced, and the functions of his department will be split between four of the other NHS Commissioning Board national directors, HSJ has learned.
HSJ Briefing: General practice service and policy - summary

1-Nov-2012
Ie look at the growing pressure for general practice to meet rising NHS demand. Policy direction focuses on local commissioning board teams and CCGs working on a slow but steady path of improvement
Exclusive: GP practices' huge income variation revealed

1-Nov-2012
Some GP practices are paid substantially more than others, regardless of the number and type of patients they serve, HSJ analysis reveals.
Revealed: the cost of standardising practices' core income

1-Nov-2012
Standardising practices’ “core” income would mean a shift in funding worth about a quarter of a billion pounds, HSJ has estimated.
HSJ Briefing: general practice services and policy

30-Oct-2012
The growing pressure for general practice to meet rising NHS demand rests on a slow but steady path of improvement
UPDATED: Government seeks significant change to GP contracts

23-Oct-2012
The government will seek to make significant changes to GP contracts in coming years, including standardising practices’ income and introducing a new set of community services, it has announced.
Jeremy Hunt appoints special adviser on policy

18-Oct-2012
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has appointed a special political adviser for policy.
Outside groups could vie with NICE over guidance

18-Oct-2012
Professional organisations and interest groups could take on a formal role producing clinical commissioning guidance - potentially sidestepping the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
Lib Dem peers backtrack over CCG board membership vote

12-Oct-2012
Liberal Democrat peers have agreed to support government regulations under which councillors - and local doctors and nurses - are banned from clinical commissioning group governing bodies.
UPDATED: Jim Easton resigning to join Care UK

11-Oct-2012
Jim Easton is resigning from the Department of Health and NHS Commissioning Board to become the managing director of the private provider Care UK.
In full: CCG leader names

11-Oct-2012
Information is from Health Service Journal research in September and October 2012. Although the majority of clinical commissioning groups have now decided their chairs and accountable officers, in some cases they may still change. HSJ intends to publish updated lists in future.
Big drop in GPs lined up for CCG leader roles

11 October 2012
Less than a quarter of the clinical commissioning groups created under the government’s NHS reforms will have GPs as their accountable officers, an HSJ investigation has found.
NHS commissioners could be made to pool budgets with councils

10-Oct-2012
Care and Support Bill may require CCGs to pool budgets with local authorities
Hunt backs 'simple and short' NHS mandate

9-Oct-2012
The new health secretary wants to publish a “simple and short” mandate for the NHS, in order to “unleash local innovation”, he has said.
Health minister claims MPs becoming more 'responsible' about reconfiguration

8-Oct-2012
New health minister Daniel Poulter has insisted politicians are becoming more far-sighted in their approach to debates about service reconfiguration.
Commissioning board structure 'could harm specialised services'

5-Oct-2012
Campaigners have expressed concern the planning of services for highly specialised conditions may be become more fragmented, potentially harming patients, under plans for the NHS Commissioning Board structure.
Planning, complaints and collaboration are common problems for CCGs

2-Oct-2012
Early feedback from the clinical commissioning group authorisation process has highlighted planning, complaints and collaboration as some of the most difficult issues.
Huge variation in CCG staff numbers

27 September 2012
There will be huge variation between clinical commissioning groups’ internal staff numbers and their reliance on independent support services, according to the first analysis of the structure of the new groups.
Exclusive: Government faces Lib-Lab challenge over Health Act regulations

25-Sep-2012
The government is facing a joint Labour-Liberal Democrat challenge to Health Act regulations which impose restrictions on the membership of clinical commissioning group governing bodies.
Second Nicholson challenge required says top Lib Dem

24-Sep-2012
Former health minister Paul Burstow has called for a “Nicholson challenge two” review of future NHS and social care spending.
Jeremy Hunt not reviewing reconfiguration plans

20-Sep-2012
The incoming health secretary is not carrying out a review of hospital reconfiguration plans, contrary to a report, HSJ understands.
Mid Staffs inquiry report delayed until January

19-Sep-2012
The completion of the report of the public inquiry into care failings at Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust has been delayed until January, it was confirmed today.
Selbie: NHS has not 'done much good'

19-Sep-2012
The new chief executive of Public Health England has said the NHS’s effort to improve health and reduce illness over the past four decades “hasn’t worked and has not been sufficient”.
Exclusive: Mid Staffs inquiry report delayed further

18-Sep-2012
The long awaited final report of the public inquiry into the scandal at Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust is set to be further delayed, HSJ has learnt.
CCGs face temporary limits on authorisation

13 September 2012
Dozens of clinical commissioning groups are expected to have “temporary” restrictions placed on them when they are authorised, HSJ understands.
Media Watch: cancel the honeymoon

13-Sep-2012
Hunt’s media honeymoon was not short, but non-existent
Analysed: The reorganisation of commissioning in the North East

11-Sep-2012
The NHS in the North East has healthy finances but an unhealthy population. This briefing looks at how its new structure could overcome these problems.
Commissioning board promises CCGs a lighter planning 'ask'

11-Sep-2012
Clinical commissioning groups will need to report only a “minimum” set of quality, performance and finance information to the centre to support the NHS planning process, they have been told by the NHS Commissioning Board.
Constitution review set to promote compassion and evidence-based commissioning

11-Sep-2012
A government-commissioned review is likely to recommend all new nurses and healthcare assistants are screened for their values and ability to be compassionate.
Hakin: Quality premium will not come from £25 per head management allowance

10-Sep-2012
Clinical commissioning groups’ “quality premium” performance bonus will be separate from - and not funded by - their £25 per head management fund, the national commissioning lead has told HSJ.
Hunt urged to give GP commissioners autonomy

6-Sep-2012
GP and clinical commissioner representatives have given a cautious welcome to the new health secretary, urging him to maintain commitment to local autonomy.
Yorkshire savings rely on reconfiguration

6-Sep-2012
Two of the most challenged health economies in the country are relying on reconfigurations for savings.
Media Watch: Sir David and his board

6 September 2012
Mark Porter, chair of the BMA, declares his newspaper preference
Concern about service change delay as Hunt replaces Lansley

4-Sep-2012
Andrew Lansley has been sacked as health secretary and replaced by Jeremy Hunt, sparking concern about delays to critical NHS service change plans.
Reshuffle 2012 latest: live discussion

4-Sep-2012
Join HSJ’s live online discussion regarding the ministerial reshuffle now.
Jeremy Hunt replaces Andrew Lansley as health secretary

4-Sep-2012
Jeremy Hunt has been appointed as health secretary, replacing Andrew Lansley, in a ministerial reshuffle. Three of the department’s other ministers have also been replaced.
David Stout leaves NHS Confederation to run commissioning support organisations

3-Sep-2012
NHS Confederation deputy chief executive David Stout has been appointed as managing director of two commissioning support units, covering Hertfordshire and Essex.
Anti-reform doctor Kailash Chand elected as BMA deputy chair

3-Sep-2012
Retired GP Kailash Chand - one of the most high profile medical activists against the government’s health reforms - has been elected as deputy chair of the British Medical Association Council.
DH tightens up rules on PCT redundancies

30-Aug-2012
The Department of Health has tightened up the approval process for NHS redundancy payments as the abolition of primary care trusts and strategic health authorities approaches.
Steve Field appointed to NHS Commissioning Board

30-Aug-2012
Steve Field and Keith Willett have been appointed to senior positions on the NHS Commissioning Board, HSJ has been told.
Analysis: Nicholson triggers shift in control to new system leaders

21-Aug-2012
Power to pass from many primary care trusts to NHS Commissioning Board and NHS Trust Development Authority
Latest surgery outcome figures show 'marked' variation

15-Aug-2012
There is “marked” variation in the level of health benefit patients feel from common surgical procedures, national performance figures show.
Commissioning board and Trust Development Authority directors handed responsibility for 2012-13 delivery

13-Aug-2012
Senior leaders appointed to the NHS Commissioning Board and NHS Trust Development Authority are to take on ‘management responsibility’ for the delivery of NHS performance in 2012/13 from 1 October, six months before the abolition of PCTs and SHAs. This is in addition to existing respective responsibility for commissioning development and the foundation trust pipeline.
Letter reveals uncertainty hanging over quality observatories

10-Aug-2012
Regional quality observatories - set up to monitor and improve service standards - may come to an end when strategic health authorities are abolished next year, a letter reveals.
Oldham: Tackle problem GPs to improve primary care in poor areas

7-Aug-2012
Under-resourced primary care in poor areas could be improved by tackling practices currently providing a bad service, a senior GP adviser has said.
Commissioning board encourages CCG contract and risk sharing

6-Aug-2012
The NHS Commissioning Board has published guidance highlighting the benefits of - and options for - clinical commissioning groups collaborating to share contracts with providers and pool financial risk.
NICE proposes indicators for holding CCGs to account

3-Aug-2012
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has suggested 44 indicators which could be used to monitor the success of clinical commissioning groups.
Local area team budgets dwarf CCG funds

1-Aug-2012
Several of the NHS Commissioning Board’s local arms will have enormous budgets - dwarfing those of most clinical commissioning groups - HSJ estimates show.
Call for £1.3bn CCG funding handover

1-Aug-2012
Senior NHS figures are calling for £1.3bn of funding to be handed to clinical commissioning groups, amid signs the NHS Commissioning Board is wavering over whether to topslice the sum from local budgets.
Some 'abolished' PCT and SHA staff to stay on after April 2013

30-Jul-2012
Some primary care trust and strategic health authority staff may be kept on for up to a year after April 2013 to help “close down” the abolished organisations, it has emerged.
Support confirmed for four types of clinical network

26-Jul-2012
Clinical networks covering four condition-areas will be centrally-funded and hosted by the NHS Commissioning Board, it confirmed today.
CCG budgets face complications, says DH

24-Jul-2012
A major Department of Health-led review of commissioning budgets has highlighted the uncertainty and significant risks involved in financial planning for next year.
Commissioning board names local directors to take 'strategic oversight'

19-Jul-2012
The NHS Commissioning Board has appointed to 16 of its 25 local area team director posts, whose holders are charged with securing “a strategic overview of the system” and overseeing service reconfiguration.
Vacant commissioning board posts endangering transition

19-Jul-2012
Vital appointments to the new commissioning system have fallen further behind schedule, the NHS Commissioning Board has admitted, causing significant knock-on problems for the transition process.
BMA suspends industrial action and joins pensions talks

18-Jul-2012
The British Medical Association has announced it is “suspending plans for further industrial action” and will join talks between other health unions and government about the detail of pension reform proposals.
CCG authorisation 'support' could see powers taken back

18-Jul-2012
Clinical commissioning groups may be given “support” including having managers imposed on them or their functions removed, it has been confirmed.
New quality of life indicators reveal long term condition inequalities

11-Jul-2012
A major new health information collection has highlighted the worse quality of life suffered by people with long-term conditions in poorer areas.
'Developmental' CCG authorisation process gets underway

10-Jul-2012
The authorisation of clinical commissioning groups will be an “iterative process” – with organisations able to correct their weaknesses throughout the process – government regulations have confirmed.
Exclusive: Commissioning board appoints long term conditions lead

6-Jul-2012
NHS Lincolnshire commissioning director Martin McShane has been appointed the NHS Commissioning Board’s lead for long term conditions.
Exclusive: fear over Olympic drugs overseas sell-on

6-Jul-2012
Some pharmacies in London may request additional drug supplies during the Olympics only to sell them off overseas for profit, it has been claimed.
Exclusive: Mike Richards given key commissioning board post

5-Jul-2012
Sir Mike Richards has been appointed to a key clinical leader position in the NHS Commissioning Board, HSJ has learned.
Midlands director appointed commissioning board director of strategy

5-Jul-2012
NHS Midlands and East director of commissioning Robert Harris has been appointed as the NHS Commissioning Board’s director of strategy, HSJ has learned.
CCGs may get to rate commissioning board's behaviour annually - mandate

5-Jul-2012
The NHS Commissioning Board may be rated annually for its commitment to autonomy by a survey of clinical commissioning groups, according to its first “mandate” from the government.
NHSCB 'mandate' sets out CCG autonomy and 18 weeks demands

4-Jul-2012
The government will use its first NHS “mandate” to emphasise the autonomy of clinical commissioning groups and highlight patients’ right to be treated within 18 weeks, as well as requiring improvements in health outcomes.
Research casts doubt on value of 'friends and family test'

28-Jun-2012
Research commissioned by the Department of Health has raised doubts about use of the “friends and family” test as a single indicator of patient experience.
Would-be candidates excluded from top commissioning board clinical posts

27-Jun-2012
National clinical directors and other likely candidates are being excluded from applying to key posts in the NHS Commissioning Board.
Analysed: financial problems in North Yorkshire and York

26-Jun-2012
HSJ Local Briefing is our new in-depth analysis of key issues facing some of the major NHS health economies. This week we look at what the enormous black hole in North Yorkshire and York’s finances will mean for the region’s services and commissioners.
Porter: doctors need to be 'cautious' about strikes

26-Jun-2012
Doctors should not feel tied to further strike action if the government does not compromise on plans to remove their pensions, according to the medic expected to become the British Medical Association’s new leader.
Councillors banned from CCG boards as new rules set

25-Jun-2012
The government is set to impose further requirements on clinical commissioning groups’ governing bodies, HSJ has learned.
Meldrum urges caution over further pensions action

25-Jun-2012
The outgoing British Medical Association leader has urged the union to be cautious about taking further industrial action over pensions.
Hakin plans 'proportionate' handling of GPs

22-Jun-2012
Details have been published of how primary care services will be commissioned under the reformed NHS system.
Commissioning board sets out local structure and clinical senates plan

21-Jun-2012
The NHS Commissioning Board has confirmed the structure and roles of its 27 local area teams, and announced there will be 12 clinical senates to cover England.
Nicholson: Politicians should be honest about service change needed

21-Jun-2012
Sir David Nicholson has called for politicians to be “honest” about the “nature and scale” of service change required in the NHS because of the spending squeeze.
Lansley: 'I don't think hospitals will close'

21-Jun-2012
It is unlikely any whole hospitals will need to close as a result of the huge efficiency savings required in the NHS, the health secretary has said.
Roughton, Dyson and Bewick given key commissioning roles

20-Jun-2012
Ros Roughton, Ben Dyson and John Bewick have been given key permanent roles in the NHS Commissioning Board.
Lansley: politicians should not lead service change

20-Jun-2012
Politicians should not direct service change in the NHS, the health secretary has said, dodging the question of the extent of reconfiguration required to make the NHS affordable.
Exclusive: struggling GP practices may be classed 'cause for concern'

20-Jun-2012
GP practices will be classed under three categories based on performance under the NHS Commissioning Board’s plans for contracting primary care.
Four new commissioning board directors announced

18-Jun-2012
Four new non-executive directors of the NHS Commissioning Board were confirmed today by the Department of Health.
GP records website 'My Health' revealed

13-Jun-2012
A new website called My Health, likely to be run by an independent contractor, looks set to be used to give the public access to GP records.
PWC wins £3.4m contract to help authorise CCGs

1-Jun-2012
Accountancy firm PwC has won a £3.4m contract to help with the assessment and authorisation of prospective clinical commissioning groups.
Exclusive: commissioning board offices 'to match old SHAs'

31-May-2012
There are set to be 27 local arms of the NHS Commissioning Board, it has been confirmed.
Several CCGs to be larger than outgoing PCTs

31-May-2012
Three parts of the country will have clinical commissioning groups larger than the primary care trusts they will replace.
'Landmark' agreement on 212 CCGs covering England

24-May-2012
The NHS reforms have reached the “landmark moment” of agreeing the clinical commissioning groups which will go forward to take over budgets next year, the NHS Commissioning Board has said.
Exclusive: Commissioning board engagement and information director revealed

23-May-2012
Tim Kelsey is to become the NHS Commissioning Board’s director of patient and public engagement, insight and informatics, HSJ understands.
Information strategy an early example of major policy process - DH

23-May-2012
The government’s newly launched information strategy for health and social care is an early example of how major policy will be made under its reformed system, according to the Department of Health.
Commissioning board seeks £130k GP to 'influence CCGs'

23-May-2012
The NHS Commissioning Board is advertising a series of senior jobs with salaries over £100,000, including a deputy medical director whose job will need to “actively influence CCGs in their commissioning decisions, providing assurance the activity has robust clinical leadership”.
Information strategy details: Lansley promises online GP access to 'end 8am rush'

20-May-2012
The health secretary has promised patients easier interaction with GP practices, as he published the long awaited NHS information strategy today.
Lansley against 'slamming together' health and social care

17-May-2012
The health secretary has reiterated his opposition to forcing mergers between health and social care commissioners, ahead of the publication of a white paper on the issue.
'Concern' over pledge to give patients access to GP records

16-May-2012
One of the leading figures in health information has cast doubt on the government’s ability to give all patients online access to their GP record by 2015.
DH promises 'openness and respect' in bid to reach outside groups

15-May-2012
The Department of Health’s top priorities for the coming year include improving links with outside groups, partly as a response to concerns about failure to communicate the NHS reforms.
Lansley faces nurses' cuts and pensions complaints

14-May-2012
The health secretary fought to rebut complaints about service cuts and damage to pensions in his speech to the Royal College of Nursing annual congress.
Local commissioning board offices will be fewer than planned

9-May-2012
The NHS Commissioning Board has announced it is rethinking the structure of its local offices to avoid “crowding out” clinical commissioning groups.
Safety fears grow as upheaval of care quality staff triples

9-May-2012
The government’s health reforms have sparked a tripling of turnover among the NHS managers, nurses and doctors responsible for monitoring hospital care quality.
Lansley vetoes reform risk register publication

8-May-2012
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.
Just 35 CCGs to be tested in first wave of authorisation

3-May-2012
The 35 emerging clinical commissioning groups which will be the first to go through the authorisation process have been announced by the NHS Commissioning Board.
CCGs to manage and reward GP performance

2-May-2012
GP practices look set to be handed an extensive role in performance managing each other – including through the award of bonuses – under proposals being drawn up by the NHS Commissioning Board.
Terence Stephenson appointed Academy of Medical Royal Colleges chair

26-Apr-2012
Terence Stephenson has been appointed the chair elect of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.
Expect years of fundamental changes and austerity, says Grant

25-Apr-2012
Malcolm Grant has predicted “fundamental changes in provision of health services” driven by a “vision” covering “not less than 10 years”.
Mandate will test government's 'political grip' on NHS

25-Apr-2012
The government must use its first “mandate” to prove its “willingness to truly release a tight political grip from the NHS”, Malcolm Grant said.
Commissioning board chair: liberation of the NHS 'won't happen overnight'

25-Apr-2012
The health service should not expect a “sudden overnight change on 1 April next year” to an autonomous and liberated system, the chair of the NHS Commissioning Board has told HSJ.
Troubled Yorkshire trust may need to be split up

25-Apr-2012
FINANCE: A Yorkshire hospital trust has begun addressing its huge financial challenge, but will later need to attempt major service reconfiguration, and may ultimately face being split up.
Analysed: the wider effect of Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust's financial woes

24-Apr-2012
HSJ Local Briefing is our new in-depth analysis of the key issues facing the NHS’s major health economies. This week: the future of Mid Yorkshire Hospital Trust and the effect it will have on the surrounding area.
Exclusive: Lansley letter requires commissioning board to devolve power

20-Apr-2012
Andrew Lansley has written the NHS Commissioning Board setting out its “strategic priorities”, with an apparent aim to ensure it devolves power to clinical commissioning groups.
Mike Farrar warns to expect politicised mandate

20-Apr-2012
NHS Confederation has said the first NHS “mandate” will spark public and political debate about the service’s priorities.
Commissioning board mandate could lead to government clashes

19-Apr-2012
The Department of Health and the NHS Commissioning Board are preparing for a likely clash over the contents of the first set of instructions for the independent new body.
Leading charities ask health secretary to adopt five NHS priorities

19-Apr-2012
The Richmond Group, the coalition of 10 leading health and social care charities, has named five themes that it wants the government to make priorities for the NHS.
Three top NHS regional chiefs decline commissioning board roles

18-Apr-2012
Three of the NHS’s most experienced and respected leaders have decided against joining the NHS Commissioning Board.
Exclusive: Dame Ruth Carnall to leave NHS

16-Apr-2012
NHS London chief executive Dame Ruth Carnall, one of the service’s most senior and respected leaders, is to leave the NHS next year.
DH faces 'significant' accounts auditing problem

10-Apr-2012
The Department of Health could face problems with the auditing of its 2011-12 accounts unless potentially “significant” mismatches between the accounting of foundation trusts and commissioners are resolved.
NHS Commissioning Board highlights major HR risk

5-Apr-2012
The NHS Commissioning Board has higlighted the “inherently high risk” of recruiting “nearly 4,000 people… over a short period”, and lack of clarity around its functions and design.
CCGs to get 'development agreement' and ‘rectification plan’ on authorisation

5-Apr-2012
All clinical commissioning groups will sign a “development agreement” with the NHS Commissioning Board, and many also be given a “rectification plan”, before they take over budgets next year.
DH issues grant for developing patient information

4-Apr-2012
The Patient Information Forum is to be given £175,000 by the Department of Health to test and develop new approaches to improving health and wellbeing.
Competition panel to advise on CCG conflict of interest regulation

2-Apr-2012
Providers are likely to have to complain to the NHS Commissioning Board before approaching Monitor with concerns about clinical commissioning groups’ conflicts of interest, HSJ has been told.
Nicholson: commissioning staff will know job fate by December

29-Mar-2012
Commissioning staff will find out whether they have a place in the new commissioning system, and many will be transferred, by December, NHS Commissioning Board chief executive Sir David Nicholson has announced.
NHS reform risk register reveals list of serious concerns

27-Mar-2012
A version of the Department of Health’s risk register for the NHS reforms has been published on the internet, having apparently been leaked.
Exclusive: CCG authorisation requirements and timetable revealed

26-Mar-2012
Clinical commissioning groups will have to meet 118 authorisation requirements to be approved to take over from primary care trusts in April next year.
Government review reports 'exceptional set of challenges' for DH

23-Mar-2012
The Department of Health needs to clarify and better communicate significant elements of its reforms, or risk implementation problems, according to a cross-government review.
Ministers seek 'further advice' on conflict of interest in commissioning

22-Mar-2012
Ministers have asked the Co-operation and Competition Panel for advice on how commissioners handle conflicts of interest, following a test case.
Labour plots service changes through local authorities

21-Mar-2012
Labour will attempt to link “waste, waits, stresses and strains” in the NHS to the government’s reforms, and try to redesign services through the local authorities it runs.
NHS reform row 'not over', warn healthcare leaders

21-Mar-2012
The high profile row over the government’s NHS reforms will persist despite its Health Bill finally becoming law, healthcare leaders predict.
Health Bill on verge of becoming law

19-Mar-2012
The government’s Health Bill has received its third reading in the Lords, meaning the controversial legislation is on the verge of becoming law.
New England chief nursing officer named

19-Mar-2012
The NHS Commissioning Board has appointed Jane Cummings as its chief nursing officer. Ms Cummings is currently the nursing director for NHS North of England, and previously for NHS North West.
NHSCB patient role ‘too information focused’

16-Mar-2012
Patient and public representatives have raised concern that the NHS Commissioning Board may appoint an informatics specialist rather than a “true patient champion” to a senior director role.
Exclusive: over 60 per cent of CCGs choose PCT manager as their leader

14-Mar-2012
Most clinical commissioning groups are set to make a manager their accountable officer, and are choosing primary care trust staff to fill key leadership roles in their organisation.
Exclusive: CCG leaders to be assessed on 'aptitude and attitude'

14-Mar-2012
Prospective clinical commissioning group leaders are to be assessed for “aptitude and attitude” in the next two months.
Exclusive: many experienced commissioners predicted to leave

14-Mar-2012
A significant number of the most senior primary care trust leaders will not join the NHS Commissioning Board, HSJ has been told.
Exclusive: commissioning support development falls to PCT staff

14-Mar-2012
Primary care trust directors and junior staff are leading the development of commissioning support services in many areas.
Monitor to publish annual reconfiguration 'blacklist'

8-Mar-2012
Monitor is set to publish an annual “blacklist” of health services which must be reconfigured.
Government launches NHS Constitution review

8-Mar-2012
The government is today launching a review of the NHS Constitution, part of which will be carried out by a new NHS Future Forum group.
DH chief defends early implementation of NHS reforms

6-Mar-2012
The Department of Health’s most senior civil servant has defended work to implement the government’s NHS reforms before its Health Bill has been passed, in evidence to a tribunal.
Health Bill: government limits FTs and private income

5-Mar-2012
The government has said it will change the Health Bill to clarify and extend Monitor’s compliance powers over foundation trusts, and require governors to approve private patient income.
Exclusive: East Midlands hires big commercial name to develop commissioning

2-Mar-2012
The former chief executive of the UK arm of health insurance company Aetna has been appointed to help develop a regional commissioning support service covering a 5.4 million population.
CCG performance framework missing key quality indicators

1-Mar-2012
Priority areas for care quality improvement are underrepresented – and sometimes completely left out – of the proposed accountability regime for clinical commissioners.
Virgin rebrand for care provider Assura Medical

1 March 2012
Community and primary care provider Assura Medical is to rebrand as Virgin Care, two years after Virgin bought a controlling stake in the company.
Exclusive: Monitor to publish 'black lists' of unviable hospitals

29-Feb-2012
Monitor will publish a “black list” of hospital services which must be reconfigured under an eleventh hour change to the Health Bill.
Lords win tweaks to Health Bill on competition

28-Feb-2012
The government looks set to accept a series of further changes to its Health Bill in the face of persisting political and professional concern.
CCG calls for Health Bill to be scrapped

28-Feb-2012
Tower Hamlets Clinical Commissioning Group has written to the prime minister calling on him to withdraw the Health Bill.
RCN: coalition MPs turning against reforms

23-Feb-2012
The Royal College of Nursing’s chief executive has said the government’s Health Bill can still be defeated, even though the prime minister has reiterated his support for the reforms.
Exclusive: PM reveals government's four NHS commitments

20-Feb-2012
The prime minister has revealed “four Fs” which he believes sum up the government’s approach to the NHS. They came while he attempted to bat off criticism of the Health Bill at a Downing Street summit today.
Exclusive: prime minister calls summit on 'implementing NHS reforms'

17-Feb-2012
The prime minister has called a summit to discuss the “implementation of the NHS reforms” on Monday afternoon with senior healthcare leaders.
Standardised GP contract by 2015 is 'naive'

16-Feb-2012
GP practices will agree and move to a new standard national contract within “two to three years”, the NHS Commissioning Board is estimating. The timescale has provoked warnings from leading GPs that the plan is “naive”.
DH sets aside £617m for redundancy and restructuring costs

9 February 2012
The Department of Health has announced £617m has been put into a contingency fund for NHS reform redundancy payments and restructuring costs during 2011-12.
Revealed: CCG funding gulf could 'destablise services'

7-Feb-2012
The first analysis of the budgets set to be given to clinical commissioning groups shows huge variation and has sparked concern about services being destabilised by a shortage of cash.
CQC calls for improved care quality data

7-Feb-2012
The Care Quality Commission is backing a campaign started by Dr Foster Intelligence for hospitals to record simple care quality information when patients are admitted to hospital.
Five NHS commissioning board directors confirmed

3-Feb-2012
The appointment of five NHS Commissioning Board executive directors has been announced, including Ian Dalton in the key role of chief operating officer.
Commissioning board restricted by Health Bill 'turbulence'

3-Feb-2012
The NHS Commissioning Board is working under “strict limits” on what it can do as the government’s Health Bill battles “turbulence” in Parliament, its chair has said.
Health Bill amendments target integration and secretary of state's duties

2-Feb-2012
The government has tabled 137 amendments to its Health Bill.
Opposition likely for Yorkshire reconfiguration plans

2 February 2012
Major service change is not getting any easier in North Yorkshire: plans to close inpatient children’s services at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton are back on the agenda, a press release reveals.
No big shift in government Health Bill amendments

1-Feb-2012
The government was this week expected to announce a series of changes to its Health Bill, with the intention of staving off opposition when the legislation returns to parliament next week.
Competition panel highlights GP conflict concern

31-Jan-2012
A primary care trust has been criticised by the Cooperation and Competition Panel for giving GPs leading roles in a decision to close a rival primary care centre.
Consultant support sought for CCG authorisation process

27-Jan-2012
The NHS Commissioning Board will need external support, likely to come from management consultancies, to help authorise clinical commissioning groups.
Farrar: Commissioning board manager cuts 'pose a danger to patient care'

27-Jan-2012
NHS Confederation chief executive Mike Farrar has warned the health service’s capacity could be reduced to “dangerously low levels” by proposals to halve the number of managers in key areas of NHS commissioning and planning.
Cuts to commissioning management 'risk quality and savings'

26-Jan-2012
Managers in Partnership has criticised plans to half the number of staff working on key parts of NHS planning and commissioning.
Chief midwife brands Lansley's comments 'below the belt'

26-Jan-2012
The chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives has hit back at the health secretary over claims that clinicians were opposing the government’s health bill because of concerns about pensions.
Key risks posed by NHS commissioning reforms revealed

26-Jan-2012
The NHS Commissioning Board has admitted that “key risks” to its success include the haemorrhaging of senior leaders during the reform transition and a shortage of staff to commission specialist and primary care.
Health committee: NHS could miss savings target from 'salami slicing'

24-Jan-2012
The NHS has been making “short-term” and “salami slicing” spending cuts and will not make required efficiency savings if the current approach continues, the House of Commons health committee has said.
Managers to fly in to run straggling CCGs' budgets

19-Jan-2012
The NHS Commissioning Board will not take on the budget responsibilities of clinical commissioning groups which fail to win full authorisation by April next year, HSJ has been told.
Salaries of 10 NHS Commissioning Board directors total £1.7m

18-Jan-2012
The salaries of NHS Commissioning Board’s senior executives have been released to HSJ.
Trusts hoping to balance finances now predict huge deficits

18-Jan-2012
Huge deficits have opened up at two trusts that were last month predicted to balance their books at the end of the financial year.
Exclusive: Health Bill concessions on 'autonomy' and SoS accountability

17-Jan-2012
The government is offering a series of Health Bill concessions in an attempt to diffuse the row over the health secretary’s responsibility for the NHS.
HSJ's latest CCGs map

12-Jan-2012
Find out more about HSJ’s map of emerging CCGs around England.
Cameron demands improvements to frontline nursing 'red tape'

12 January 2012
The prime minister has announced a series of moves to improve care standards and free nurses of “non-essential paperwork and excessive bureaucracy”.
Exclusive: only half of CCGs will be ready - GP commissioning champion

11-Jan-2012
Only half of clinical commissioning groups will be given full permission to take on budgets by April 2013 – creating a two-tier NHS – one of the most senior leaders of the movement has predicted.
'Warm words' insufficient to drive integration, ministers warned

10-Jan-2012
One of the leading proponents of integrated care has called for the government to go further than its “warm words” made in response to the NHS Future Forum.
Future Forum: all commissioners should consider NHS and social care shared budgets

10-Jan-2012
Commissioners should be able to override current payment rules and share budgets with local authorities in order to accelerate service integration, according to the NHS Future Forum.
Cameron announces 'Nursing Forum' review of care standards

5-Jan-2012
Prime minister David Cameron has announced a “Nursing Forum” inquiry to address concerns about care standards and patient safety.
PCT and SHA staff set to learn job decisions

5-Jan-2012
The fate of tens of thousands of NHS staff may become clearer during the next few weeks, with large redundancy bills still a risk for some organisations, HSJ has been told.
Clinical commissioning behind schedule and risking 'suspended animation'

5-Jan-2012
Clinical commissioning is behind schedule in many areas with the transfer of staff from primary care trusts stalled and just over a year remaining before the NHS’s structural overhaul is supposed to be complete.
Signs of change emerging in the North East

5 January 2012
Commissioners and future commissioners in the North East, like everywhere else, have much to do in the next 16 months, but there are signs of change.
Field's Future Forum report to call for GPs to move into 'bigger organisations'

28-Dec-2011
NHS Future Forum chair Steve Field has called for GPs to work in “federations or in bigger organisations”, and to focus on integration of services, ahead of the publication of the review group’s advice to the government.
PCT and SHA staff to be told their 'expected destination' on 31 January

21-Dec-2011
All primary care trust and strategic health authority staff should receive a personal letter telling them “the expected destination (or destinations) of their current function” in the new commissioning system, the Department of Health has said.
'Warning system' proposed for overseas doctors and nurses

20-Dec-2011
The European Union is considering a “warning system” for overseas health workers who have been struck off or suspended.
Exclusive: Commissioning board will have GP deputy medical director

20-Dec-2011
A GP will be appointed as the deputy medical director of the NHS Commissioning Board, its medical director Sir Bruce Keogh has said.
BMA: GPs are being 'bullied' to meet April 2013 commissioning deadline

15-Dec-2011
GPs in some areas are being told to form clinical commissioning groups in time to take over budgets by April 2013, even when they don’t want to, the British Medical Association GPs committee has said.
Monitor's chief economist leaving for Ofwat

15-Dec-2011
Monitor chief economist at Sonia Brown is leaving the organisation, HSJ understands.
Analysis: patients in poorer regions using A&E over GP

13-Dec-2011
Patients in the poorest areas are 63 per cent more likely than those in the richest locations to find it hard to see a GP. They are also 53 per cent more likely to attend accident and emergency, according to HSJ analysis of newly published figures.
Cost of rising emergency dementia admissions revealed

13-Dec-2011
There has been a 12 per cent growth over five years in the number of people with dementia admitted to hospital as an emergency, according to a report exclusively shared with HSJ.
Exclusive: Lansley to step up push on variation as second NHS atlas published

7-Dec-2011
Huge regional disparities in the quality of healthcare are due to be revealed by the second NHS Atlas of Variation, and a series of additional government analyses.
Exclusive: CCGs, national board and fellow GPs will tackle 'underperformers' - Lansley

7-Dec-2011
Clinical commissioning groups will tackle GP practice members which are shown to be failing by new outcomes data, but the NHS Commissioning Board will also have the power to intervene, Andrew Lansley has told HSJ.
Penalties for providers and commissioners failing to innovate

7-Dec-2011
Providers and commissioners face significant financial penalties if they fail to innovate in six “high impact” areas or follow National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance on drugs and best practice.
Farrar: innovation needs 'management culture' shift

5-Dec-2011
NHS Confederation chief executive Mike Farrar has called for more tolerance of risk taking among NHS leaders to encourage innovation.
David Nicholson seeks NHS 'nature and culture' change to innovate

5-Dec-2011
The NHS chief executive has called for a change in “the nature and culture” of NHS organisations, as well as leadership in the service, to promote innovation.
Nicholson: providers and commissioners will be fined for not meeting NICE guidance

5-Dec-2011
Providers and commissioners will face significant financial penalties if they do not implement National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence rules on drugs and best practice.
Clinical senate role still unclear - DH

2-Dec-2011
The function of clinical senates remains unclear, the NHS medical director has said, nearly six months after they were proposed.
CCG performance and payment regime allowed to include 'process' measures

2-Dec-2011
Clinical commissioning groups will be given “at least monthly” updates on their performance – on “processes” as well as outcomes – by the NHS Commissioning Board, it has been confirmed.
CCG management could learn from schools - Lansley

1-Dec-2011
The health secretary has said clinical commissioning groups should learn from boards of governors in schools how to meet statutory responsibilities without spending large sums on running costs.
DH to set out CCG behaviour guidance

1-Dec-2011
The government is to set out how a clinical commissioning group can buy from its own practices, and set out expectations for their governance, in an imminent paper.
Warning over status of nurses involved in NHS commissioning

30-Nov-2011
Nurses involved in emerging clinical commissioning groups are being given little time and support and are being paid less than GP peers, according to an authoritative report published today.
Hakin: pace of CCG development next year will 'be dramatic'

30-Nov-2011
The Department of Health commissioning lead has warned that there will be a rapid step change in pace to establish clinical commissioning groups, equivalent to a “very big train coming down the track”.
GPs claim CCGs are being 'bullied and coerced' by PCTs

30-Nov-2011
A survey of doctors involved in emerging clinical commissioning groups has found 60 per cent report “being coerced or bullied” in how they set up the organisation, according to a new survey.
BMA: GPs want CCGs big enough to avoid outsourcing of commissioning

28-Nov-2011
The British Medical Association has said clinical commissioning groups should “urgently review and where necessary change their structures” so they are big enough to host their own support staff.
Dr Foster: weekend A&E admissions '10pc more likely to die'

28-Nov-2011
NHS hospital patients admitted for emergency treatment at weekends are almost 10 per cent more likely to die than those admitted during the week, according to the Dr Foster Hospital Guide 2011.
Exclusive: weekend hospital arrivals up to 16pc more likely to die - DH

28-Nov-2011
Patients admitted to NHS hospitals at the weekend are up to 16 per cent more likely to die than those admitted during the week, according to research for the Department of Health.
Dozens of CCGs not meeting rules must find 'alternatives'

24-Nov-2011
The dozens of clinical commissioning groups which do not meet the government’s size and shape requirements will have to agree “alternatives” in the next few months.
Exclusive: Dr Foster names 10 trusts overlooking fast recovery processes

24-Nov-2011
Ten hospital trusts which do not follow evidence-based processes for fast recovery from surgery have been named by Dr Foster Intelligence.
A new era for performance management in the North

24 November 2011
Last month’s clustering of strategic health authorities ushers in a new era of performance management in the North of England.
Exclusive: DH and Monitor in 'power battle' over running of regulator

23-Nov-2011
A “power battle” is underway between the Department of Health and Monitor over the extent to which the regulator needs to be split in two to avoid conflicts of interest, HSJ has been told.
Exclusive: NHS begins planning CCG authorisation 'pipeline'

22-Nov-2011
The NHS has begun constructing a “pipeline” to authorise clinical commissioning groups, in an effort to avoid a log jam before the April 2013 target.
Payment by results moves to 'bundled' contracts

17-Nov-2011
The Department of Health is set to signal that NHS commissioners can move away from payment by results in 2012-13 in an attempt to control costs.
DH to act on thousands of long-wait patients

17-Nov-2011
The government has announced it will act over the thousands of patients who are waiting for longer than a year before treatment, and concerns they may be concealing others on “hidden lists”.
Exclusive: 'Significant majority' of CCG population will live in its area - minister

16-Nov-2011
Health minister Earl Howe has written to peers giving new details about how clinical commissioning groups’ populations and areas will be decided.
Bill delay threat as government consults on reform risk register

16-Nov-2011
The health secretary has been forced to consult across government on whether to publish the risk register for the NHS reform “transition”, as ordered by the Information Commissioner, ministers have confirmed.
Exclusive: Lansley on the CQC, integration, the reform risk register and commissioning

16-Nov-2011
Andrew Lansley has told HSJ the Care Quality Commission is now running a “proactive and tough” inspection regime and revealed he does not favour further reorganisation of NHS regulation.
Lansley to announce 'ban' on minimum waiting times

14-Nov-2011
The health secretary is to announce a “ban” on primary care trusts setting minimum waiting times for procedures, with the threat of “removing the chair of the PCT” if it is broken.
Exclusive: commissioning board to include 50 local medical directors

11-Nov-2011
The NHS Commissioning Board will include around 50 local branches, each with a medical leader, its chief executive Sir David Nicholson has decided.
DH signals new delays to commissioning support procurement

9-Nov-2011
Most clinical commissioning groups will be unable to bring in major new support services to replace ex-primary care trust staff until early 2014, new Department of Health guidance indicates.
GP commissioning leaders: CCGs should not set referral limits

8-Nov-2011
GPs should not be set referral limits or caps, but must be free to decide NHS spending priorities, two of the biggest supporters of the commissioning reforms have told HSJ.
King's Fund and Future Forum challenge GP contract 'barrier'

4-Nov-2011
The King’s Fund is throwing its weight behind proposals to define and expand the services required from NHS GP contractors.
National framework launched for clinical commissioning leadership development

3-Nov-2011
A national framework has been launched for buying leadership development for clinical commissioners.
Hospital death rate focus will disappear - Keogh

2-Nov-2011
Interest in hospital mortality indicators will “wane” within three years as clinicians produce dozens of service-specific quality measures, the NHS medical director has predicted.
GP contract: BMA and government agree on choice and 0.5 per cent rise

2-Nov-2011
The government and GP representatives have agreed to pilot methods of increasing choice of general practice.
Lib Dems peers push series of amendments on competition

31-Oct-2011
Liberal Democrat peers are supporting a series of amendments to the Health Bill aimed at curtailing competition regulation, and are concerned it could still extend the application of European competition law to the NHS.
Fourteen trusts rated worst by first official hospital death rate

27-Oct-2011
Fourteen hospital trusts have been identified as the poorest performers in the first official hospital-wide mortality ratings.
North East PCTs mull region-wide commissioning support

27 October 2011
Primary care trusts in the NHS Tees cluster are planning to form a commissioning support organisation with others in the North East, which could extend across the whole of the region and even move into Yorkshire.
Single NHS finance and performance post abolished

26-Oct-2011
The post which had been expected to become the second most senior job in the new NHS has been split in two.
Large variation in nursing skill mix, figures show

26-Oct-2011
Figures obtained by HSJ reveal a large difference in staff skill mix between different hospital trusts.
Health Bill: Lords to debate hospital failure, integration and commissioning bonus

25-Oct-2011
Members of the House of Lords have tabled dozens of amendments to the Health Bill which would bring about significant policy change if passed.
Government: Mid Staffs inquiry may lead to another health bill

21-Oct-2011
A letter from health minister Earl Howe to members of the House of Lords admits the government may need to bring forward another health bill in response to the Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust public inquiry.
Exclusive: government defending 'autonomy clause'

20-Oct-2011
The government is resisting attempts to scrap the Health Bill’s so called “autonomy clause”, but close to offering a compromise amendment on the duties of the health secretary, HSJ understands.
Primary care spend fell fastest last year - Information Centre

20-Oct-2011
Spending on primary care last year fell more quickly than expenditure on the rest of the NHS, figures from the NHS Information Centre reveal.
Government eyes timing as Health Bill amendments pour in

19-Oct-2011
The government is preparing for months of House of Lords debate over the Health Bill, including potential changes.
Surgery in Yorkshire goes it alone on procedures decision

13 October 2011
Haxby and Wiggington Health Centre, a GP surgery just north of York, has helped Yorkshire to make its mark on the latest round of NHS reform.
DH to 'bring in line' commissioners who ration treatments

12-Oct-2011
The Department of Health is moving to “bring into line” commissioners who are increasingly restricting access to treatments and medicine, HSJ has learned.
Health Bill: medical royal colleges and GPs step up concern

11-Oct-2011
The medical royal colleges have today issued a joint statement to peers expressing concern the Health Bill “could damage patient care”, as a Royal College of GPs survey reports strong opposition among the profession.
NHS Confed: Health Bill could lead to vital decisions 'paralysis'

11-Oct-2011
The government should change and clarify the Health Bill to help the NHS deal with its enormous financial pressures, the NHS Confederation has said.
Health Bill analysis: Lords likely to win policy shifts

10-Oct-2011
Key areas of policy will come under scrutiny as the Health Bill faces its critics in the House of Lords. HSJ analyses likely changes.
BMA 'alarmed' about CCGs excluding some GPs and LMCs

7-Oct-2011
The British Medical Association GPs committee chair is “becoming increasingly alarmed” by how clinical commissioning groups are developing, he has said in a letter to GPs.
Lansley: I have fought 'misinformation and misrepresentation' over reforms

4-Oct-2011
The government has battled “misinterpretation, misinformation and misrepresentation” in its efforts to reform the NHS, health secretary Andrew Lansley told the Conservative party conference today.
Government to oppose Lords move for extra Health Bill scrutiny

4-Oct-2011
The government will strongly resist calls for large parts of its Health Bill to be referred to a select committee in the Lords – a move which would further frustrate its progress through Parliament – HSJ understands.
Health Bill risks 'weakening ministerial accountability' - Lords committee

30-Sep-2011
The Lords committee which reviews the constitutional implications of new legislation has said the Health Bill poses a risk that “individual ministerial responsibility to parliament will be diluted or that legal accountability to the courts will be fragmented”.
Farrar and GP commissioners criticise competition diktat

28-Sep-2011
Plans to introduce “any qualified provider” competition for at least three services from next year will stifle local decision making, according to GP commissioners and NHS Confederation chief executive Mike Farrar.
Lords set to launch further Health Bill challenge

26-Sep-2011
The government’s health reforms could be delayed further due to a series of likely challenges as the Health Bill reaches the House of Lords.
Exclusive: CCG leaders: Gerada is 'misleading' over GP commissioning

23-Sep-2011
Fourteen clinical commissioning groups have accused the Royal College of GPs’ chair of causing “confusion” and “anxiety” by claiming GPs face a conflict between commissioning services and their duty to patients.
Senior Lib Dem peer wants more 'teeth' for HealthWatch

22-Sep-2011
The Liberal Democrat health spokesman in the Lords has called for the Health Bill to be amended to give HealthWatch more “teeth”.
Exclusive: GPs 'anxious' about conflicts of interest in commissioning, says doctors regulator

22-Sep-2011
GP commissioners should tell a patient if budgets or referral policies mean he or she cannot access healthcare, and also raise the issue with their commissioning group, the doctors regulator has said.
GP conflicts of interest could 'badly undermine' confidence in NHS

22-Sep-2011
Conflicts of interest under clinical commissioning could “badly undermine the confidence of regulators, providers, and patients” in the NHS, the NHS Confederation and Royal College of General Practice Centre for Commissioning have warned.
CCGs will be liable for PCT redundancy costs

21-Sep-2011
Clinical commissioning groups will be liable for the cost of making primary care trust staff redundant if they use non-NHS suppliers of commissioning support, HSJ understands.
Exclusive: GP contract changes could standardise services and pay

21-Sep-2011
General practices could be forced to provide a more specific and expanded set of services by a renegotiated GP contract, under proposals being considered by senior NHS managers.
Social care funding set to divide coalition ministers

21-Sep-2011
Senior Liberal Democrats are preparing to clash with the Treasury and their Conservative partners over increased funding for long term care.
Non-GPs must get exec roles, says top Lib Dem

20-Sep-2011
Clinical commissioning groups should be required to have a nurse and doctor with secondary care experience involved in executive decision making roles rather than on a governing board, Baroness Shirley Williams has said.
Unions could resist reforms through 'non-cooperation'

19-Sep-2011
Unions may consider non-cooperation action against the government’s NHS reforms, a leader has warned at the Liberal Democrat conference.
DH: Clinical senates will not ‘interfere with or constrain’ CCGs

15-Sep-2011
The Department of Health has confirmed clinical senates – proposed new networks of clinicians – will not “interfere with or constrain clinical commissioning groups”.
Lansley: QIPP savings 'on track'

15-Sep-2011
The health secretary has said the NHS is “on track” to make the efficiency savings required over the next four years.
Legal costs could see CCGs allowances 'wiped out'

15-Sep-2011
Clinical commissioning groups are being warned they could be “wiped out” by legal challenges made by providers or resulting from service reconfigurations, treatment decisions and contract awards.
Dalton's plate is piled high ahead of return to NHS North of England

15 September 2011
Ian Dalton – who in title has been NHS North East chief executive since 2007 – has for some time spent much of his effort on national roles, having first been made national director for the response to swine flu more than two years ago.
Health and Wellbeing Boards 'should drive integration'

15 September 2011
Health and wellbeing boards should include the integration of commissioning in their “key success criteria”, according to a new guide published by the Good Governance Institute.
Practice 'federations' frustrated by reform - Gerada

15 September 2011
Moves to create groups of GP practices which can share and expand services have been frustrated by the commissioning reforms, Clare Gerada said.
Exclusive: GPs should seek legal advice over commissioning role - Gerada

8-Sep-2011
Some GPs are already facing conflicts of interest due to the government’s commissioning reforms and should seek legal advice, Royal College of GPs chair Clare Gerada has told HSJ.
NHS 'substantially achieved' management cut target last year

6-Sep-2011
The NHS fell slightly short of the government’s management cost reduction target for 2010-11, although the Department of Health says the cut was “substantially achieved”.
One in seven CCG populations too small for authorisation

18 August 2011
One in seven emerging clinical commissioning groups could be asked to reform because they are too small, HSJ research suggests.
Review of services in Yorkshire warns of system failure

18 August 2011
A high profile review of services in North Yorkshire and York, led by eminent doctor and NHS Confederation medical director Hugo Mascie-Taylor, has come to an end, and is well worth a read*.
DH reveals authorisation 'journey' for CCGs

17-Aug-2011
The Department of Health has set out key details of the authorisation process for clinical commissioning groups – but stopped short of providing a clear list of requirements or a “bar” for approval.
Exclusive: draft authorisation document reveals key tests for new commissioning groups

11-Aug-2011
A draft Department of Health plan seen by HSJ reveals key details of the development and authorisation process for clinical commissioning groups.
Medical resistance hampers doctor-patient decisions programme

10-Aug-2011
The first evaluation of an NHS programme to spread joint decision making with patients has highlighted “many challenges” to the aim, mainly because of resistant doctors.
DH rejects 'competition expansion' claim

5-Aug-2011
The Department of Health has rejected claims that recently published guidance for commissioners includes a change in policy causing a “potential massive expansion in competition”.
Flagship involvement policy faces funding threat

4-Aug-2011
The success of the government’s flagship policy on patient and public involvement is at risk from “insulting” funding plans, it is being claimed.
SHA cluster chairs announced and chief executives emerging

29-Jul-2011
The chairs of the four strategic health authority clusters have been announced and the Department of Health is close to confirming their chief executives.
DH announces commissioning reform milestones and single comms service

29-Jul-2011
Commissioners have been set tight deadlines for handing their powers to GP groups, despite the continuing controversy over the Health Bill.
Media Watch: AQP rears its head to revive the privatisation debate

28 July 2011
“The day they signalled the death warrant for the health service” chimed the headline on a piece by Max Pemberton, a member of the burgeoning doctors-who-are-also-journalists club, in the the Daily Telegraph this week.
Poor reporting on quality 'letting down' NHS - Sir Bruce

27-Jul-2011
Dozens of hospitals, most of them run by the independent sector, have been criticised by the NHS medical director after failing to report information against a key quality priority.
Reform transition cost now £1.49bn, according to DH figure

22-Jul-2011
A new figure from the Department of Health estimates the cost of its reform “transition programme” at £1.49bn.
Commissioning reform costs already near quarter of a billion

21-Jul-2011
Nearly a quarter of a billion pounds has already been spent on the government’s commissioning reforms, with tens of millions having been paid to general practice for its involvement, HSJ can reveal.
South Tyneside FT not quite the 'darling' of the North East

21 July 2011
The Care Quality Commission’s series of judgements on dignity and nutrition in hospitals is rumbling on – and South Tyneside Foundation Trust has been added to the list of those deemed not to be meeting “the essential standards of quality and safety”.
BMA to launch campaign calling for withdrawal of Health Bill

20-Jul-2011
The British Medical Association’s ruling council today voted to begin a public campaign for the withdrawal of the Health Bill.
NHS management is misleading GPs about commissioning, DH adviser says

19-Jul-2011
A Department of Health adviser has said NHS national management, strategic health authorities and primary care trusts are misleading GPs about commissioning policy.
Sir David sets out single commissioning vision

13-Jul-2011
NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson has jump-started development of the reformed commissioning system, publishing details of his emerging national board and telling primary care trust clusters to follow a “single operating model” for the next two years.
NHS medical director: technology like international consultations will transform service

12-Jul-2011
The NHS should increase the use of technology to transform services - for example through patients accessing primary diagnostic services from overseas over the internet, the NHS medical director has said. Technology should also reduce costs, he said.
DH publishes full Commissioning Board plans

8-Jul-2011
The Department of Health has published the proposed role and structure of the NHS Commissioning Board.
Foundation trust jumps gun to calculate 'official' mortality rates

7-Jul-2011
PERFORMANCE: A foundation trust has calculated new-look hospital mortality rates for all hospitals and sent them to trusts as a “heads up”, before they are revealed to the public later this year.
Commissioning primary care plans still in development

7-Jul-2011
The government has not yet decided whether clinical commissioning groups can take on management of general practice contracts, the responsible Department of Health has said.
Community provider future placed in doubt

7-Jul-2011
Community provider foundation trusts may not need to exist as the services mature, the chief executive of one of the leading organisations has said.
PCT legacy shows 'significant improvement' despite challenges

7 July 2011
Primary care trusts have overseen improvement and were further “maturing” before their abolition was announced, an NHS Confederation report says.
Exclusive: government to publish GP performance scorecards in transparency push

6-Jul-2011
Ministers are tomorrow due to announce a new wave of transparency requirements for the NHS, including the release of GP performance scorecards and clinical audit data.
Speculation begins over Commissioning Board top jobs

6-Jul-2011
After the NCB’s draft structure was revealed by HSJ earlier this month, speculation has begun over who will be chosen to fill the roles.
'NHS England' name plan stirs controversy

5-Jul-2011
A proposal for the NHS Commissioning Board to be known as “NHS England” is attracting criticism for inflating the organisation’s role and power.
Lansley meeting Future Forum to discuss its future

1-Jul-2011
Members of the NHS Future Forum - set up to review the government’s controversial reform plans - are to meet to discuss whether and how the group should continue.
BMA chair: we won 'unprecedented' change to bill

30 June 2011
The British Medical Association chair of council has declared a cautious victory on NHS reform at its annual representative meeting.
North divide to be united under NCB plans

30 June 2011
NHS North East and North West are to be united – along with NHS Yorkshire and the Humber – HSJ understands.
‘Specialist’ doctors on CCG boards could be GPs

29-Jun-2011
The “hospital doctors” due to sit on the boards of clinical commissioning groups will not have to be currently working in acute care and may even be serving GPs, HSJ has learned.
Proposed commissioning groups will be 'unsustainable'

29-Jun-2011
Senior managers implementing NHS reforms believe many of the proposed clinical commissioning groups are “unsustainable” because they are too small.
Health secretary gains powers over NHS Commissioning Board in amended bill

29-Jun-2011
The health secretary is to be given the power to intervene in “particular cases” of “significant failure” by the NHS Commissioning Board, under the newly amended Health Bill.
Meldrum: reform changes 'more than a respray'

28-Jun-2011
The British Medical Association council chair has said the government’s changes to its NHS plans are “more than a respray job”.
Doctors to call for Health Bill withdrawal

28-Jun-2011
Doctors’ representatives have voted to call for the government’s Health Bill to be withdrawn, in spite of the changes due to be made following a period of review.
Doctors vote against referral centres

27-Jun-2011
Doctors’ representatives have voted to oppose “the use of referral centres and other crude methods to reduce referrals” at their annual meeting.
BMA chair claims reform victory

27-Jun-2011
The British Medical Association chair of council has declared a cautious victory on NHS reform at the union’s annual representative meeting.
Health Bill: rules unclear on open board meetings

24-Jun-2011
It is unclear how far government Health Bill changes will go in forcing foundation trusts and clinical commissioning groups to hold public board meetings.
Health Bill: changes risk ‘paper duties’ and central pressure

24-Jun-2011
Changes to the health bill risk propagating procedural requirements and increasing pressure on the health secretary to intervene, a lawyer has warned.
Health Bill: competition changes may not be ‘substantive’

24-Jun-2011
The changes to Monitor’s role brought about by amendments to the Health Bill may not be “substantive”, lawyers have warned.
Health Bill: government publishes 181 amendments

24-Jun-2011
The government has tabled 181 amendments to the Health Bill following a review of health secretary Andrew Lansley’s controversial original proposals.
Commissioning groups that cross boundaries may have to reform

22-Jun-2011
Eleven commissioning groups crossing local authority boundaries may have to reform due to new rules announced by the government, HSJ has found.
DH admits preparing Health Bill changes before review report

21-Jun-2011
The government was “exploring potential amendments” to the Health Bill with parliamentary lawyers before the report of the NHS Future Forum, health minister Simon Burns has admitted.
Nicholson: PCT clusters to survive as arms of Commissioning Board

21-Jun-2011
Primary care trust clusters will effectively survive to commission GP services and oversee new clinical commissioning groups from April 2013, it was confirmed this week.
Government publishes full details of reform changes

20-Jun-2011
The government today published full details of the changes to its reform plans in a command paper to Parliament.
DH redrawing failure regime to avoid up-front political battles

20-Jun-2011
The government is drawing up a revised failure regime to avoid the advance labelling of which hospital and care services could hypothetically go bust and be closed down.
Exclusive: Details of NHS regional tier plan

17-Jun-2011
The NHS is set to form four regional bodies out of grouped strategic health authorities.
Commissioning board shouldn’t become ‘greatest quango’ – Nicholson

16-Jun-2011
Sir David Nicholson says he will prevent the NHS Commissioning Board becoming “the greatest quango in the sky” by maintaining an “ambition” for the whole country to be covered by active clinical commissioning groups.
Nicholson: I feared Lansley’s competition rules

16-Jun-2011
NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson has confirmed he was against the government’s original proposal for a regulator promoting competition in the NHS, which was dropped this week.
PFI rethink stalls hospital building plans

16-Jun-2011
Plans to build a number of new hospitals have stalled as trusts await a ministerial decision on whether the government will underwrite private finance initiative deals.
Fears raised over two-tier commissioning system

15-Jun-2011
The Department of Health must set target dates for handing budgets to local commissioning groups or an unworkable two-tier system will emerge, senior figures have told HSJ.
Government introduces string of requirements for new-look consortia

14-Jun-2011
New local commissioning groups – where established – will be subject to a list of new requirements and conditions, under revised government reform plans.
Cameron: parts of Health Bill to be recommitted

14-Jun-2011
“Parts” of the Health Bill will be sent back to committee stage of the Commons, the government is to say imminently.
In full: government responds to NHS Future Forum

14-Jun-2011
The government has responded to the NHS Future Forum, confirming agreed changes to its overhaul of the service.
Future Forum: government should stop 'slagging off' managers

13-Jun-2011
The government should stop “slagging off” managers and urgently establish the NHS Commissioning Board to give them more certainty, the NHS Future Forum has said.
Reform changes: Monitor 'to maintain foundation trust checks'

13-Jun-2011
Plans to lift regulatory checks on foundation trusts’ finance and governance appear to have been dropped as part of the government U-turn on NHS reform.
BMA GP chief: Prime minister NHS changes 'welcome'

9-Jun-2011
British Medical Association GP representatives have voted to reserve judgement on the government’s NHS reform until full details of its U-turn are clear.
Royal College commissioning school receiving nearly £2m for GPs' training

8-Jun-2011
The Royal College of GPs – which has heavily criticised the government’s NHS reform programme – has already been paid £1.5m to help teach GPs how to commission.
Commissioning board to constrain consortia powers if 'not ready'

8-Jun-2011
The NHS Commissioning Board is likely to place extensive restrictions on the powers of commissioning consortia in cases where it believes they are “not ready” to take on their new role, HSJ understands.
Exclusive: GP commissioning consortia boards must contain a doctor and nurse

7-Jun-2011
David Cameron has announced a radical reworking of the government’s NHS reform plans which will give hospital doctors and nurses mandated places on GP commissioning consortium boards.
North Yorkshire and York faces ongoing financial difficulties

2-Jun-2011
North Yorkshire and York is one of the most financially troubled primary care trusts in the country.
Clusters to be given single operating model under DH plans

1-Jun-2011
The Department of Health is set to impose a single operating model on primary care trust clusters in order to maintain a grip on NHS finances, HSJ can reveal.
Exclusive: SHAs may get further reprieve

31-May-2011
The abolition of strategic health authorities could be deferred further – potentially until April 2013 – because of Health Bill delays, HSJ has learned.
Exclusive: government to publish second command paper

27-May-2011
The government is planning to publish a second NHS policy “command paper” as it attempts to rescue its floundering Health Bill, HSJ has learned.
Exclusive: politicians 'grandstanding' on competition, says review chair

26-May-2011
One of the leaders of the NHS reform “listening exercise”, Sir Stephen Bubb, has accused politicians of “grandstanding” and “playing on misconceptions” about competition.
Exclusive: Clegg aide signals major delay to bill

26-May-2011
Nick Clegg’s right hand man has told HSJ the Health Bill may not re-enter the Commons until the autumn to ensure some of its most controversial provisions can be “thoroughly and comprehensively” redrafted.
Clegg: 'NHS managers will continue where GPs are not ready'

26-May-2011
Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has given the clearest signal yet the transition to commissioning consortia will be slowed down, with other structures remaining in place “where GPs are not yet ready” to take over.
Reforms face further delay and confusion, concedes Lansley

26 May 2011
The health secretary has admitted his NHS reform bill might have to return to committee stage in the Commons – leading to warnings of further delay and uncertainty.
Cash-strapped PCT escapes budget topslice

26 May 2011
FINANCE: One of England’s most financially troubled primary care trusts cannot guarantee it will meet the national requirement to hold 2 per cent of its funding back from routine spending.
PCTs step up transfer of responsibility to consortia

26 May 2011
STRUCTURE: Primary care trusts in the North East are starting to delegate authority to commissioning consortia.
Exclusive: Commissioning Board will be told to save cancer lives

20-May-2011
A commitment to improve cancer outcomes in order to “save 5,000 lives a year” is set to be included in the government’s first “mandate” for the NHS Commissioning Board, HSJ has been told.
BMA: commissioning consortia are excluding salaried GPs

20-May-2011
Sessional GPs are being blocked from involvement in emerging commissioning consortia, the British Medical Association GPs committee has warned.
Consortia authorisation 'window' risks quality

19-May-2011
The short “window” to authorise commissioning consortia could undermine quality, according to one of those working for the Department of Health on the reorganisation.
Providers warn over dangers of PCT ‘war chest’

19-May-2011
NHS commissioners are building a “war chest” to fund service reorganisation and deal with financial emergencies. But providers are warning the move risks “unnecessary cuts to jobs and services”.
Clinical networks to respond to competition fears

12-May-2011
Clinical networks could be given a more prominent role to address fears that greater NHS competition will lead to service fragmentation and greater variations in standards of care.
Multimillion pound commissioning support tender suspended

12-May-2011
FINANCE: A multi-million pound tender process for development support for commissioning consortia across London has been “suspended indefinitely”.
Hospital death rate indicator delayed

12 May 2011
A promised new indicator of hospital death rates is unlikely to be ready until the autumn, HSJ has learned.
PCT clusters may survive as reform pressure builds

11-May-2011
A continued existence beyond 2013 for primary care trust clusters looked increasingly likely this week, as the health secretary’s NHS reforms came under huge political pressure.
Exclusive: McKinsey called in to advise PM on NHS reforms

5-May-2011
The panel of senior health policy experts appointed to advise the prime minister on NHS reform met for the first time yesterday.
North East on course to meet targets, but some regions are still feeling the heat

5 May 2011
With the financial year ended, overall performance during 2010-11 is becoming a bit clearer. Both NHS North East and Yorkshire and the Humber appear to have met headline targets, but Yorkshire is showing signs of strain.
Exclusive: expert panel to advise prime minister on NHS

3-May-2011
Number 10 Downing Street is establishing its own panel of senior health policy experts – including two former NHS chief executives – to advise the prime minister on NHS reform, HSJ has learned.
PCT clusters and chief executives list

27-Apr-2011
Full list of primary care trust clusters and their chief executives, where confirmed by the strategic health authority.
Cluster landscape shows 52 commissioners

27-Apr-2011
Primary care trusts are clustering into 52 commissioners across England – ranging from a £4.7bn giant to an £800m standalone PCT.
Reform review may demand 'no more reorganisations'

26-Apr-2011
The NHS Future Forum is considering recommending “no more top-down reorganisations” of the service in its report to the prime minister, HSJ has learned.
'Business review' to start for commissioning support

21-Apr-2011
Commissioning support services being developed by primary care trust clusters are likely to undergo a national “business review”.
Fears over offender services as duties transfer to PCTs

21-Apr-2011
One of the largest providers of drug and alcohol services for offenders has expressed serious concerns about primary care trusts’ readiness to commission them.
Public NHS involvement suspended in Birmingham

21 April 2011
Birmingham has been left without a fully functioning patient and public involvement network after its “two key decision making groups” were temporarily suspended.
NHS finance bosses 'concerned' over productivity targets

20-Apr-2011
NHS finance directors are already warning their plans to improve productivity in 2011-12 may not be met, less than a month into the financial year.
GPs unclear on forming non-neighbouring consortia

20-Apr-2011
GPs remain in the dark over whether they can form consortia from non-neighbouring practices.
Sir David will 'press on' with reform details

14-Apr-2011
The Department of Health will publish key details on the emerging NHS structures in coming weeks, despite significant uncertainty about the government’s reforms.
Reform goals hampered by political pause

14 April 2011
The practical implications of the “pause” in the passage of the Health Bill will significantly hamper the reform process, according to NHS sources.
Reform pause welcomed by slowly emerging Yorkshire pathfinders

14 April 2011
Some at NHS Barnsley may have reacted with a sigh of relief to last week’s news of a “pause” in the reform of the NHS.
Variation in surgery rates hints at savings potential

14 April 2011
There is a “persistent and widespread” variation in the proportion of NHS patients undergoing operations in different areas in England, a King’s Fund report has found.
HSJ consortia development map

11-Apr-2011
The number and names of emerging consortia for each PCT area
Steve Field: Cameron listening exercise is for real

7-Apr-2011
Steve Field, chair of the government’s NHS Future Forum review, has told HSJ it is “not just a paper exercise” but says “going back” on the Health Bill is not an option.
SHA abolition delayed by three months

7-Apr-2011
The abolition of strategic health authorities is to be delayed by three months until July 2012, the Department of Health is expected to announce today.
Pathfinder consortia focusing on integration, analysis shows

7 April 2011
Pathfinder commissioning consortia are prioritising service integration but are overly focused on governance issues, according to a report shared exclusively with HSJ.
Health minister: GPs should press on with reforms

6-Apr-2011
Health minister Lord Howe has told HSJ GPs should press on with commissioning consortium development, despite the government’s “pause” and “listening exercise”.
'Future Forum' will advise PM on NHS reforms

6-Apr-2011
The government is launching a panel which it has named a “Future Forum” to advise to changes on its NHS reforms.
Exclusive: Steve Field to front PM's 'listening exercise' advisory panel

6-Apr-2011
Immediate past chair of the Royal College of GPs Steve Field is to chair a panel as part of the government’s “listening exercise” over NHS reform, HSJ has learned.
Committee's recommendations 'fit with policy', says leading GP

5-Apr-2011
Several of the health committee’s key recommendations for changes to the reforms “fit with the policy” and could be made without disturbing it, a leading GP commissioner has said.
One month's delay to NHS reforms

5-Apr-2011
The Health Bill’s progress through Parliament is to be delayed by a month, HSJ understands, to give health secretary Andrew Lansley time to listen to concerns about the possible impact on the NHS.
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.
Hakin rejects 'disappointing' reform criticisms

31 March 2011
Dame Barbara Hakin, a GP of 20 years and the woman charged by the government with developing consortium commissioning, is growing irritated by alleged misinformation about the NHS reforms, as HSJ’s Dave West finds out.
Hakin rules out consortia patient charges

31 March 2011
The national lead for the government’s commissioning reforms has ruled out the prospect of consortia reducing the range of NHS services provided or extending charges.
Leading GP groups risk creation of 'sink estate' consortia

31 March 2011
GPs are forming commissioning groups that do not cover a defined geographic area, sometimes excluding lower performing practices.
Early consortium transfers expected by commissioners

31 March 2011
Most commissioning managers and GPs responding to an HSJ survey believe the proposed handover to consortia will happen well ahead of schedule.
Howe promises to 'expose' underperforming GPs

24 March 2011
GPs will be “monitored, supported and held to account” by consortia as the NHS moves to “expose substandard general practice”, health minister Lord Howe has told HSJ.
Inform patients about GP service conflicts of interest - DH adviser

24 March 2011
Patients referred to GP services commissioned by the consortium to which the practice belongs must be told of the potential conflict of interest and offered an alternative, a government adviser has told HSJ.
Major GP inquiry finds 'wide variations'

24-Mar-2011
An inquiry into primary care quality has found “wide variations in performance and gaps in the quality of care”, and called for much more published information about GP services.
Two regions' PCT groups and chief executives confirmed

24 March 2011
Primary care trust clusters are rapidly being established ahead of the June deadline, and their chief executives appointed.
Confess 'longstanding problems' in consortia handovers, PCTs told

24 March 2011
Commissioners have been told to produce handover notes for commissioning consortia so they are not left to “discover for themselves afresh” any “longstanding problems” with local services.
Former Blair health adviser returns to Cameron's number 10

18-Mar-2011
A consultant who led the health targets and finances team of Tony Blair’s delivery unit has been appointed as the new health adviser to 10 Downing Street.
Dozens of consortia match PCT area

17 March 2011
Nearly half of primary care trusts are expecting a single commissioning consortium to span the same geographical area that they currently cover.
Pace of consortia handovers varying widely

17 March 2011
A quarter of primary care trusts are racing ahead to hand over commissioning budgets while a third have no clear plans to “let go”.
Yorkshire trusts could soon start to see cracks appear

17 March 2011
The NHS in Yorkshire has for years papered over the cracks of financial unsustainability in its second largest organisation, North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust.
DH struggling to achieve consultant choice within deadline

17 March 2011
Patients’ ability to choose between named consultant led teams for elective hospital care looks unlikely to be significantly extended by the government’s deadline in April.
Consortia staff numbers will be limited

10 March 2011
The NHS Commissioning Board will build measures into the authorisation process for consortia to limit the number of staff they can employ directly, HSJ understands.
Consortia grapple with size pros and cons

10 March 2011
One of the first evaluations of the development of commissioning consortia has found they are struggling with questions of size and support.
Dr Foster chief executive stands down

9-Mar-2011
Dr Foster Intelligence chief executive Tom Moloney has stood down and been replaced by Tim Baker, who previously led Dr Foster Research, the company has announced.
Milburn rejects offer to join Commissioning Board chair competition

8-Mar-2011
Former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn has rejected a government offer to become a candidate for the chair of the NHS Commissioning Board.
Hull GPs refuse pathfinder 'political football'

7-Mar-2011
GPs in a primary care trust area known for its strong commissioning performance are refusing to form a pathfinder consortium as they do not wish to become a “political football”.
Sally Davies appointed chief medical officer

3-Mar-2011
Dame Sally Davies has been appointed as chief medical officer for England, the first woman to hold the post.
Nicholson must 'prove he trusts' GP commissioners

3 March 2011
Potential consortium leaders will “walk away” unless they are handed sufficient autonomy, leading GP commissioners have warned the NHS chief executive.
DH forbids PCT cluster companies

2-Mar-2011
The Department of Health is set to tell primary care trusts they should stop establishing “shadow” commissioning consortia as limited companies.
Analysed: government announces third wave pathfinders

2-Mar-2011
The announcement of the third tranche of “pathfinder” GP consortia takes the proportion of the English population covered to just over two thirds.
Up to £800m GP income could be linked to commissioning

1-Mar-2011
Some £800m of GP practice income could be linked to commissioning performance.
Commissioners flouting patient choice rules

24 February 2011
NHS commissioners have been routinely depriving patients of their entitlement to choice of hospital for several years and may be in breach of competition rules, regulators have found.
Conflict of interest concern in primary care centre cuts

22-Feb-2011
Primary care access centres are becoming a common early target for cuts, examples highlighted to HSJ suggest, as spending is squeezed and GPs take a greater role in commissioning.
Monitor chair announced

18-Feb-2011
The health secretary has appointed David Bennett - Monitor’s current interim chief executive - as the future chair of the competition regulator.
Nicholson: My commissioning board won't be 'shy'

18-Feb-2011
Sir David Nicholson has begun to set out how the NHS Commissioning Board will operate, warning it will not be “shy” to lead, and will involve itself in all aspects of commissioning.
Yorks and North East pathfinders reflect national uncertainty

16-Feb-2011
News about the NHS’s new commissioning system is surfacing across the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, reflecting discussions across England.
Post discharge death rates revealed

16-Feb-2011
Nearly a fifth of deaths linked to hospital care occur after discharge, according to mortality figures published by the NHS Information Centre.
PCT 'first' to look at commissioning social enterprise

16-Feb-2011
NHS Western Cheshire staff may launch the first commissioning support social enterprise.
GP services face scrutiny under competition system

10 February 2011
Community services provided by GPs worth nearly £400m will have to go through a competition approval process as part of the transition to consortium commissioning, HSJ has been told.
DH: 20 trusts' futures in doubt

8-Feb-2011
The Department of Health has identified about 20 organisations that will struggle to achieve foundation status, NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson has revealed.
Commissioning firms to help shape support landscape

4-Feb-2011
Private companies are being invited to a series of NHS events to help design commissioning support arrangements which will apply after primary care trusts are abolished.
Rigorous approach needed to improve QOF payments, report says

3 February 2011
The Audit Commission has found significant variation among primary care trusts’ management of GP performance payments.
Reforms are a 'new deal', PM tells GPs

3 February 2011
Prime minister David Cameron has spearheaded the government’s latest attempt to rally GPs behind consortium commissioning.
Transition 'carefully designed and managed', says government

1-Feb-2011
The government has insisted its NHS reform process is “carefully designed and managed”, in reaction to criticism from the health committee.
Government confusion over midwife numbers boost

1-Feb-2011
The government has confirmed it has not set a target to increase midwife numbers by 3,000, despite a promise to do so by prime minister David Cameron in the run up to the election last year.
Health Bill wins first Commons battle

1-Feb-2011
The government’s health reforms passed their first hurdle in Parliament this week, despite continued criticism.
DH will 'co-produce' authorisation process, GPs told

28-Jan-2011
Pathfinder commissioning consortia have been told the NHS Commissioning Board will “co produce” with them its authorisation process for the groups, HSJ has learned.
DH retracts LINks funds mistake sent to councils

27 January 2011
Local authorities should maintain spending on public involvement bodies, the Department of Health has been forced to clarify.
Trusts fail to tackle spiralling kidney care costs

27 January 2011
Latest figures revealing the rising cost of treating kidney disease highlight trusts’ failure to address the growing problem of acute kidney injury, HSJ has been told.
Bill paves way for consortia bail outs and risk sharing

20-Jan-2011
The Health Bill appears to create extensive potential for the NHS Commissioning Board to bail out consortia.
DH 'telling councils to cut public involvement budget in half'

20-Jan-2011
The Department of Health is expecting the budget of public involvement bodies to be nearly halved next year, just as ministers are promising to empower patients, HSJ has learned.
Commissioning board given 'draconian' powers

20-Jan-2011
The Health Bill awards the NHS Commissioning Board “draconian” powers to intervene in and split up “failing” commissioning consortia, analysis by HSJ and NHS legal experts Beachcroft finds.
National board will hire consortia leads and guide pay

19-Jan-2011
The NHS commissioning board will approve the leaders of consortia – and issue guidance to limit how much they are paid, the health bill suggests.
Health Bill maintains light touch on consortia

19-Jan-2011
The health bill published today maintains a light touch approach to requirements for commissioning consortia, but appears to leave wriggle room for more prescription in future.
Consortia need strong support and to integrate, finds Nuffield research

19-Jan-2011
Research on clinical commissioning groups in the US suggests young consortia in the UK need a lot of support and must work with other sectors if they are to survive.
Major questions remain over commissioning, say insiders

19-Jan-2011
Major questions remain over the successful formation of commissioning consortia, despite the fast spread of “pathfinders”, according to those overseeing the process.
'Stalinist' controls grip expiring SHAs

19-Jan-2011
The Department of Health has handed the NHS a set of 116 performance measures and 24 further priorities for 2011-12, as its “Stalinist controls” on the transition process become clear.
MPs: NHS white paper lacked 'credible plan'

18-Jan-2011
The Commons health committee has strongly criticised the government’s approach to NHS reform - particularly its “surprise” announcement of the abolition of primary care trusts and strategic health authorities.
Three single-practice consortia made pathfinders

17-Jan-2011
The average population size among pathfinder commissioning consortia remains large, but there are three single-practice groups among those announced today.
Health secretary announces 89 more pathfinders

17-Jan-2011
More than half the English population is covered by pathfinder commissioning consortia after the Department of Health announced a further 89.
NHS London buys in support for consortia development

13-Jan-2011
NHS London has contracted a KPMG-led partnership to support consortia development.
One in five GP practices are underperforming

13 January 2011
Nearly one in five GP practices are underperforming across a significant number of quality and performance measures, according to HSJ analysis.
Consortia commissioning benefits 'poorly defined'

12-Jan-2011
The government and local NHS leaders need to better demonstrate the benefits and purpose of consortia commissioning, work by the NHS Alliance has found.
David Colin-Thomé retires

7-Jan-2011
National clinical director for primary care David Colin-Thomé has retired, HSJ has learned.
BMA leadership defends its response to reforms

6-Jan-2011
The British Medical Association leadership has defended its engagement with the government’s health reforms after criticism from some members, but says it will be “stepping up” its lobbying.
DH 'efficiency drive' produces £162m gift for NHS

6 January 2011
Primary care trusts and council social care services will share an extra £162m this year thanks to a Department of Health “efficiency drive”.
King’s Fund finds quality accounts tension

6 January 2011
The first set of NHS quality accounts were characterised by “variation and a lack of comparability”, a King’s Fund analysis has found.
Local involvement networks are working, DH finds

4-Jan-2011
Local involvement networks significantly stepped up activity in their second year of existence, but will still be replaced, the Department of Health has said.
First NHS outcomes framework published

20-Dec-2010
The first NHS outcomes framework has been unveiled, identifying 51 indicators to be used to judge the service.
DH figures show pathfinder GPs are set to bust budgets

17 December 2010
A significant number of the new “pathfinder” commissioning consortia are on track to bust their budgets this financial year, an HSJ analysis reveals.
Key details added to radical reform plan

15-Dec-2010
The government has added key details to its plans for wholesale reform of the NHS, while committing to pressing ahead with the changes.
HSJ exclusive: Lansley appoints first commissioning board chief

15-Dec-2010
Health secretary Andrew Lansley has formally appointed Sir David Nicholson as the first chief executive of the NHS commissioning board.
White paper response: 'We were right to embark on this journey'

15-Dec-2010
The government has handed maternity to commissioning consortia and given councils formal scrutiny powers to cover NHS funded services in changes outlined in its response to the white paper consultation.
Lord Darzi launches Imperial health policy centre

14-Dec-2010
Imperial College London has launched a major new health policy unit, headed by former minister Lord Ara Darzi.
Government delays GP quality accounts

14-Dec-2010
The government has abandoned a requirement for GP practices to publish quality accounts from April next year.
Emergency tariff to cost trusts nearly £200m

13-Dec-2010
Hospital trusts are expected to miss out on nearly £200m income under the marginal emergency tariff during this year, according to information provided to HSJ.
DH U-turns on cash cut to children's hospitals

10-Dec-2010
The Department of Health has dropped plans that would have seen a significant drop in funding for some specialist children’s hospitals, following political protest.
Consortia should share finance directors, says NHS finance chief

10-Dec-2010
Some commissioning consortia are likely to share finance directors, the deputy NHS chief executive has confirmed.
Maximum 0.3 per cent increase for PCT allocations

10-Dec-2010
Primary care trusts will see a maximum of 0.3 per cent real terms growth in their allocations for 2011-12, the NHS deputy chief executive has said.
Merger plans announced as FT deadline looms

9 December 2010
A rush of acute hospital mergers have been announced in the wake of the Department of Health deadline for submitting plans to become a foundation trust.
PCTs expected to be ‘ordered’ to cluster

9 December 2010
The Department of Health is likely to make mergers of primary care trusts a requirement in its operating framework for 2011-12, HSJ has been told.
Financial checks on NHS providers eased

9 December 2010
More than 100 NHS hospital and mental health providers are to be freed of significant checks on their finance and governance within 18 months, HSJ has learned.
PCT chiefs help drive new structure

9 December 2010
Five primary care trust chief executives have left their organisations for full time roles developing the new commissioning infrastructure.
Patient information is 'at risk'

9 December 2010
More than half of hospital staff involved in providing information to the public believe their services are likely to be cut, according to a survey.
Lansley: More pathfinders named in 'weeks'

8-Dec-2010
The health secretary has said more pathfinder consortia will be named in “coming weeks and months”, following the first 54 announced today.
Pathfinder size suggests consortia will total under 250

8-Dec-2010
The size of the pathfinder commissioning consortia announced by the government suggests there are ultimately likely to be fewer than 250 covering England.
PCT chief execs leave for national roles

3-Dec-2010
Three primary care trust chief executives have left their organisations for full time roles developing the new commissioning infrastructure.
Blackpool deficit hints at tough era for foundations

2 December 2010
Monitor has found significant financial and governance problems at Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Hospitals Foundation Trust.
Department of Health maps end of PCTs and SHAs

2 December 2010
The Department of Health will publish a “road map” for the abolition of primary care trusts and strategic health authorities before Christmas, NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson has said. He warned there will be no “slow down” in the process.
Treasury 'Icy cold wind' may end GP independence, says NHS medical director

1-Dec-2010
Taking on commissioning budgets may force GPs to give up their historic independence and potentially integrate with secondary care, the NHS medical director has suggested.
FTs make pre-emptive defence against Hospital Guide findings

26-Nov-2010
Two large foundation trusts have questioned the methods and findings of the Dr Foster Hospital Guide, ahead of its publication this weekend.
Monitor flags finance problems at hospital foundation trust

26-Nov-2010
The foundation trust regulator Monitor has highlighted significant financial problems at Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Hospitals Foundation Trust.
Pioneering 'NHS Atlas' reveals huge contrasts in care

25 November 2010
The Department of Health has for the first time laid bare the huge regional variations in healthcare across England.
NHS Atlas of Variation highlights service value

25 November 2010
The NHS Atlas of Variation further highlights the pressure on the NHS to restrict access to some services and medicines.
Lansley moves to replace Monitor chair

24-Nov-2010
The health secretary will begin recruiting a new chair of Monitor in the next few weeks and make an appointment early next year, HSJ has learned.
DH to appoint new Monitor chair

23-Nov-2010
The health secretary plans to appoint a new chair to Monitor, the NHS provider regulator, early next year, HSJ has learned.
NHS back office savings worth £1bn

19-Nov-2010
The NHS could save £600m-£1bn through sharing more back office services, according to research conducted for the Department of Health.
Telehealth could save NHS £2bn

19-Nov-2010
The NHS is missing out on annual efficiency savings worth up to £2bn by failing to embrace remote monitoring and care, according to a report shared with HSJ.
Nicholson letter suggests caution on scrapping PCTs

10-Nov-2010
Sir David Nicholson, as chair of the National Quality Board, has written to the health secretary urging caution on several elements of his white paper reforms.
DH speeds up abolition of PCTs and SHAs

10-Nov-2010
The government has stepped up the pace of its NHS reorganisation by bringing forward the abolition of primary care trusts and strategic health authorities.
‘Immediate’ need for GP data system

10-Nov-2010
The government has given its backing to a delayed national IT system which would collect swathes of information about primary care.
New hospital death rates to be published in April

4 November 2010
An official NHS death rate for hospital trusts will be published within six months and must not be ignored, the Department of Health was due to announce today.
Dr Foster sticks with alternative death rate

4 November 2010
One of the most prominent methods of comparing hospital death rates has been the hospital standardised mortality ratio, promulgated by firm Dr Foster and used to create its annual Hospital Guide since 2001.
Shadow health minister attacks children's tariff cut

1-Nov-2010
Shadow health minister John Healey has said planned changes to hospital payments for children’s care could leave some trusts “millions of pounds short of the funding they need”.
CQC says improvements still needed at Mid Staffs

29-Oct-2010
Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust has been told it still needs to make improvements, more than 18 months after its serious failings were brought to light.
Hospital trusts hit by £90m fall in earnings

28 October 2010
Hospital trusts lost out on income worth approximately £90m during the three months to June as a result of the Department of Health’s policy to restrict funding for emergency admissions.
Better NHS management 'leads to better outcomes'

26-Oct-2010
There is a strong association between high quality management and patient outcomes in UK hospitals, the management consultancy McKinsey and Co have claimed.
Trusts must offer choice of consultant led team from April

21 October 2010
The government will publish a wealth of “unpolished” data on clinical performance to help deliver its promise to give elective patients choice of which consultant led team will provide their care.
Guide hopes to avoid death rate panic

21 October 2010
The NHS is launching a coordinated attempt to manage the reaction to this year's Dr Foster Hospital Guide, due next month.
Government drops one-on-one cancer nurse plan

20-Oct-2010
Plans made under Labour to improve cancer services and provide free prescriptions for people with long term conditions have been abandoned by the government, it has confirmed.
Minimal funding increase for NHS in spending review

20-Oct-2010
NHS funding will increase by just 0.1 per cent above inflation from next year onwards, the chancellor has confirmed - the minimum required to meet the government’s “real terms increase” pledge.
NHS IT supplier agrees contract 'efficiencies'

18-Oct-2010
BT – one of the major NHS IT suppliers – has agreed changes “designed to deliver efficiencies” in its government contracts.
Two ambulance trusts get all-clear from Lansley

14 October 2010
Two ambulance service trusts are the first to be put forward by the health secretary for approval to become foundation trusts.
PCTs make slow progress with QIPP

7 October 2010
Primary care trusts are already falling behind on their quality, innovation, productivity and prevention (QIPP) plans, analysis by HSJ has found.
Big income drop likely for children’s hospitals

7 October 2010
Specialist children’s hospitals could see a significant drop in their income under changes to the national tariff.
Thorny NHS reform issues unresolved

6-Oct-2010
A Department of Health document on the proposed strengthening of the NHS provider market, seen by HSJ, sheds further light on the reforms’ far reaching and sensitive consequences.
Monitor warns FTs against ‘salami slice’ cost shaving

30 September 2010
Many foundation trusts are falling behind on ambitious savings plans and could end up making damaging “salami slice” cuts by the end of the year, their regulator has warned.
NHS managers explore 'plan B' for PCTs

30 September 2010
Primary care trusts are planning to merge into larger organisations. Senior NHS figures have told HSJ they could continue to exist as a “plan B” if proposals to scrap PCTs and strategic health authorities falter.
Andy Burnham accuses Cameron of NHS u-turn

29-Sep-2010
Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham accused prime minister David Cameron of a u-turn on NHS policy in his speech to the Labour party conference today.
CQC gives nearly-all-clear to troubled foundation trust

24-Sep-2010
The Care Quality Commission has lifted two of three conditions on the licence of Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals Foundation Trust.
DH keeping a close eye on local NHS reconfiguration plans

23 September 2010
The government has been intensely monitoring local reconfigurations and their political sensitivity for the last 10 months, HSJ can reveal.
Surgery fails thousands of patients

23 September 2010
The NHS is spending tens of millions of pounds each year on operations of questionable benefit to patients’ health, according to groundbreaking figures.
Criticism launched at ‘armchair audit’ idea

23 September 2010
Concerns have been raised about the abolition of the Audit Commission by the chair of the government’s independent ethics advisory body, the Committee on Standards in Public Life.
FTs call for lighter control

22-Sep-2010
Foundation trusts are in conflict with Monitor over the future regulation of their financial planning and governance.
IT shake-up leaves key components unaltered

16 September 2010
A shake-up of NHS IT announced by the government has left key elements of the national programme for IT unchanged.
White paper leads to shake up in top posts at SHAs

10-Sep-2010
UPDATED: Department of Health announces managers who will lead the transition implementing the white paper.
BMA advice suggests 100 commissioning groups for England

10-Sep-2010
The BMA GP Committee has published guidance for GPs on forming commissioning consortia.
Government announces major NHS IT shakeup

9-Sep-2010
The government has announced significant changes to the National Programme for IT, which it says will give more choice and flexibility to NHS organisations.
Warning over scale of task of replacing PCTs

9 September 2010
The true scale of the task which will be picked up by GPs, local authorities, the national commissioning board and other agencies following the abolition of primary care trusts is being significantly underestimated.
No accord on mortality measures

9 September 2010
A nationally agreed hospital-wide mortality indicator will not to be in place before the publication of this year’s Dr Foster Hospital Guide, it has been confirmed.
Emergency admissions bypassing GP referrals

9 September 2010
The government may be over-estimating the ability of GPs to control emergency admissions.
MPs question Pickles on shock Audit Commission abolition

9 September 2010
Communities secretary Eric Pickles has claimed his surprise announcement of the abolition of the Audit Commission, during the Parliamentary recess, was necessary.
PCTs make a good shot at prioritisation

9 September 2010
With GP consortia on course to take over commissioning, a report seen by HSJ shows PCTs have been preparing the ground well by getting to grips with the fundamentals of local priority setting. Dave West explains
Audit Commission seeks independent role

8-Sep-2010
The Audit Commission has appointed a managing director to lead its transition to an independent audit practice.
DH puts Monitor chief job on ice

2 September 2010
The government’s civil service recruitment freeze is delaying Monitor from recruiting a new chief executive, despite urgent calls for “strong leadership” at the regulator, which is set to be given sweeping new powers.
Foundation trust chief calls for state support

2 September 2010
Foundation trusts will still need state backing for private loans, according to a chief executive who lost £464m in government funding for a hospital scheme.
Clinical coding improving, says Audit Commission

26 August 2010
The accuracy of hospital trusts’ clinical coding has improved significantly in the past three years, but remains very poor at some organisations, according to the Audit Commission.
Lansley attacks 'damage morale and independence'

26 August 2010
Ministers have been accused of undermining NHS managers’ independence and morale with public attacks on their work.
Monitor set local authority concerns aside

26 August 2010
Monitor has declined to act on local authority concerns about major foundation trust service change on at least two occasions in the last year, it has emerged.
Care trust plus chief executive quits for hospital

19-Aug-2010
The chief executive of North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus is leaving the organisation after 10 years.
Financial fears as axe falls on Audit Commission

19 August 2010
The abolition of the Audit Commission has heightened concern about the NHS losing control of financial management as the government cuts growth and overhauls commissioning.
Doctors want leadership roles, poll for HSJ suggests

19 August 2010
Most doctors believe the service they work in would be best managed by other doctors, but a lack of time and obstruction from managers is preventing that from happening, according to a poll for HSJ.
Trauma care ‘needs networks at regional level’

12 August 2010
The location of NHS regional trauma centres should be organised to deliver required levels of care rather than to deal with the predicted volume of patients, according to the NHS Confederation.
Two bidders left in NHS hospital franchise race

11-Aug-2010
The outcome of a competitive process that will see a private firm involved in the running of an NHS hospital for the first time is expected to be announced before the end of the year.
NHS service reconfigurations 'surge' expected

5 August 2010
The NHS looks set to see a “surge” of major changes to hospital services in the next 18 months after the government effectively lifted its moratorium on reconfiguration.
NHS brand undermined by online confusion

5 August 2010
The NHS spends close to £100m a year on thousands of websites that are often hard to find, badly designed and not wanted by the public, according to government reports leaked to HSJ.
Integration of NHS Direct and NHS Choices raised by web review

5 August 2010
The DH’s digital communications review describes the future of NHS Direct and NHS Choices as “unfinished business” - but stops short of recommending the two services should be merged.
London mayor seeks health funds role

5 August 2010
London mayor Boris Johnson is looking to take over large parts of the capital’s public health budget instead of it being passed directly to councils.
National Childbirth Trust wants maternity providers to go it alone

4-Aug-2010
Maternity networks should be provider organisations and employ their own staff, according to a charity working with the government on the proposals.
Commissioners must 'balance evidence and views' on reconfiguration

29-Jul-2010
The health secretary’s four tests for major service change should be “embedded” into future planning.
Reconfiguration moratorium lifted in three months

29-Jul-2010
Most reconfigurations covered by the government’s moratorium could be ready to go ahead in three months time.
Doubt over removal of DH ‘shackles’

29 July 2010
Tensions are emerging in government plans to remove the “shackles” of central control by liberating foundation trusts and strengthening regulators.
Foundation trust proposals raise tough borrowing question

29 July 2010
The government has left wide open the question of whether foundation trusts will be able to finance major investments with commercial loans - and risk seeing their taxpayer funded property sold off if they default.
Missing detail renders NHS quality accounts ‘meaningless’

29 July 2010
Many hospitals have evaded a major government initiative to make them more open and accountable about the quality of their services.
Trusts dodge scrutiny by omitting vital quality measures

29 July 2010
Quality accounts were supposed to be an important tool to inform patients. But as the first are published, many have gaping holes on safety, experience and outcomes. Dave West reports
Trusts repond to weak quality account charge

29 July 2010
Most of the 10 trusts highlighted as having several elements missing from their accounts responded to HSJ.
White paper: regulation reform to create 'level playing field'

26-Jul-2010
The government has proposed significant changes to health provider regulation, which it says will create a “level playing field” for all providers of NHS care.
GP consortia management budgets could be as low as £9 per person

22 July 2010
GP consortia could receive an annual management allowance of £9 per head of population, HSJ has been told. The figure represents an even larger cut in management costs than previously proposed.
King's Fund seeks clarity on NHS cost pressures

22 July 2010
Pay freezes, the removal of waiting time targets and slowing hospital improvements could reduce the total of NHS efficiency savings needed from £21bn to £14bn, the King’s Fund has estimated.
NHS IT programme faces further cost cutting

22 July 2010
The government is expected to confirm a further scaling back of the NHS IT programme as part of central cost cutting measures announced in the emergency budget.
Information revolution 'could confuse public'

21-Jul-2010
The government is being warned its proposed “information revolution” could cause public confusion rather than empowerment if not properly managed.
East of England opens up hospital quality figures

21-Jul-2010
A strategic health authority has published hospital trusts’ performance against dozens of quality indicators on the internet.
Departing NHS London chair hits out at Lansley

15 July 2010
The NHS London chair who resigned in protest at the government’s reconfiguration policy has formally stepped down, leaving the strategic health authority struggling to maintain a functioning board.
Council role to supplant PCTs

14-Jul-2010
Local authorities will have a greater but as yet unclear role in planning NHS services under the white paper proposals.
Tougher tack on increasing foundation trusts

14-Jul-2010
The government will take a tough approach to moving to an all foundation trust system, and seek to put providers “outside state control”.
Outcome goals to replace performance framework

12-Jul-2010
The NHS performance regime will be replaced with an outcomes framework for the NHS and public health, the white paper says.
Monitor and CQC to run 'joint licence' from April 2012

12-Jul-2010
Monitor will become an economic regulator of all health and social care providers from April 2012, Andrew Lansley’s white paper confirms.
White paper: DH unit will force foundation trust move

12-Jul-2010
All NHS provider trusts will be regulated by Monitor from April 2013, the white paper says.
Lansley: 'no job left for PCTs'

12-Jul-2010
Primary care trusts will be abolished, health secretary Andrew Lansley has announced in his white paper for NHS reform.
MPs given access to NHS comments and complaints

8-Jul-2010
A new services is giving MPs easy access to patients’ comments and complaints about the NHS in their constituency.
Government tells CQC to drop annual health check reviews

8 July 2010
The government has told the Care Quality Commission to scrap its annual review of health service organisations immediately, HSJ has learned.
Scrapping GP access targets worries QIPP

8 July 2010
Scrapping GP access targets could undermine efforts to reduce unnecessary accident and emergency attendances, research given to the Department of Health suggests.
Imperial recruits PCT chief in integrated care drive

8 July 2010
Imperial College Healthcare Trust has hired a primary care trust chief executive to lead its work to become an integrated healthcare organisation.
Lansley outlines plans for ‘health outcome’ measures

8 July 2010
The government will identify a small number of quality measures that will be used to judge a wide range of NHS activities, from commissioning to hospital care.
Lansley announces public health 'vision'

7-Jul-2010
Andrew Lansley has announced a “whole new approach” to public health in which, he says, the government will shape individuals’ behaviour and choice rather than control supply.
Swine flu review highlights messy GP negotiations

7-Jul-2010
Government swine flu vaccination negotiations with the British Medical Association “did not reflect well” on either side, an independent review has found.
DH says reform 'proceeding' despite doubts

5-Jul-2010
The Department of Health is insisting health secretary Andrew Lansley’s NHS reforms are “proceeding”, following a report they have been rejected by other departments.
Review finds £1.2bn swine flu effort 'proportionate'

1-Jul-2010
The UK response to swine flu was “proportionate and effective”, an independent review has concluded.
Hospitals face shortfalls as emergency demand spirals

1 July 2010
Hospital trusts face significant cash penalties this year as their emergency activity continues to rise, HSJ analysis reveals.
Heart of England has new chief

1 July 2010
Heart of England Foundation Trust has appointed a chief executive to replace Mark Goldman.
Lansley: money is now 'core responsibility' of doctors

30-Jun-2010
Health secretary Andrew Lansley today told the British Medical Association conference that use of resources is a “core responsibility” of doctors.
Lansley promises clear accountability rules

24-Jun-2010
Health secretary Andrew Lansley will set out a clear framework of accountability for his reformed NHS, he told the NHS Confederation conference today.
Lansley tells Confed: NHS needs strong management

24-Jun-2010
The health secretary has told the NHS Confederation conference the NHS needs “strong management” and his reforms will be “exciting” for good managers and leaders.
NHS medical director says GPs will need more scrutiny

24-Jun-2010
The NHS medical director has acknowledged new methods need to be found to scrutinise GP performance and hold them accountable.
Quality advisers say all NHS information should go online

24-Jun-2010
Nearly all information for the NHS would be published online after being collected by a single national body, under proposals being considered by the government.
Pressure eases on 18-weeks referral

24 June 2010
Performance management of the 18 weeks referral-to-treatment and primary care access targets will stop immediately, the revised operating framework states.
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.
Easton: 'QIPP and Lansley reform are the same thing'

23-Jun-2010
The government’s NHS reforms must be seen as part of the process of saving £20bn, the NHS quality and productivity tsar has said.
HealthVault launch highlights IT policy vacuum

22-Jun-2010
Microsoft today launched its personal health information product HealthVault in the UK, highlighting the lack of clarity about the government’s NHS IT policy.
Lansley halts maternity unit closure

21-Jun-2010
Plans to close a maternity unit in the North West have been put on hold by the health secretary.
Summary care record 'faces wicked problems'

17-Jun-2010
The summary care record programme has delivered little benefit, is behind schedule and still faces significant barriers to success, a comprehensive independent evaluation has found.
Clinical audits ordered to reveal provider level data

17 June 2010
National clinical audits will be stripped of their funding if they refuse to publish information on organisation performance, including mortality rates, HSJ has learned.
DH will tell audits to publish trusts' results

17 June 2010
National clinical audits will be stripped of their funding if they refuse to publish provider level information including mortality rates, HSJ has learned.
Malcolm Stamp quits Coventry trust

16-Jun-2010
Malcolm Stamp has resigned as chief executive of University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire Trust after 18 months.
PCTs, councils and firms 'will commission for GPs'

10-Jun-2010
GP consortia will be able to pick between primary care trusts, local authorities and independent organisations for commissioning support, Andrew Lansley has said.
PCTs to lose responsibility for GPs

10 June 2010
Primary care trusts will have their responsibilities radically stripped back under plans being developed by health secretary Andrew Lansley.
Government announces full Mid Staffs inquiry and whistleblower move

9-Jun-2010
The government has announced a public inquiry into the Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust scandal.
Lansley outlines NHS plans in first public speech

8-Jun-2010
Andrew Lansley has given further details of his plans for the NHS in his first major public speech as health secretary.
Lansley: readmissions move is to drive integration

8-Jun-2010
Penalising trusts for readmissions will push the integration of acute and community care, health secretary Andrew Lansley has said.
Calmer chameleon: the new face of Monitor

3 June 2010
Monitor’s new chair Steve Bundred wants to put the gladiatorial era of his predecessor behind him and usher in a new spirit of co-operation. Endless battles with the Department of Health are out; faith in the health secretary is in, he tells Dave West
Monitor chair wants FTs off public balance sheet

2-Jun-2010
Foundation trusts should be freed from one of the shackles put in place during the Labour government’s internal battle over their creation, Monitor’s new chair has said.
Ruth Carnall: I'm not resigning

27-May-2010
NHS London’s chief executive Ruth Carnall has said it is her “firm intention” to stay in post following the resignation of two of its directors.
NHS service change plans will face stricter controls

27 May 2010
Plans for major NHS service change will in future have to meet stricter standards, including the approval of GP commissioners, under rules to be announced next month.
NHS should focus on outcomes, not targets - Lansley

27 May 2010
The health secretary has said the NHS should focus on health outcomes, patient experience and safety performance and is grappling with whether to drop key waiting times targets.
Imperial College Healthcare chief backs GP integration

27 May 2010
One of the biggest hospital trusts in England wants to convert itself into a vertically integrated care organisation.
Long term condition services inefficient due to poor design

27 May 2010
Many primary and community care managers are designing ineffective and inefficient services for people with long term conditions, a senior Department of Health adviser has said.
HSJ exclusive: SHAs to be abolished by 2012

24-May-2010
Strategic health authority chiefs have been told they will be abolished by April 2012, HSJ can reveal.
Department of Health spared immediate spending cuts

24-May-2010
The Department of Health’s overall spending will not be reduced in the current financial year, the Treasury has confirmed.
Government plans health legislation, leak suggests

24-May-2010
A health bill is expected to be introduced to Parliament in the next 18 months, according to a draft of tomorrow’s Queen’s speech.
Lansley: NHS must review reconfiguration plans

21-May-2010
Planned service reconfigurations must be reconsidered under “strengthened criteria” set out by the new health secretary today, including support from GP commissioners.
NHS targets may be scrapped within weeks

20-May-2010
The new government is considering scrapping controversial waiting times targets this year, HSJ understands.
Lansley to slash NHS management costs

20 May 2010
Andrew Lansley, the new health secretary, has warned Department of Health staff to brace themselves for a significant cut in their budget this year.
Chief resigns after CQC fears

20 May 2010
The chief executive of Milton Keynes Hospital Foundation Trust, which was recently reprimanded by the Care Quality Commission and Monitor, has resigned.
Lansley calls a halt to Darzi in London

19-May-2010
The new government has put former health minister Lord Darzi’s major reconfiguration plan for London under review, HSJ has learnt.
Former nurse Anne Milton given health minister job

14-May-2010
Former nurse Anne Milton will be a junior minister at the Department of Health, HSJ understands.
Trusts must improve treatment of dead people

12-May-2010
Lack of training and official guidance means hospital staff are often failing to treat dead patients with dignity, an investigation by HSJ’s sister title Nursing Times has found.
Controversial London reform left on knife-edge

12-May-2010
The election outcome leaves London’s plans for significant cuts in hospital capacity on a knife-edge - and some trusts heading for deficit, HSJ has been told.
Foundation reform would need early push from government

12-May-2010
The foundation trust pipeline could start flowing the wrong way unless there is an early move to push provider reform.
Patient groups call for urgent government action

7-May-2010
Patient group umbrella organisation National Voices has called for a new government to urgently tackle the “challenges facing health and social care”.
Kramer loses seat despite hospital campaign

7-May-2010
Liberal Democrat Susan Kramer failed to hold her Richmond Park seat despite a controversial campaign against hospital reconfiguration.
Health figures to enter new parliament

7-May-2010
Several doctors and a former researcher are among the 2010 parliamentary intake who have an interest in health.
Sacked hospital chief's MP bid falls flat

7-May-2010
A former NHS hospital chief executive standing for Parliament won just 222 votes.
MPs hold on in Whittington row seats

7-May-2010
A high profile row over hospital reconfiguration in north London has not seen any MPs lose their seats.
Norman Lamb holds seat

7-May-2010
Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb has held his seat.
Tory health team hold seats

7-May-2010
All five members of the Tory health team have held their seats.
Hewitt's adviser wins for Labour

7-May-2010
Liz Kendall, who was adviser to Patricia Hewitt as health secretary, has won Ms Hewitt’s former seat for Labour.
CQC tries to dispel 'live ratings' fears

6 May 2010
The Care Quality Commission has attempted to reassure trusts its soon-to-go-live regulation system is “not a rating, not a ranking and not a league table”.
NW trust likely to opt out of troubled NHS IT programme

6 May 2010
A hospital trust in the North West has said it is likely to be the first in the region to buy a major IT system outside the national programme for IT.
Patient groups wary of ‘fast track’ NHS reconfigurations

5-May-2010
Any moves to “fast track” the reconfiguration of NHS services must give the public a strong voice or will “erode confidence” in change, patient representatives have warned.
NHS patients in richer areas get operations earlier

29 April 2010
The NHS is operating on patients from richer areas when they are significantly less sick than those from deprived communities, according to analysis carried out by HSJ of the inaugural national collection of patient reported quality measures.
North West accelerates NHS web development

28-Apr-2010
NHS organisations in the north west are taking advantage of the recession to hire top IT experts on the cheap to help speed up the development of their web technology.
Foundation trust applications run into the ground

22 April 2010
Foundation trust applications have slipped by an average of 11 months and some by as much as three years since last March, HSJ analysis reveals. Both the Labour and Conservative parties have pledged an all-foundation trust future.
New doubt about mortality ratios

22 April 2010
The appropriateness of using hospital standardised mortality ratios to judge hospital performance was further questioned this week.
Asthma and Parkinson's losers in policy battle

22 April 2010
The Department of Health has been unjustly prioritising illnesses such as anxiety disorders and neglecting those such as asthma, Parkinson’s disease and back pain, its own national quality board has said.
Trusts must beat scepticism on quality accounts - King's Fund

21-Apr-2010
Trusts need to overcome public scepticism about quality accounts by being honest about their standards and embracing patients’ priorities, research from the King’s Fund says.
PCTs pave the way for GP cash budgets in 2011-12

15 April 2010
Primary care trusts in the East of England are planning on giving GP commissioners hard budgets next year, regardless of which party wins the election.
Dearth of NHS performance data threatens quality improvement

15 April 2010
The dire lack of information on the safety and effectiveness of much NHS care has been spelled out in a report by members of the NHS national quality board.
VTE prevention help needed

15 April 2010
A standard hospital drug chart should be introduced to help trusts meet demands to prevent venous thromboembolism, say the medical royal colleges.
NHS IT programme supplier misses major deadline

8 April 2010
The deadline for a major milestone of the National IT Programme has been missed.
DH refuses key deal on national IT programme

1-Apr-2010
The Department of Health has refused to sign a new contract agreement for one of the most significant elements of the troubled national IT programme.
NHS boards failing to engage on clinical quality audits

1-Apr-2010
Nearly two thirds of trust boards are failing to engage with an important element of care quality governance, according to the organisation in charge of clinical audit.
High turnover in senior roles 'down to weak candidates'

31-Mar-2010
One of the longest serving acute trust chief executives has said high turnover of senior staff is usually down to individuals not being good enough, rather than unfair treatment.
Mid Staffs board wants to be stripped of FT status

30-Mar-2010
The board of Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust has requested it be stripped of its foundation status, it has emerged.
Three shortlisted in race to run Hinchingbrooke

26-Mar-2010
Three bidders have been shortlisted to win the franchise to run Hinchingbrooke Health Care Trust.
DH explains QIPP plans to 340,000 clinicians

25-Mar-2010
The Department of Health has distributed more than 340,000 copies of a document explaining the need for efficiency savings to clinicians.
A&E alternatives ‘confuse’ the public

25 March 2010
Many of the health centres presented as alternatives to hospital accident and emergency offer unreliable services and confuse the public, advisers to the Department of Health have warned.
NHS staff satisfaction on the up

25 March 2010
NHS staff report feeling more satisfied in their jobs and more supported by their managers, but a minority of organisations are not committed to improving engagement, according to the Department of Health.
IT value for money

25 March 2010
An incoming government should review the national IT programme, says a report, Fixing NHS IT, by right leaning think tank 2020health.
NHS Direct cuts

25 March 2010
The amount spent on NHS Direct from 2010-11 will be cut 8.5 per cent in real terms, the trust has announced.
HSJ exclusive: Monitor appoints high profile chair

23-Mar-2010
HSJ can reveal the foundation trust regulator’s incoming chair.
CQC plans ‘live’ ratings system

18 March 2010
The Care Quality Commission will publish six traffic light ratings for each health provider later this year, chief executive Cynthia Bower has revealed.
DH ignores own advice on digital engagement

18 March 2010
The Department of Health was advised to merge NHS Choices, NHS Direct and HealthSpace into a single agency a year ago by research it commissioned itself then did not publish.
NHS IT milestone ‘on track’ to meet target date

18 March 2010
A milestone in the national programme for IT is “on track” to be met, one of the software suppliers announced this week.
NHS is yet to capture the wealth of the net

18 March 2010
Texting appointment reminders is a good start but the health service lags far behind leading industries in exploiting the rich potential of the digital revolution, reports Dave West
Patient groups back closure of hospitals

17-Mar-2010
Dozens of patient organisations are backing plans to close hospital services in coming years, but fear they will be let down by bad public engagement.
NHS managers demand power to fire GPs

11 March 2010
Managers are calling for the power to “fire” GPs and to get rid of small practices to make the huge spending cuts needed in coming years.
First patient reported outcomes due in April

11 March 2010
The first results from the NHS’s landmark collection of patient reported outcome measures are expected to be published next month despite earlier concerns about whether enough patients had responded.
Plans made for deauthorising failing FTs

11 March 2010
A process for deauthorising failing foundation trusts is set be put in place during the summer after a “proper” consultation process led by Monitor.
Excluding independent sector from NHS services 'potentially unlawful'

4-Mar-2010
Excluding the independent sector from bidding to provide NHS services is “unacceptable and potentially unlawful”, the NHS Confederation Partners Network has said.
DH accused of 'backroom deal' over preferred provider case

4-Mar-2010
Primary care trusts in the East of England have been ordered by the Department of Health to suspend all procurements for community services.
One in 10 concerned about own trust's care standards

4 March 2010
One in 10 NHS staff believe the poor care seen at Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust may be experienced by patients at their own trust, an HSJ poll suggests.
Monitor claims its quality bar is now set high enough

4 March 2010
The new system of regulation will stand up to the scrutiny of a new inquiry into its role around Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust, Monitor believes.
Francis report criticises SHA's mortality research

4 March 2010
The Francis inquiry has added to the heated debate on how the NHS should use hospital standardised mortality ratios.
Monitor names interim chief

2-Mar-2010
Monitor has appointed David Bennett as its interim chief executive.
Rescue plan for ailing hospitals in doubt

25 February 2010
The government’s aspiration for foundation trusts to take over failing hospitals appears in significant doubt, a month away from the deadline for agreeing the future for all acutes.
Community care plans could lead to a new generation of NHS organisations

25 February 2010
Plans underway for community services look set to lead to a new generation of NHS organisations.
NHS London makes lead commissioners directors

25 February 2010
NHS London is taking a tighter hold of its many primary care trusts by employing the capital’s lead commissioners as directors of the strategic health authority.
Remit announced for investigation of regulatory bodies post Mid Staffs

24-Feb-2010
Senior figures from the NHS and regulatory world are likely to have to appear before a new independent investigation of commissioning, supervisory and regulatory bodies that was announced today.
Don't use death rates to predict real deaths, Mid Staffs inquiry warns

24-Feb-2010
The independent inquiry into failings at Mid Staffordshire has found hospital standardised mortality ratios should not be used to predict real numbers of avoidable deaths at the trust.
'Unsuccessful management' of Mid Staffs criticised

24-Feb-2010
The previous management of Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust has been criticised as unsuccessful by the independent inquiry into failings at the trust.
Families of Mid Staffs victims still want public inquiry

24-Feb-2010
An independent inquiry into the Mid Staffs scandal, more damning than that of the Healthcare Commission, was presented to the families of its patients today.
Six SHA chairs appointed for their second term

24-Feb-2010
The Appointments Commission has announced the reappointment of six strategic health authority chairs.
Mark Goldman stepping down

18-Feb-2010
Mark Goldman is leaving his role as chief executive of Heart of England Foundation Trust.
DH takes hold of death ratio debate

18 February 2010
The Department of Health is taking action to ensure the NHS agrees a way of measuring and reporting hospitals’ death rates, in response to the furore prompted by last year’s Dr Foster Hospital Guide.
NHS needs 'business model' change, says former Brown adviser

18 February 2010
The NHS needs to change its “business model” to survive investment cuts, Gordon Brown’s former adviser on public service transformation has said.
Independent review of Cornwall reconfiguration

17-Feb-2010
The Independent Reconfiguration Panel is to review a controversial reconfiguration of upper gastro-intestinal cancer services in the South West.
Community proposals may prompt 'musical chairs' timewasting

11 February 2010
The NHS risks wasting two years on the “sport of restructuring” instead of improving efficiency, senior figures have warned.
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.
Tim Kelsey to leave Dr Foster

10-Feb-2010
Tim Kelsey is to leave Dr Foster and Dr Foster Intelligence – the firm’s joint venture with the Information Centre – later this year, it has been announced.
Ministers poised to confirm details for quality accounts

4 February 2010
Nearly all trusts and private providers to the NHS will have to publish quality accounts for the first time this year, the government was expected to confirm this week.
Only two trusts miss CQC application deadline

4 February 2010
All but two trusts submitted their Care Quality Commission registration applications on time, the regulator has told HSJ.
NHS quality accounts: quality is becoming an accountable business

4 February 2010
This year will see the first tranche of reports intended to show how trusts are engaging with quality across all their services. Dave West looks at how this could represent a step change in health organisations’ accountability
NHS Direct to increase web presence

3-Feb-2010
The chief executive of NHS Direct wants to significantly shift its operations towards the web, saying the health service needs to leave behind its “1950s bank” approach to services.
Monitor appoints interim chair

2-Feb-2010
Monitor’s board has appointed its vice chair, Chris Mellor, as interim chair following the departure of Bill Moyes.
QIPP leads reveal hit list

28 January 2010
Slashing follow-up appointments after surgery and spending on drugs will be two of the controversial areas targeted first by the national quality and productivity leads.
NHS IT programme: patient record options urged

28 January 2010
The national programme for IT must urgently support short term alternatives to its main hospital patient record products. Otherwise, it will put at risk NHS efforts to save money while protecting patients, the former interim Department of Health chief information officer has said.
Pilots scheduled for 111 urgent care calls

28 January 2010
The three digit urgent care number will help commissioners direct patients to the cheapest available service for their need, according to NHS Connecting for Health.
Health Foundation announces quality improvement scheme

25-Jan-2010
The Health Foundation is offering 18 funded places on a new quality improvement leadership scheme.
King's Fund highlights risks of quality reporting

21-Jan-2010
A King’s Fund report published today has highlighted the benefits of measuring and reporting on quality of care, but also the significant risks.
Quality board to adopt 'values' in bid to avoid further rows

20-Jan-2010
The Care Quality Commission, Monitor, Dr Foster Intelligence and others are being asked to follow a set of “values” in the hope of avoiding a repeat of last year’s row over quality reporting.
Improvement tsar warns SHAs to ‘refresh’ Darzi visions urgently

14 January 2010
The health service will be set timetables and held to account for implementing “must do” quality and efficiency improvements to try to save £20bn, the Department of Health has announced.
Monitor concerned over vacant FT executive posts

14 January 2010
Monitor has begun publicly reporting the number of foundation trust board posts left vacant or filled only by an interim.
Mid Staffs looks for courage to confront poor standards

14 January 2010
Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust chief executive Antony Sumara is convinced its turnaround - after it was branded ‘appalling’ by inspectors - depends on staff becoming brave enough to confront poor standards openly. Dave West reports
Ambulance Service Network director leaves to fight Hewitt seat

8-Jan-2010
Ambulance Service Network director Liz Kendall has resigned after being selected to fight the parliamentary seat held by Patricia Hewitt for the Labour Party.
Five firms and one FT shortlisted to take over NHS hospital

8-Jan-2010
One foundation trust and five independent providers have been shortlisted as potential bidders for a franchise to run an NHS hospital in the East of England.
PCTs falling behind on maternity access

7 January 2010
More than a third of primary care trusts are failing to meet a key maternity services access target, despite claiming they have met the government’s flagship “choice guarantees” for pregnant women.
Dr Foster misses out on NHS Choices mortality data contract

7 January 2010
The contract to provide hospital mortality ratios and other information on quality for NHS Choices has been awarded to a US based firm.
DH urged to put off Monitor search

6-Jan-2010
The Department of Health should wait until a new government is in place before appointing a permanent Monitor chair, the organisation representing foundation trusts has said.
DH appoints first clinical director for informatics

5-Jan-2010
The Department of Health has appointed Charles Gutteridge as its first national clinical director for informatics.
NHS IT must focus on efficiency and core elements

16-Dec-2009
The NHS must focus IT developments on better efficiency, chief executives have been told.
‘Avoid merger distractions’

16-Dec-2009
The NHS must focus on patients when considering mergers with social care, the Department of Health’s new quality and productivity clinical lead has warned.
Clot prevention is 2010-11 quality priority

16-Dec-2009
NHS medical director Sir Bruce Keogh has said preventing venous thromboembolism will be the top clinical priority for improving quality and productivity in hospitals in 2010-11.
Nurse policing is to be ‘more proactive’

16-Dec-2009
The Nursing and Midwifery Council is to be more “proactive” in its policing of poor nursing care, including carrying out inspections of trusts, the regulator’s new chief executive has told HSJ.
Chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson resigns

15-Dec-2009
Chief medical officer for England Sir Liam Donaldson is to step down in May after 12 years in the post.
NHS boards react to Gordon Brown’s salary shame threat

9-Dec-2009
Forcing organisations to publicly justify the salary of every manager earning more than £150,000 would damage the NHS, boards have warned.
London NHS commissioners reply to cost criticisms

9-Dec-2009
London’s central commissioning support body has insisted it is responding to concerns about its cost.
Foundation governors 'must be key in reconfiguration'

9-Dec-2009
The Foundation Trust Governors’ Association has said its members must be central to making major service changes as investment cuts hit.
Safety outcry is ‘mandate’ for NHS quality

3 December 2009
Public outcry about apparently unsafe hospitals gives the health service a mandate to put quality ahead of finance in planning and providing services, the NHS medical director has said.
NICE highlights guidance to save NHS money

1-Dec-2009
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has collected together evidence it believes could save the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds.
Independent provider arms 'nonsense', David Nicholson says

27-Nov-2009
NHS chief executive David Nicholson has described the idea of many primary care trust provider arms becoming independent as “nonsense”.
Patient safety reporting still fails to reach boards in 1 in 10 acute trusts

26 November 2009
One in 10 hospital trusts have confessed to not regularly reporting patient safety and outcomes at board level, more than a year after Lord Darzi’s next stage review said care quality should be “at the heart of the NHS”.
North London acute trusts considering merger

26 November 2009
Two hospital trusts in north London are considering a merger.
Confused patients appeal for simplified NHS regulation

26 November 2009
Health profession regulators should standardise how they work, or even merge, to improve safety, patient groups have said.
Tension as a Monitor chair still not named

19 November 2009
Foundation trusts and the Monitor board have raised concerns that the government has not yet appointed a chair for the regulator, with less than three months until its current executive chair leaves the organisation.
London PCT support agency under review

19 November 2009
London’s commissioning support body is reviewing its management structure and its chief executive is on “extended leave” - less than 10 months after it was established.
Trusts frustrated over ‘worse’ mortality rates

12 November 2009
Hospital trusts are “surprised and frustrated” by latest mortality ratios that suggest their performance has worsened.
Microsoft on the lookout for NHS business

12 November 2009
Microsoft is “investigating opportunities” for introducing its personal health record platform in the NHS in England.
North east London hospital shake-up consultation coming soon

12 November 2009
A consultation on the reconfiguration of hospital services in north east London is expected to start before the end of the year.
National Voices appoints chief executive

6-Nov-2009
Patient group umbrella organisation National Voices has appointed a new chief executive.
Media Watch: drugs debate

5 November 2009
The sacking of senior government adviser David Nutt has resulted in the biggest media debate on illegal drugs for many months.
Foundation trust accuses Monitor of 'intimidation'

4-Nov-2009
A foundation trust has accused Monitor of being “grossly unfair” and “intimidatory” and claims it is considering legal action against the regulator.
Foundation trust chair replaced by Monitor

2-Nov-2009
The chair of a financially troubled foundation trust has resigned and a replacement has been appointed by Monitor.
Controversial hospital reconfiguration cuts death rates

21-Oct-2009
A controversial hospital reconfiguration has cut death rates and the time patients are staying in hospital, early figures suggest.
David Nicholson warns NHS of nightmare winter ahead

21-Oct-2009
A combination of winter pressures and swine flu could lead to delayed ambulances and long waits in accident and emergency, NHS chief executive David Nicholson has warned.
Monitor clashes with foundation chair over safety

14-Oct-2009
Monitor has accused the outgoing chair of a troubled foundation trust of inaccuracy, after he claimed the regulator was neglecting patient safety in favour of cost cutting.
Government backs down from controversial foundation trust proposals

13-Oct-2009
The government has dropped foundation trust proposals that had been criticised by the trusts, their regulator Monitor and former health secretary Patricia Hewitt.
Ambulance trust wins £10m boost

8 October 2009
West Midlands Ambulance Service Trust has been given a £10m funding boost this year after an external review found more resources were needed to meet growing demand.
Mid Staffs releases report on former chief executive

8 October 2009
Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust has released a report into the conduct and performance of its previous chief executive Martin Yeates.
SHAs must assess delivery of maternity choice

8 October 2009
A survey next year will assess the NHS’s delivery of choice in maternity care.
NICE calls for more transparency on uptake of guidance

7-Oct-2009
Primary care trusts and trusts could be told to declare whether they are complying with each piece of National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance.
Cornwall PCT looks for leader as another chief goes

1 October 2009
Cornwall’s primary care trust and hospital trust are both looking for new chief executives.
Hospital mortality ratio wrangling ‘compromises confidence’

30-Sep-2009
Disagreement about the right way of measuring hospitals’ standardised mortality ratios is compromising “confidence in them and their effective use”, the NHS Information Centre has warned.
Minister delays foundation trust application

30-Sep-2009
A hospital trust’s foundation application has been delayed by health minister Mike O’Brien in an unusual intervention in the authorisation process.
Quality accounts: trusts to pick their own performance measures

24 September 2009
The Department of Health has proposed that quality accounts will not include any mandatory clinical or performance data.
Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board

24 September 2009
Congratulations to Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board, which will take over from the North Wales Trust and a clutch of smaller local health boards under the NHS Wales reorganisation.
Talking the health economics talk

24 September 2009
Pleasing to learn that health economists, occasionally accused of being in a world of their own, at least share an international language.
SHAs seek control of senior managers' pay, MiP claims

23-Sep-2009
Some strategic health authorities will try to dictate the pay of senior managers on their patch despite new guidance, their union has warned.
Patient reported outcome measures may be public next year

23-Sep-2009
Information comparing how much patients’ health improves with the care received at different hospitals will appear early next year, the Department of Health is hoping.
Battle over foundation freedom heads for Parliament

17 September 2009
A new battle over foundation trusts is set to begin in parliament next month, with the opposition expected to attack proposals they say would rob the organisations of their autonomy.
Managers fearful over DH hit list

17 September 2009
National and regional managers have been warned not to take overzealous action against those named on the first list of trusts not meeting minimum NHS standards.
FT love letters

17 September 2009
Outgoing Monitor executive chair Bill Moyes took on an emotional tone, uncharacteristic both for himself and Foundation Trust Network conferences, at a network event last week.
Spending on maternity 'now increasing'

17 September 2009
Hospital trusts are significantly increasing their maternity spending for the first time in several years, according to research by the Royal College of Midwives.
West Midlands trust aims for big reductions in A&E attendance

17 September 2009
An assessment of emergency care at a West Midlands hospital has revealed that nine patients had attended accident and emergency 128 times in a three month period.
Thirty four trusts not meeting minimum standards

11-Sep-2009
Thirty hospital trusts and four ambulance trusts have been identified as not meeting minimum standards under the NHS performance regime.
Lansley: NHS growth will be much lower than under Thatcher

10-Sep-2009
NHS spending growth under the Tories would be significantly less than that seen under Margaret Thatcher, Andrew Lansley has said.
Mental health killings reports urge better information sharing

9-Sep-2009
Reports into two killings by a man with schizophrenia have sparked calls for better sharing of information in management of mental health patients.
Bill Moyes tells foundation trusts to 'refuse to jump' to DH demands

8-Sep-2009
Monitor executive chair Bill Moyes has told foundation trusts to defend their independence by “refusing to jump” in response to Department of Health demands.
Catherine O'Connell appointed NHS West Essex chief executive

8-Sep-2009
NHS West Essex has appointed Catherine O’Connell, previously its director of strategy, as chief executive.
FTs fear biddable successor to Bill Moyes

3 September 2009
Foundation trust leaders are concerned ministers will try to appoint a government-friendly chair of Monitor, potentially threatening their independence.
NHS regulators need a new outlook after Mid Staffs scandal

3 September 2009
Monitor executive chair Bill Moyes believes the deaths at Mid Staffordshire must lead to system wide change for how quality is regulated - but the scandal should not be allowed to compromise the foundation model, he tells Dave West
Monitor sends FT directors to Sandhurst

27 August 2009
Foundation trust chairs, chief executives and medical directors are being encouraged to attend an army-style leadership course at Sandhurst to help ride out the recession.
NHS IT's local future

27 August 2009
The Department of Health has quietly turned away from central control of IT. But what will replace it? And what will happen if there is a change of government? Dave West reports
Swine flu pandemic: PCTs must prepare to pay extra GP costs

26-Aug-2009
Primary care trusts must be prepared to pick up the tab for extra GP services during an escalation of the swine flu pandemic, the Department of Health has warned.
Make NHS board meetings public, foundation trusts told

26-Aug-2009
A primary care trust is risking a potential stand-off with two of its foundation trust providers after telling their boards to meet in public.
Inflated mileage claims 'cost NHS millions'

26-Aug-2009
The NHS is overpaying millions of pounds in expenses and mileage claims, a software company claims.
NHS maternity services 'suffering from lack of board engagement'

25-Aug-2009
Senior midwives and obstetricians are concerned about a lack of board engagement with maternity services, a King’s Fund report said this week.
PCTs decide on swine flu vaccine priority

20 August 2009
Primary care trusts have been left to decide which frontline staff they should immunise against swine flu first, risking local variation and dispute.
Foundation trust pipeline is not blocked, insists DH

20 August 2009
The Department of Health has denied claims the foundation trust pipeline is “on hold” despite a significant slowing of authorisations. Last year, there were 25 authorisations between January and August; this year there have been 10.
David Colin-Thomé leads review of NHS urgent care policy

20 August 2009
A national expert group is reviewing policy on urgent and emergency care for the Department of Health in response to the next stage review, the Mid Staffordshire foundation trust scandal and spiralling demand.
Chief resigns from £1.8m deficit hospital

20 August 2009
The chief executive of a foundation trust in the South West has resigned. Dorset County Hospital foundation trust said Jan Bergman had “decided to retire early to pursue a career outside the NHS”.
£10m deficit trust board will focus on patient safety

19-Aug-2009
Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals foundation trust has stepped up board-level patient safety checks while implementing around 100 cost-improvement initiatives.
London's acute trusts told to plan for fewer services

19-Aug-2009
London’s hospital trusts are being told to plan their future in a significantly smaller acute sector - or have it dictated to them.
Foundation trusts plan to bolster earnings through slow pay growth

13 August 2009
Foundation trusts believe they can grow their annual earnings until 2012 by keeping pay bills down.
Confed warns Tory IT plans must save on costs

13 August 2009
Tory NHS IT plans must not create even more expense, the NHS Confederation has warned.
Oxford Radcliffe chief warns savings must be found

13 August 2009
The acting chief executive of Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals trust has said service changes must be delivered to save money.
FT confirms two suspensions over A&E 'irregularities'

12-Aug-2009
A foundation trust has suspended its nursing director after launching an investigation into allegations of “irregularities” in its accident and emergency waiting times figures.
PCTs gear up for swine flu pandemic

12-Aug-2009
The NHS is working to tight deadlines to plan for another wave of swine flu - and estimate how much the outbreak will cost.
Swine flu vaccination plans still in the works

7-Aug-2009
The government wants GPs to be the “bedrock” of the swine flu vaccination programme, but has not yet agreed details.
NHS calls on retired staff to help win swine flu fight

6-Aug-2009
The NHS is calling on thousands of retired doctors, nurses and other staff to work if the swine flu pandemic gets worse.
Ambulance services: urgent attention for non-emergency care

6-Aug-2009
Complex forces at work in urgent care mean too many costly ambulance trips are being taken by non-emergency patients. Dave West analyses the figures and looks at the explanations
‘Unprecedented’ review by PCT finds progress after Mid Staffs scandal

5-Aug-2009
South Staffordshire primary care trust has published what it calls an “unprecedented” review of care at Mid Staffordshire foundation trust, after installing its own staff to check on standards.
Andy Burnham seeks swine flu critical care assurance

31-Jul-2009
Health secretary Andy Burnham has asked the NHS for assurance it can increase critical care capacity to cope with a potential surge in swine flu.
NICE rebuffs PCTs’ call to help identify more areas for savings

30 July 2009
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has rejected calls to identify more drugs and treatments that should be used less - or not at all - ahead of NHS investment cuts.
Health partnership aims to put nursing at its ‘heart’

30 July 2009
The King’s Health Partners academic health science centre has outlined how nursing and midwifery will be “at the heart” of its work.
Lords raise questions on swine flu preparedness

30 July 2009
The Lords science and technology committee has highlighted “serious questions” about the UK’s preparedness for swine flu.
PCT outbreak plans show variety of coping mechanisms

30 July 2009
Primary care trusts in the worst affected areas have found a variety of ways of dealing with the outbreak.
GPs want more than £700m for swine flu vaccine programme

29-Jul-2009
GP leaders are negotiating for more than £700m in payments for giving people the swine flu vaccine, HSJ has learned.
Managers quietly confident as NHS battles swine flu pandemic

23 July 2009
Managers and staff are confident the NHS is coping successfully with swine flu, an HSJ and Nursing Times survey reveals.
Jim Easton to continue Lord Darzi's work on NHS quality

23 July 2009
The Department of Health’s new head of quality, innovation, productivity and prevention, Jim Easton, has vowed to “follow through” on Lord Darzi’s commitment to quality.
Antony Sumara 'flattered' to get Mid Staffs top job

23 July 2009
The new chief executive of scandal hit Mid Staffordshire foundation trust says he will help the organisation recover by being “open, honest and transparent”.
Live data tackles accident and emergency demand

23 July 2009
Emergency departments could share live information about how busy they are so patients can be sent to the right place.
Swine flu survey: views from the front line

23 July 2009
Some of your responses to the HSJ and Nursing Times survey
NHS hospital franchise plan gets green light

22-Jul-2009
The running of an NHS hospital is to be franchised out, potentially to a private company, in the first arrangement of its kind.
London agrees stroke and trauma overhaul

21-Jul-2009
Plans to overhaul stroke and major trauma care in London have been approved by a committee of the city’s primary care trusts.
Swine flu to hit 12 per cent of NHS staff at one time

17-Jul-2009
The health service has been told to prepare for up to 8 per cent of the population suffering from swine flu at any one time - and up to 12 per cent of the NHS workforce.
Mascie-Taylor is NHS Confederation's first medical director

16 July 2009
The NHS Confederation has appointed Hugo Mascie-Taylor as its first medical director.
Monitor says speed up foundation bids - despite slump

16 July 2009
Monitor has called for the NHS to speed up the rate of bids for foundation trusts, despite the prospect of cash cuts and major service reconfigurations.
NHS non-executives 'don't have enough time'

16 July 2009
More than two thirds of NHS directors believe their non-executives do not have enough time for their roles, a survey has found.
Swine flu could put performance targets on hold

15-Jul-2009
National and regional managers are in talks about putting performance targets on hold to cope with the increasing number of people contracting swine flu.
St Helier Hospital redevelopment backed by NHS London

14-Jul-2009
A £219m redevelopment of St Helier Hospital has been recommended for approval by NHS London.
Early quality healthcare scheme results show improvements

14-Jul-2009
The first public results from NHS North West’s pay-for-quality scheme appear to show improvements after only three months.
London Ambulance Service appoints new chair

13-Jul-2009
Richard Hunt has been appointed the new chair of London Ambulance Service trust.
Burton Hospitals chief moves to Dudley

13-Jul-2009
Burton Hospitals foundation trust chief executive Paula Clark has been appointed as chief of The Dudley Group of Hospitals foundation trust.
Three-digit urgent care number proposals published

10-Jul-2009
The government has published plans for a national three-digit number for accessing non-emergency care.
Staff will be moved to help swine flu-hit areas, says CMO

9-Jul-2009
The NHS is preparing to move staff between different areas to help services cope with the swine flu pandemic.
PCTs' swine flu plans 'being tested by real life'

9 July 2009
Primary care trusts’ swine flu plans are now being “tested by real life events”, the Department of Health has said.
Spending pressures spark call for NICE restraints

9 July 2009
Primary care trusts could increasingly abandon national treatment guidance unless it is made affordable.
Cost cap on top managers' pay review

9 July 2009
A Department of Health shake-up of NHS senior managers’ salaries will only go through if it can be shown not to push up their overall pay bill.
Manager jailed for CV lies joins care trust

9 July 2009
An NHS manager who was jailed for lying on his CV has started another job at a care trust.
NPSA says investigations would be unhelpful

9 July 2009
The government should be wary of MPs’ calls for thorough investigation of all serious safety incidents, the National Patient Safety Agency has said.
Pathology service shake-up starts to take shape

9 July 2009
The Independent Reconfiguration Panel has approved in part proposals to reorganise pathology in Lincolnshire.
Public and patient group members face conduct hearing

9 July 2009
Several members of the patient and public involvement group for Staffordshire have been summoned to investigatory hearings about their conduct. It comes amid rifts between members over the way it should be run.
Trust in talks over merger with struggling foundation

8-Jul-2009
A hospital trust in the South West is considering a merger with a struggling foundation trust.
GPs 'getting unclear advice' on swine flu

6-Jul-2009
Only 9 per cent of GPs had been given regular, clear and concise guidance about swine flu, a poll has found.
Health committee 'saddened' by patient safety failures

3-Jul-2009
NHS boards “too often” prioritise governance, finances and targets above patient safety, the Commons health committee said today.
PCTs gear up to cope with potential for 100,000 swine flu cases a day

2-Jul-2009
The Department of Health says primary care trusts across the country are ready to establish antiviral collection points within a week following a dramatic increase in cases.
Foundation trust brand carries can for blunders

2 July 2009
With recent high-profile scandals surrounding foundation trusts, the brand value of the champions of the acute sector has been called into question. So where might it all lead?
Tories plan 'enhanced' Monitor role

2 July 2009
The Conservatives are planning to “enhance” Monitor’s role, giving it powers to regulate against poor care and speed up the foundation pipeline.
Monitor accused of 'sharp elbowing' the CQC

2 July 2009
Monitor has been accused of attempting to significantly extend its role in regulating quality, and “sharp elbowing” the Care Quality Commission.
Mid Staffordshire foundation trust keeps chief executive minutes private

2 July 2009
Mid Staffordshire foundation trust has again refused to release information which may throw light on the departure of its former chief executive.
Mid Staffs refuses to publish report on chief executive

25 June 2009
Mid Staffordshire foundation trust has defied ministers by refusing to publish an independent report on its former chief executive.
NHS hospitals to be forced to accept major trauma cases

25 June 2009
Regions must earmark hospitals as major trauma centres that can be forced to accept seriously injured patients, the trauma czar has said.
Government takes another bite at NHS dental reform

25 June 2009
Primary care trusts have been told to improve their relationships with dentists and prepare for more scrutiny of their dental commissioning.
Wales NHS managers report boosted self confidence

25 June 2009
Healthcare managers in Wales are reporting boosted self confidence as a second senior manager departs the English health service to work in Wales’s integrated system.
Localism takes flight as managers seize the day

25 June 2009
When Lord Darzi asked the NHS to come up with regional plans, managers found themselves in uncharted territory. A year on, HSJ has looked around the country to see how they fared
Care trust chair steps down

24-Jun-2009
The chair of Northumberland care trust is leaving the post after nearly five years.
Wales public NHS board to meet for first time

18-Jun-2009
The Welsh health service’s national advisory board will hold its first meeting later this month - with the public allowed to attend.
Foundations defend private board meetings

18 June 2009
Foundation trust directors have defended their decisions to meet in private, despite growing pressure on them to be more open.
Health science centre appoints managing director

17-Jun-2009
The UCL Partners academic health science centre has appointed David Fish as managing director.
Two health boards to pilot direct elections

16-Jun-2009
Members of the public will be directly elected to the boards of NHS Fife and NHS Dumfries and Galloway from next year, Scottish health secretary Nicola Sturgeon has announced.
Reform or 'go broke', Obama tells US doctors

16-Jun-2009
The US must reform its health insurance system or face “going broke”, president Barack Obama has told the country’s doctors.
Plan for cuts, David Nicholson warns NHS Confed conference

11-Jun-2009
NHS chief executive David Nicholson has warned the NHS must plan for real terms cuts, despite protestations from the government and the Conservative opposition that they would continue to give it real terms increases. Read on for video interviews with David Nicholson and managers attending the NHS Confederation conference 2009 in Liverpool.
Devolve NHS power, urges Norman Lamb

11-Jun-2009
Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb has called for further devolution and local accountability in the NHS.
Burnham backs review of private patient income cap

11-Jun-2009
Health secretary Andy Burnham has backed a review of the limit on foundation trusts’ income from private patients.
Be honest about weaknesses in quality accounts, FTs told

11-Jun-2009
Foundation trusts have been urged to be “honest” with the public about weaknesses in their quality reports and accounts.
NHS survival may depend on a ‘series of big changes’

11 June 2009
The NHS may not survive unless dramatic action is taken to manage investment cuts, the NHS Confederation has warned.
Foundation trusts fear ministers may undercut Monitor role

11 June 2009
The government has been warned not to undermine Monitor after revealing it may claw back powers from foundation trusts in response to the Mid Staffordshire scandal.
Councils fight for deeper ties in response to PCT merger threat

11 June 2009
Councils in London are seeking to strengthen links with primary care trusts in response to the threat of more sector level commissioning.
NHS North West to pay Christie's Iceland bank loss

9-Jun-2009
NHS North West is to compensate a specialist cancer foundation trust for the £6.5m it lost in the Icelandic banking collapse.
Two new ministers named at Department of Health

8-Jun-2009
Mike O’Brien and Gillian Merron have been named as new ministers at the Department of Health.
Academy of Medical Royal Colleges elects new chair

8-Jun-2009
Sir Neil Douglas is to replace Dame Carol Black as chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.
Patient involvement group claims lack of support

5-Jun-2009
Local involvement networks are not being given enough support despite commitments in the government’s response to the Mid Staffordshire scandal, it has been claimed.
Alan Johnson leaves Department of Health

5-Jun-2009
Alan Johnson is to become home secretary in Gordon Brown’s post-election cabinet reshuffle.
Government may take further powers over foundation trusts

4-Jun-2009
The government is considering clawing back powers from foundation trusts in response to the Mid Staffordshire scandal.
Czars to focus on cost cutting as well as quality

4 June 2009
Reducing costs is becoming an integral part of the role of the Department of Health’s czars.
Chief was 'misled' over A&E before quitting West Middlesex Hospital trust

4 June 2009
A hospital chief executive was “misled” about pressure on its accident and emergency department, which led to her resignation, an internal report has revealed.
A decade of the national clinical directors - aka the czars

4 June 2009
The NHS’s czars, or national clinical directors, have been hailed as a success.
Lawyer reprimanded over spat with foundation trust

2-Jun-2009
A lawyer has been reprimanded for bringing his profession into disrepute in a dispute with a foundation trust in the North West.
Southampton University Hospitals trust names medical director

2-Jun-2009
Southampton University Hospitals trust has appointed paediatric consultant Michael Marsh as its medical director.
Information Centre to focus on boosting data quality

1-Jun-2009
Concerns about the quality of NHS data are to be addressed by a major new project led by the NHS Information Centre.
Former chief Tara Donnelly 'misled' over A&E breaches

29-May-2009
A report on events blamed for the departure of a London trust chief executive has revealed managers were “misled” about the extent of accident and emergency target breaches.
Potential bidders circle as first NHS trust goes up for grabs

28 May 2009
Twenty-two NHS organisations, including one based 200 miles away, are vying to take over the first trust offered up for competitive takeover.
Monitor costs could double in three years

27-May-2009
The cost of regulating foundation trusts will nearly double in the next three years, Monitor anticipates.
David Nicholson sticks by NHS quality cash claims

26-May-2009
NHS chief executive David Nicholson has defended plans to save significant amounts of money by improving quality in the wake of criticism from patient safety experts.
SHA negotiates £124m national NHS Direct contract

22-May-2009
NHS East of England has negotiated a £124m contract for services from NHS Direct on behalf of the English NHS.
Quality and safety can't 'solve' NHS funding crisis

21 May 2009
The NHS should not look to quality and safety improvements to solve its impending funding problems, leaders in the field have warned.
‘Weak’ chiefs keep London NHS hospitals in stasis

21 May 2009
Hospital chief executives in denial and weak primary care trusts have been blamed for major problems in north London’s hospital sector.
Role of competition panel under review

21 May 2009
The Department of Health will carry out a “major review” of its principles of co-operation and competition in the summer.
MPs to debate health reforms

21 May 2009
MPs are set to consider reforms including the NHS constitution, quality accounts and personal health budget pilots following the Health Bill’s passage through the House of Lords.
NHS trusts meet A&E waiting targets as demand rises

21 May 2009
The government’s accident and emergency waiting target was met in 2008-09 for England as a whole despite a rise in attendances of more than 400,000 on the previous year.
Wales puts health council mergers idea on ice

21 May 2009
The Welsh Assembly government has backed down from its proposal to restructure patient involvement groups.
No payoff for Mid Staffs chief executive

19-May-2009
Mid Staffordshire foundation trust’s former chief executive Martin Yeates will receive six months’ salary but no severance payment following his resignation.
Department of Health appoints NHS director of patient and public experience

18-May-2009
The Department of Health has appointed Paul Streets as director of patient and public experience.
Mid Staffs chief executive resigns

18-May-2009
The chief executive of Mid Staffordshire foundation trust has resigned, two months after the Healthcare Commission published its damning report.
NHS meets accident and emergency waiting time target

15-May-2009
English emergency departments met the government’s accident and emergency waiting target by a tenth of a percentage point 2008-09.
Welsh NHS leaves patient involvement group structure unaltered

15-May-2009
The Welsh Assembly government has decided to keep its existing structure of patient involvement groups following consultation.
Department of Health publishes list of quality measures

15-May-2009
The Department of Health will this Friday publish a “menu” of measures agreed by senior clinicians for judging the quality of their care.
Unneeded surgery may be costing the NHS millions

14 May 2009
Tens of millions of pounds are being spent on NHS procedures that offer little apparent benefit, the first comprehensive survey of patient reported outcomes is expected to reveal.
London’s primary care trusts gain world class commissioning back-up

14 May 2009
The head of a London-wide organisation has set out how it will help the region lift its world class commissioning scores.
DH invites NHS education and innovation cluster bids

12-May-2009
Groups of NHS organisations, universities and colleges, and private companies are expected to form clusters, with the potential to take on responsibility for health education, by the end of the year.
Manchester foundation trust appoints chief executive

12-May-2009
Julian Hartley has been appointed permanent chief executive of University Hospital of South Manchester foundation trust.
NHS London closes provider agency

11-May-2009
NHS London has abolished its provider agency, which was established two years ago to lead its trusts in gaining foundation status.
Alan Johnson approves south east London NHS reconfiguration

8-May-2009
Far-reaching hospital reconfiguration proposals for south east London have been approved by health secretary Alan Johnson.
Alan Johnson launches new rules on patient involvement

7 May 2009
Health secretary Alan Johnson has announced a series of policies to help avoid more NHS services falling to the “appalling” standards exposed at Mid Staffordshire foundation trust.
Media Watch: Alan Johnson for prime minister

7 May 2009
“How Johnson became the model Labour candidate for the top job,” was The Independent on Sunday’s headline on coverage of the party’s most recent leadership dilemmas.
HSJ survey: Hospital managers act on Mid Staffs failures

6-May-2009
Around half of hospital managers and other staff believe elements of poor standards found at Mid Staffordshire foundation trust exist at their own organisation, a HSJ straw poll suggests.
Patient experience feedback findings will not be standardised

5-May-2009
The Department of Health will not impose standards for “real time” measurement of patients’ experience, despite pressure to use results to help identify failing trusts.
Mid Staffs scandal: confed says NHS must 'put its own house in order'

1-May-2009
The NHS Confederation has said the NHS must “put its own house in order” in response to the failures at Mid Staffordshire foundation trust.
Confed proposes peer review to avoid Mid Staffordshire repeat

30-Apr-2009
The NHS Confederation has called on hospital trusts to invite others trusts’ directors to inspect their services to help prevent failures such as those at Mid Staffordshire foundation trust and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust.
Monitor appoints new chief and chair to 'challenged' foundation trust

30-Apr-2009
A foundation trust has been assigned a new chief executive by Monitor for the second time in eight months.
Chief executives picked to lead integrated Welsh NHS

30 April 2009
Six chief executives have been appointed to lead the NHS in Wales as it takes a further stride away from the English system.
PCT poll backs Alan Johnson on swine flu pandemic

30 April 2009
NHS organisations are backing up health secretary Alan Johnson’s assertion this week that the UK is one of the countries most prepared to deal with a flu pandemic.
London announces first seven polyclinics

29-Apr-2009
Seven polyclinics are open or will soon be open in London.
Dry run for quality accounts gets the go ahead

24-Apr-2009
All foundation trusts, and other provider trusts in the East of England, will have to publish reports on the quality of their services this year, it has been confirmed.
Royal Cornwall chief executive John Watkinson to appeal sacking

23 April 2009
A trust chief executive has been sacked by his board following an independent review which found the organisation was heading “towards corporate failure”.
Budget 2009: NHS privatisation should be victim of savings, says union

22-Apr-2009
The largest trade union in the country has said government efficiency savings should be targeted at the “costly, creeping privatisation” of the NHS.
Budget 2009: Improve NHS productivity or cut services - King's Fund

22-Apr-2009
The NHS will face “significant cuts in its services” from 2011 unless it can become more productive, the King’s Fund said in response to today’s Budget.
Budget 2009: ABPI welcomes tax review proposal

22-Apr-2009
The pharmaceutical industry has welcomed plans in the Budget to consider changes that could make the tax system more favourable to research and innovation.
NHS Wales names new chief executives

22-Apr-2009
NHS Wales has announced the chief executives of the health boards that will run primary and secondary care across the country from October.
Monitor reports 'lack of appetite' for foundation trust status

15-Apr-2009
An “apparent lack of appetite” for foundation status is more of an obstacle to authorising all trusts than the recession, Monitor has said.
Care Quality Commission rules lack teeth on patient experience

9 April 2009
Proposed registration rules for NHS providers are “far too weak” to make sure they take account of patient experience, the Picker Institute has warned.
Foundation trust fights London centralisation

9 April 2009
A London foundation trust is rallying members to help protect services against centralisation.
Health observatories dampen plans for commissioning umbrella body

9 April 2009
Commissioning Support for London was established last week as part of region-wide efforts to improve commissioning.
Media Watch: hospital parking charges report

9 April 2009
The measured reasoning of the NHS Confederation’s hospital parking charges report is failing to quell a mini rebellion in Lancashire.
East of England trust offered up for merger

8-Apr-2009
NHS organisations are being invited to bid to merge with a trust in the East of England.
London ambulance service chair to step down

7-Apr-2009
The chair of the London Ambulance Service trust is to step down after 10 years in the post.
Department of Health 'fails to support' association of LINks networks

7-Apr-2009
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.
Child diabetes figure 'higher than expected'

6-Apr-2009
A national survey has found that almost 23,000 children and young people in England have diabetes.
Foundation trust appoints new chief executive

3-Apr-2009
Tom Cahill has been announced as the new chief executive of the Hertfordshire Partnership foundation trust.
'Corporate failure' of ex-Bromley chief at Cornwall

2-Apr-2009
An independent report has accused the chief executive and board members at Royal Cornwall Hospitals trust of serious failures.
Mid Staffs prompts call for review of regulation

2-Apr-2009
The Conservatives have called for strengthened public and patient involvement following revelations about “appalling” care at Mid Staffordshire foundation trust.
Enquiry appoints first non-clinical chair

2-Apr-2009
The National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death has appointed the first non-clinical chair in its 20-year history.
Foundation trusts challenged to use freedoms

2 April 2009
The foundation trust sector is celebrating its achievements in the five years since its creation - but NHS chief executive David Nicholson has said the trusts have much more to do.
Private board meeting risks spelled out

2 April 2009
Less than a quarter of foundation trusts are holding their board of directors’ meetings in public, an HSJ straw poll suggests.
Super trusts to join up acute and primary care

2 April 2009
Academic health science centres should lead to better integration of primary and secondary care, leaders of two of London’s centres believe.
London names 'inner cabinet' PCT chiefs

26-Mar-2009
NHS London has named the six primary care trust chief executives who will lead commissioning and performance management of hospital services for the whole city.
C difficile outbreak leaves three hospital patients dead

26 March 2009
Three patients have died as a direct result of a C difficile outbreak at hospital in the South East.
Second review damns Royal Cornwall chief

26 March 2009
A suspended hospital trust chief executive - already accused of “serious failings” in his previous post - led his present organisation towards “corporate failure”, an independent review has concluded.
Who let standards fall so low at Mid Staffordshire?

26 March 2009
A damning Healthcare Commission review of emergency care at Mid Staffordshire foundation trust last week found that money was put before patient care. Dave West investigates what went wrong
Mid Staffordshire crisis: quality of care sacrificed in FT bid

19 March 2009
A trust described as ”appalling” in one of the most critical NHS regulatory reports of recent years ”lost sight of its real priorities” in its desperation to become a foundation.
MPs oppose options for trusts that miss FT deadline

19 March 2009
The NHS will face significant political opposition to attempts to eliminate all non-foundation trusts.
MPs oppose options for trusts that miss FT deadline

19 March 2009
The NHS will face significant political opposition to attempts to eliminate all non-foundation trusts.
South East London acute merger approved

18-Mar-2009
Health secretary Alan Johnson has approved the merger of Bromley Hospitals, Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Queen Mary’s Sidcup trusts into South London Healthcare trust.
NHS quality board members announced

16-Mar-2009
The Department of Health has announced the 12 expert and lay members of the national quality board.
Mixed progress on children's care training in hospitals

13-Mar-2009
Hospitals have made mixed progress in training staff to provide good care to children, the Healthcare Commission has said.
Chief executive resigns following mortality probe

12-Mar-2009
The chair and chief executive of a foundation trust have resigned ahead of the first regulatory report triggered by mortality figures.
Gordon Brown unveils plan to put nurses in charge of NHS services

12-Mar-2009
An expert commission launched by prime minister Gordon Brown is to review the place of nurses in managing and commissioning care.
Leading NHS chiefs call for London trust mergers

12-Mar-2009
Competition and collaboration rules should not stand in the way of hospital trust mergers and acquisitions, two major acute trust chief executives have argued.
Risks probe sees children's hospital chief quit

12-Mar-2009
The chief executive of a children’s hospital accused of putting patients at risk has resigned ahead of a Healthcare Commission report.Birmingham Children's Hospital foundation trust said Paul O'Connor, who took the job in 2005, was leaving immediately.
Trusts fail to act on mortality alerts

12-Mar-2009
Some hospital trust boards are neglecting figures that may highlight serious care failings, leading to patient deaths, the Healthcare Commission has said.
Blackpool chief executive on loan to South Manchester

11-Mar-2009
Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Hospitals foundation trust chief executive Julian Hartley is to run University Hospital of South Manchester foundation trust for two and a half months.
Alan Johnson names England's five health science centres

10-Mar-2009
England’s five academic health science ‘super trusts’ have been announced by health secretary Alan Johnson, including three in London.
Clinician made London merger trust chief

10-Mar-2009
A chief executive has been appointed to lead the merged trust planned for south east London.Chris Streather, a consultant renal physician, has been Bromley Hospitals trust interim chief executive since December and was previously medical director at St George's Hospital.
Birmingham chief quits ahead of critical report

9-Mar-2009
The chief executive of Birmingham Children's Hospital foundation trust has resigned ahead of a Healthcare Commission report.Paul O'Connor is leaving with immediate effect, chair Joanna Davis announced in a statement.
Flaws exposed in NHS winter planning

6-Mar-2009
The NHS must improve the way it deals with the increased demand for hospital care in winter months, director general of NHS finance, performance and operations David Flory has said.Mr Flory said in the quarterly update on performance that he was 'disappointed' that the NHS as a whole had missed its target to see 98 per cent of patients in accident and emergency departments within four hours.
Margaret Edwards leaves Yorkshire and the Humber SHA

5-Mar-2009
Margaret Edwards, the chief executive of Yorkshire and the Humber strategic health authority, is leaving her post, HSJ can reveal.Ms Edwards became chief executive of the SHA when it was formed in 2006.
Capita: Choices and CHKS are route into NHS

5-Mar-2009
Capita plans to use its NHS Choices contract, and newly acquired healthcare information firm CHKS, to help it sell patient experience services to the rest of the NHS.
Monitor withdraws quality accounts challenge

5-Mar-2009
Foundation trusts will have to send quality accounts to the government, health minister Lord Darzi has insisted.
Super-trust bidders aim for London lead

5-Mar-2009
London’s would-be “super-trusts” claim it would be disastrous for the capital’s international research standing if any of them were not accredited.
FT chief resigns ahead of watchdog report

4-Mar-2009
A foundation trust is facing a “crisis of public confidence” after its chief executive and chair resigned ahead of a Healthcare Commission report.Monitor has stepped in to appoint replacements at Mid Staffordshire foundation trust, which gained foundation status on 1 February last year.
Chair named for south east London super-trust

3-Mar-2009
A chair has been appointed to the proposed merged hospital trust in south east London.
Wales announces hospital improvements

2-Mar-2009
Welsh health minister Edwina Hart has announced capital funding for a list of new hospital equipment and building improvements.
Trust must pay £430,000 to wrongly sacked surgeon

27-Feb-2009
An acute trust has been criticised for using the wrong procedures to suspend and sack a consultant.
New guidance on NHS complaints

27-Feb-2009
New guidance has been published on the NHS and social care complaints system.
Audit optional on new quality accounts

26-Feb-2009
Providers will not have to have their quality accounts audited or validated.
DH backtracks on failure regime figures

26-Feb-2009
The Department of Health has backtracked on its estimate that up to six trusts a year would fall into its failure regime and be taken over.
Easy does it as NHS steps up to quality bat

26-Feb-2009
Central to the next stage review is the demand to improve services - and demonstrate it. So how are NHS organisations planning to measure quality and how long will funding hold out? Dave West finds out
Elite 'inner cabinet' to lead acute commissioning in London

26-Feb-2009
Six London primary care trust chief executives are to be propelled into an ‘inner cabinet’ to lead acute commissioning in the capital.
Medical director appointed for London

25-Feb-2009
A London-wide medical director has been appointed.Andy Mitchell will be a director of NHS London and the London Clinical and Business Support Agency, or hub.
London mental health chief executives reshuffle

25-Feb-2009
North East London foundation trust chief executive Judy Wilson has become interim chief at South West London and St George's mental health trust.
NHS managers risk court over clinical errors

25-Feb-2009
NHS managers should be legally responsible for some clinical negligence cases, a patient safety expert has argued.Brian Toft, a professor of patient safety at Coventry University and incident investigator, believes that where healthcare professionals have told managers about a problem with their care environment, the manager should be liable for incidents related to the problem.
Conservatives call for action on blood recommendations

24-Feb-2009
The Conservatives have called for the government to respond to recommendations of an independent inquiry into how thousands of people were infected with HIV and hepatitis C from contaminated blood.
Monitor takes fight for FT freedoms to the House of Lords

19-Feb-2009
Monitor has launched a challenge to the government in Parliament to protect foundation trust freedoms and its role as their regulator.The regulator believes proposals in the Health Bill compromise foundation trusts' independence by requiring them to send quality accounts to the health secretary.
London and North East lead ambulance foundation trust drive

18-Feb-2009
The first ambulance services are launching bids to become foundation trusts within a year.
PCTs 'don't listen to charities'

18-Feb-2009
Commissioners are failing to involve local voluntary organisations in decisions about services, a survey suggests.
Super-trust race enters second lap

18-Feb-2009
Seven NHS and university partnerships remain in the running to become 'super-trust' academic health science centres.As groups reach the second stage of the accreditation process, one trust has confirmed it plans to merge with its partner in a centre.
Sussex merger trusts appoint Marianne Griffiths as chief executive

17-Feb-2009
A chief executive has been appointed to the merged trust proposed by Royal West Sussex and Worthing and Southlands Hospitals trusts.
Councils lose power under Welsh health reforms

17-Feb-2009
Local government bosses have accused the Welsh Assembly government of undemocratic behaviour over planned cuts to the number of council representatives on NHS boards.Councils are used to having several representatives on 22 local health boards, which largely share boundaries with local authorities.
RCN consults members on assisted suicide

16-Feb-2009
The Royal College of Nursing has begun consulting its members on assisted suicide.
Rural trust announces major A&E plans

13-Feb-2009
Northumbria Healthcare foundation trust is planning to centralise accident and emergency services at a new hospital.
Welsh healthcare regulator raps management at Gwent trust

12-Feb-2009
The Welsh healthcare regulator has published two reports critical of management of a provider's maternity, community and mental health services.
Little sympathy for trusts struggling with A&E targets

12-Feb-2009
Hospital trusts are expected to inform the regional NHS almost immediately of problems in accident and emergency departments.
SHAs push on A&E targets

12-Feb-2009
NHS chief executives across the country have been under increasing pressure to meet the four hour accident and emergency waiting time target this winter.
Trusts must collect patient reported data or face fines

12-Feb-2009
Hospital trusts must prepare to ask thousands of patients to fill in questionnaires about their health before surgery - and face fines if not enough do so.
London hospital fire: 250 evacuated

11-Feb-2009
Around 250 patients and staff were evacuated from a London hospital today when a fire started in its basement.Northwick Park Hospital's accident and emergency and maternity services departments were closed after a small fire in an electrical room in the basement. Patients were evacuated to avoid smoke.
London will review polyclinics

11-Feb-2009
London's primary care trusts are to evaluate the first of their polyclinics to show whether the controversial developments are improving healthcare and access.They have set out their requirements for the external review, which follows cynicism about the model from some GPs.
DH extends Atos choose and book contract

11-Feb-2009
The Department of Health has signed a two year contract with Atos Healthcare to continue managing the choose and book system.
Double weak PCT gets new chairman

10-Feb-2009
Great Yarmouth and Waveney primary care trust has appointed a new chairman.
Suspended chief executive in limbo as review drags on

10-Feb-2009
A hospital trust that suspended its chief executive in October and began a review into his performance has had to appoint a second interim replacement, as the review overruns by more than two months.
Maternity closures increasing, say Conservatives

9-Feb-2009
Nearly 50 per cent of hospital trusts had to close to maternity admissions at least once in 2008.The Conservatives, who collated the figures from freedom of information requests, said they demonstrated Labour's 'terrible record on maternity'.
NHS PROMs results ready by November

6-Feb-2009
Hospitals will be publicly rated by patients' reports of their care before the end of the year.
Conservatives highlight NHS litigation cost increase

6-Feb-2009
The government has admitted that NHS negligence premiums will nearly double to £713m in the next financial year.
King College foundation trust chief welcomes targets

5-Feb-2009
Bureaucracy and targets are no greater in the NHS than in the private sector, King's College foundation trust's new chief executive Tim Smart has insisted.
Mixed ward target worries

5-Feb-2009
Huge uncertainty exists over whether trusts will be able to comply with health secretary Alan Johnson's new diktat on mixed sex accommodation.
Non-urgent work called off as snow keeps staff at home

5-Feb-2009
Hospitals across the country cancelled outpatient appointments and non-urgent surgery as they coped with staff absences and increased emergency admissions brought on by heavy snow.
Recession puts foundation trust plans at risk

5-Feb-2009
The recession is being cited as a cause for further delays in trusts gaining foundation status.
Snow hits non-urgent hospital services

3-Feb-2009
Hospitals across the country cancelled non-urgent surgery as they coped with staff absences and increased emergency admissions brought on by heavy snow.

Alastair McLellan

Health Service JournalDave West

Health Service Journal
Dave West