Health Service Journal
Graham Clews

Paramedics must be safe at major incidents

7-Apr-2011
Paramedics must not be put at risk if the way decisions are made on attending patients at dangerous emergency incidents are altered, ambulance staff have warned.
First after-death care guidance issued

7 April 2011
A pathway for caring for patients after death has been developed in the first national guidance on “last offices”.
Media Watch: flu vaccine orders get in early

31 March 2011
Just as everyone was reaching for their sunglasses, the Guardian reported how GPs had already been told to start ordering flu vaccine stocks for next winter.
Health boards need greater powers, says King's Fund

31 March 2011
Health and wellbeing boards should be given more powers to ensure that GP consortia and local authorities work together, the King’s Fund has said.
Hospitals must help mental health tribunals run smoothly

30-Mar-2011
Hospital managers must ensure staff know it is inappropriate to recommend lawyers to mental health patients who are appealing against detention under the Mental Health Act, the Care Quality Commission has urged.
CQC praises choice but warns on speed of improvements

29-Mar-2011
People now have more choice over their care but improvements in quality have stalled in recent years, the Care Quality Commission has said.
Healthcare assistants to ease budget pressures

10-Feb-2011
Providers will need to see a big growth in the number of healthcare assistants over the next decade, the health skills advisory body has said.
PCT U-turns on plan to slash charity funding

20-Dec-2010
A primary care trust has reversed a decision to cut funding to nearly 20 local charities after its strategic health authority agreed to provide short term financial support.
Government unveils proposals for value based drug pricing

17-Dec-2010
A new pricing system for pharmaceutical drugs used in the NHS has been proposed by the government, which it claims will increase patient access to effective medicines.
Hospital productivity has fallen over last decade

17-Dec-2010
Hospital productivity has fallen by an average of 1.4 per cent a year since the publication of the NHS Plan ten years ago, the National Audit Office has said.
MoD announces new healthcare staff recruitment partner

17-Dec-2010
The Ministry of Defence has appointed Hays Healthcare as recruitment partner for all temporary healthcare staff.
Social care directors back statutory wellbeing boards

16-Dec-2010
Social services directors have welcomed the government’s decision that there will be a statutory duty on local authorities to create health and wellbeing boards.
Trusts failing to review dementia readmissions

16-Dec-2010
Trust boards are failing to review data on readmissions for patients with dementia, a major clinical audit has found.
Danger consortia will overlook networked services

16-Dec-2010
Measures must be put in place to ensure that networked hospital services covering large geographical areas are not overlooked when GPs take responsibility for commissioning, surgeons have warned.
'Firm action' needed to avert disaster during transition period

16-Dec-2010
The government must take “firm action” over the transition period to allow its “high-risk” reforms to succeed as the point of no return has passed, the NHS Confederation has warned.
Think tanks warn reforms are distraction from QIPP

16-Dec-2010
The King’s Fund has warned that the government’s overhaul of the health service may not increase productivity or drive up quality.
BMA criticises government for 'disregarding' the concerns of doctors

15-Dec-2010
The government has ignored doctors’ “major concerns” about its radical health service reforms, the British Medical Association has claimed.
Lansley: 'large number of people' support reforms

15-Dec-2010
Health secretary Andrew Lansley has insisted there is broad support for his health service reforms.
Unions claim NHS reforms are 'badly timed vanity project'

15-Dec-2010
Union leaders have criticised the government’s NHS reforms, describing them as “dangerous”, “a big mistake”, and “uncosted and untested”.
Budget cuts make it 'impossible' to maintain social care standards

14-Dec-2010
Social services directors have said the government’s local authority budget cuts will make it “impossible” to maintain current standards of social care without restricting the number of people who receive care.
Blog outlines Ed Miliband's views on NHS targets and PFI hospitals

30 September 2010
Labour’s new leader Ed Miliband likes targets and private finance initiative hospitals, and doesn’t like the switch to GP commissioning consortia, the Health Policy Insight website reported.
Child care branded ‘mediocre’

23 September 2010
Health and social care for children is often “mediocre” in England, according to a report by former Healthcare Commission chair Sir Ian Kennedy.
Patients’ details left on train

23 September 2010
A hospital trust has agreed to tighten security after a doctor left a memory stick containing unprotected and sensitive patient information on a train.
HealthWatch must have no monopoly

22-Sep-2010
The Care Quality Commission has warned that the government’s new patient advocacy service must not “crowd out” the views of other patients’ bodies.
Hospital trusts gain under new payment by results tariff

2 September 2010
Hospital trusts could save “real money” as a knock-on effect of meeting new tariff standards for hip fracture surgery, according to a leading clinician.
Patient organisations fear losing voice

2 September 2010
The government will do “nothing”, or “not much” for the NHS, according to a survey of almost 900 patient organisations, shared exclusively with HSJ.
Trusts not meeting equality requirements

2 September 2010
More than 90 per cent of NHS organisations could be failing to meet their legal requirements to publish equality documents, a consultancy firm has warned.
The battle for NHS Direct

2 September 2010
Party politics has resumed after the summer break, and former senior Labour ministers have headed straight for the NHS.
Trust rapped over patient records found at bus stop

27-Aug-2010
A trust has signed an agreement to tighten up its data protection procedures after more than 100 copies of patient records were found on a CD left at a bus stop.
Consultant spending under fire

26 August 2010
The media reported en masse government figures revealing the NHS spent more than £300m on management consultants last year, though not all pointed out that it represented less than half of 1 per cent of the service’s budget.
Mixed sex wards and ennui

19 August 2010
Health secretary Andrew Lansley this week announced an end to mixed sex wards in the NHS, prompting an outbreak of ennui.
GP referral management schemes fail to deliver

12 August 2010
GP consortia should move away from using referral management schemes when they take control of NHS commissioning, as the schemes do not save money. A report by the King’s Fund also warned they can undermine quality of care.
Steve Field on public health and milky u-turns

12 August 2010
His members have been given the key to NHS commissioning, and now Royal College of GPs chair Steve Field has weighed in on the country’s public health.
Dr Foster Intelligence stake could be sold

9-Aug-2010
The Department of Health’s stake in Dr Foster Intelligence could be sold following the announcement of a “strategic review” of options for the future of the enterprise.
Broader healthcare role for councils unveiled

29 July 2010
The Department of Health has unveiled its vision for councils’ role in making local health services democratically accountable by influencing commissioning.
Media Watch: lazy and unproductive?

29 July 2010
Many NHS staff won’t be getting a pay rise and fear for their jobs, but they are lazy and unproductive too, newspaper reports suggest.
CQC lifts restrictions on Mid Staffs

27-Jul-2010
Five of the six licence restrictions placed on Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust have been lifted by the Care Quality Commission, following an interim report on the trust’s progress against recommendations made in a 2009 report by the Healthcare Commission.
Quality vascular surgery ‘requires centralisation’

22 July 2010
Vascular surgery should be centralised before strategic health authorities and primary care trusts are abolished, the president of the Vascular Society has argued. Cliff Shearman’s comments follow the publication of an audit calling for greater centralisation to improve quality.
Media Watch: eye-watering, mouth-watering NHS cash

22 July 2010
As the dust settles on last week’s health white paper, it seems the newspapers believe the reforms will lead to somebody somewhere making easy money.
HSJ webcast - white paper major challenge for PCT management

19-Jul-2010
Senior managers at primary care trusts are facing the tough challenge of managing major change while dealing with staff who have been publicly criticised, Ealing PCT chief executive Robert Creighton said on HSJ’s webcast on the government’s white paper.
Media Watch: obesity and public health

15 July 2010
Obesity and poor diets were eating many journalists as the government relaxed its attempts to control people’s lifestyles.
Paediatric surgeons ‘need networks’

15 July 2010
Commissioners must help to create a managed care network of general paediatric surgeons if children are not to have to travel long distances and experience long waits for surgery.
Patients to be given choice of GP and consultant

12-Jul-2010
Patients will be given a choice of GP practice, consultant-led team and treatment, the white paper promises.
Public health directors move to local authorities

12-Jul-2010
Local authorities are to jointly appoint directors of public health with a new “public health service”, which will amalgamate existing health improvement and protection bodies by April 2012.
Media Watch: Lansley's plans for wholesale change

7-Jul-2010
As rumour and speculation over cuts continues, the Financial Times reported that health secretary Andrew Lansley’s proposals for wholesale structural change within the NHS had hit a snag when seen by the committee that resolves intra-coalition government disagreements.
Trusts 'slash and burn' frontline jobs

7-Jul-2010
NHS trusts have been accused by the Royal College of Nursing of failing to consult with staff as they seek cuts in frontline jobs.
Media Watch: public sector pensions

24 June 2010
In the build-up to Tuesday’s Budget, it was open season on public sector pensions.
NHS managers honoured in birthday awards

17 June 2010
Dozens of NHS managers and staff were recognised in the Queen’s birthday honours last weekend, including the chair of the NHS Confederation.
Media Watch: the World Cup and public health

10 June 2010
This summer’s ice cream weather has started early, giving those responsible for the nation’s public health a headache.
Huge A&E attendance gaps revealed

3 June 2010
The proportion of patients attending accident and emergency departments who are not sick enough to require an admission varies widely across England, unpublished data seen exclusively by HSJ reveals.
Media Watch: freeing up NHS information

3 June 2010
The post-bank holiday papers were brimming with information about how much more information on the mechanics of running public services is to become accessible.
Former MP appointed as PCT chair

28-May-2010
An MP who stood down at the recent election has been appointed chairman of Derby City PCT.
Media Watch: Ban on cheap alcohol

27 May 2010
Public health doctors have raised at least one cheer for the new government’s plans to ban supermarkets from selling cheap alcohol as a loss leader.
NHS Confederation chief executive Steve Barnett resigns

26-May-2010
Steve Barnett, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, has resigned and will step down next month.
New PCT medical director

26-May-2010
A new medical director has been appointed to Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT.
Manager suspended on full pay for five years

13 May 2010
A senior hospital manager has received £315,000 in salary payments from a trust in Nottingham, after being suspended on full pay for almost five years.
SHAs should lead on remote health technology

12-May-2010
Strategic health authorities should take the lead in driving the introduction of treatment innovations such as telehealth, according to a report published by private provider Healthcare at Home.
NHS procurement probe was halted by last minute DH phone call

22 April 2010
An eleventh hour phone call from the Department of Health stopped the cooperation and competition panel’s investigations into a primary care trust’s procurement arrangements.
Norfolk records major drop in bed blocking

18-Mar-2010
There were up to 75 per cent fewer patients waiting for discharge on any one day across Norfolk this winter, following the introduction of a “capacity plan” to reduce bed blocking across the county.
Media Watch: maternity pledges

18 March 2010
If the forthcoming election really will be all about capturing the female vote, Gordon Brown went out all guns blazing with an online chat on the Netmums website, on Mother’s Day.
Less than half of NHS staff think managers work well with others

17-Mar-2010
Just under half of NHS staff think that healthcare professionals and management work well together, figures from the 2009 NHS staff survey reveal.
Mental health trusts best at patient involvement

3-Mar-2010
Mental health trusts have made the greatest efforts to reflect patients’ views in the precursors to formal quality accounts, the Foundation Trust Network has found.
NHS market reforms are not linked with better care

3-Mar-2010
The introduction of competition to the NHS cannot be shown to have improved the health service, and may have produced extra costs.
New chief executive in post

26-Feb-2010
The new chief executive for NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale has begun work this week.
Trust given foundation status

26-Feb-2010
South Warwickshire General Hospitals Trust has been awarded foundation status by regulator Monitor.
Staff at Mid Staffs 'lacked compassion'

24-Feb-2010
There was a lack of compassion for patients at Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust, as well as a lack of information provided about patients’ condition, and insensitivity when staff were communicating with patients and their families, the inquiry into the trust found.
Misdiagnosis led to death of patient at Mid Staffs

24-Feb-2010
The Mid Staffs inquiry heard of a number of cases of clear misdiagnosis, including failure to diagnose a serious injury in a young man who later died as a result.
Home care ‘could save NHS more than £1bn a year’

4 February 2010
The health service could save more than £1bn each year by increasing the number of patients it treats at home rather than in hospital, according to a report seen by HSJ.
Media Watch: smoke free future

4 February 2010
The promise of government proposals to create a “smoke free future” for the UK provoked a press battle over the nanny state.
Elder care pilot slashes hospital admissions

21 January 2010
A pilot programme for improving care of older patients has slashed hospital overnight stays and accident and emergency attendances, and produced significant financial savings.
Knighted Nicholson pays tribute to NHS staff

7 January 2010
NHS chief executive David Nicholson, cancer tsar Mike Richards and National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence chief executive Andrew Dillon have been given knighthoods in the New Year honours list.
Public sector pay scrutiny

7 January 2010
It may be a new decade, but it is a familiar story facing NHS managers returning to their desks after the Christmas holidays.
Patricia Hewitt calls for vote on Gordon Brown's future

6-Jan-2010
Former health secretary Patricia Hewitt has sparked political turmoil by publicly calling for a vote on whether Gordon Brown should remain as Labour Party leader in the run up to this year’s general election.
Winter chill hits acute services hard

6-Jan-2010
Elective surgery has been postponed, hospital wards closed, and patients moved to other hospitals for treatment, as freezing weather and virus outbreaks hit the NHS hard across the country.
Hospital staff strike over pay and conditions

5-Jan-2010
More than 250 cleaners, porters and cooks have staged a 48-hour strike at an NHS trust in Devon over implementation of Agenda for Change terms and conditions.
PCT commissioners should exploit ‘soft data’

2-Dec-2009
PCTs should use more “soft” data, such as information supplied by mystery shoppers, to assess the quality of services they commission, the Primary Care Trust Network has said.
FT chief to take up strategic health authority post

27-Nov-2009
The chief executive of a foundation trust has left to take up a senior post with his local strategic health authority.
Basildon responds to CQC report

27-Nov-2009
The Essex foundation trust at the centre of the latest round of criticism over care failings says it has already begun to tackle the problems uncovered by Care Quality Commission inspectors.
NHS performance: GPs in the spotlight

17-Aug-2009
Tight budgets mean PCTs must scrutinise all contractors to ensure they are providing the right value and quality of services - and this includes GPs. Graham Clews looks at the role of the balanced scorecard
Mob bullying in the NHS

16-Jun-2009
The trend of staff picking on a colleague en masse is a tough one for the victim to cope with mentally - and tougher still for them to resolve.
Ten years on: what devolution has meant for the NHS

7 May 2009
In 1999 Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland assumed new powers. After 10 years of devolution Graham Clews examines what it has meant for the UK’s health services
NHS hospitals still failing to protect patient mealtimes

16-Apr-2009
Almost a fifth of hospitals in England and Wales are not halting work at mealtimes to help patients eat, five years after the launch of NHS Estates’ protected mealtimes initiative.
PCTs win reconfiguration legal battle

16 April 2009
A planned judicial review into the reconfiguration of maternity services at Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals trust has been rejected by a High Court judge.
2012 Olympics STI risk overlooked

7-Jun-2007
The London Olympic Games in 2012 is in danger of becoming a sexual health disaster, one of the UK's leading sexual health charities has warned.
Directors resign as report finds 'many years' of abuse

1-Jan-2007
People with learning disabilities were hit, pushed and dragged by staff working for an NHS trust in Cornwall, a joint investigation by the Healthcare Commission and the Commission for Social Care Inspection has found.People with learning disabilities were hit, pushed and dragged by staff working for an NHS trust in Cornwall, a joint investigation by the Healthcare Commission and the Commission for Social Care Inspection has found.
DoH aims to empower patients with three-way partnerships

1-Jan-2007
New arrangements for patient and public involvement will rely on a three-way relationship between new 'local involvement networks' (LINks), the NHS and local authorities.
GP star-rating talks called off over fears of misuse

1-Jan-2007
Any system of 'star-ratings' for GPs now looks unlikely after the Royal College of GPs broke off talks with the government over the proposals.
Media watch

1-Jan-2007
The irony is that 'taking politics out of the NHS' is sure to be mired in political speculation
Media Watch

1-Jan-2007
Your caring, sharing News of the Worldthis week chose to reveal that David Beckham's son Romeo suffers from epilepsy by splashing with a front-page picture of the four-year-old cowering from the paparazzi's flash guns.
MRSA gives way to C Difficile superbug

1-Jan-2007
The battle against MRSA infection in NHS hospitals appears to be being won hospital-acquired infection Clostridium Difficileis increasing
Non-executive was unlawfully sacked

1-Jan-2007
The Appointments Commission has admitted unlawfully sacking a non-executive director of a primary care trust who opposed an ill-fated independent treatment centre contract.
PBC guidance for boards

1-Jan-2007
The Audit Commission has for the first time told primary care trust board members how they can help ensure that practice-based commissioning is a success.
Report calls for royal pharmaceutical college

1-Jan-2007
Pharmacists should get their own royal college to unite the profession and give it a stronger voice, the government has concluded.
Response-time target reprieve for ambulance trusts

1-Jan-2007
New-look ambulance trusts have been given an extra year to ensure they hit the tightened-up target of reaching all life-threatening emergency calls within eight minutes.
Target-chasing managers suffer 'pathological' levels of stress

1-Jan-2007
Too many new policies, a lack of coherent strategy and invasive performance management are creating 'pathological' levels of stress among NHS middle managers, an NHS Confederation report has warned.
Under-fire agency plans its future

1-Jan-2007
Patient safety expertise could be moved from the centre to the NHS locally as part of an internal review of the National Patient Safety Agency's future, HSJunderstands.
Choice guidelines are 'mere principle'

9-Nov-2006
New government guidelines on choice in mental health have been criticised by campaigners.
Health professional training cuts average at 10pc

5-Oct-2006
Training budgets for nurses and other healthcare professionals are being cut by up to a third in some parts of the country as strategic health authorities make savings to deal with deficits.
Rejected PCT leaders told to apply for less senior jobs

7-Sep-2006
Primary care trust chief executives not selected for jobs running their successor organisations are being denied redundancy and told to apply for less senior positions, according to union Managers in Partnership.
Tesco director named NHS human resources supremo

7-Sep-2006
The personnel director of supermarket giant Tesco has been appointed as the new human resources director for the NHS.
CRE warning over NHS failure on race information

24-Aug-2006
Trusts could face action from the Commission for Racial Equality after just 1 per cent were found to have complied with race equality legislation.
Mental health choice about culture not venue, says Prior

24-Aug-2006
Choice of treatment is more important than choice of venue in mental health, according to Cliff Prior, chief executive of mental health charity Rethink.
Trusts risk tribunal payouts over rights of oldest workers

24-Aug-2006
Trusts could face huge compensation bills handed out by employment tribunals if they do not get to grips with the new age discrimination legislation that comes into force in October, NHS Employers has warned.
Training and public health hit for £350m to recover deficits

17-Aug-2006
The NHS will only balance its books next year thanks to £350m raided from budgets for public health, training and education, under current plans.
Commissioning deadline may be relaxed

15-Sep-2005
PRIMARY CARE
MEDIA WATCH

23-Jun-2005
NEWS
One third of chief execs lament poor return on NHS investment

16-Jun-2005
FINANCE NHS Confederation poll finds widespread discontent over service improvements
PFI hospital criticised, but refinancing offers hope

17-Feb-2005
FINANCE Potential savings of £60m identified by NAO value report
Skill-mix beats the big-city blues

2-Dec-2004
REGIONAL FOCUS: LONDON
DoH lags behind in tackling NHS racism, says CRE chair

11-Nov-2004
Published: 11/11/2004, Volume II4, No. 5931 Page 10
Chronic-disease manifesto plea

9-Sep-2004
Published: 09/09/2004, Volume II4, No. 5922 Page 6
PCT chiefs lose jobs in merger programme

12-Aug-2004
Published: 12/08/2004, Volume II4, No. 5918 Page 6 7
Emergency target halved

15-Jul-2004
Published: 15/07/2004, Volume II4, No. 5914 Page 4
CORRIDORS OF POWER SW1 CITY OF WESTMINSTER

8-Jul-2004
Published: 08/07/2004, Volume II4, No. 5913 Page 10 11
Prime mover

17-Jun-2004
Published: 17/06/2004, Volume II4, No. 5910 Page 24 25
CORRIDORS OF POWER SW1 CITY OF WESTMINSTER

10-Jun-2004
Published: 10/06/2004, Volume II4, No. 5909 Page 12 13
GPs to spend their pennies how and when they like

10-Jun-2004
Published: 10/06/2004, Volume II4, No. 5909 Page 12 13
PCTs: funding overhaul needed

10-Jun-2004
Published: 10/06/2004, Volume II4, No. 5909 Page 4 5
CORRIDORS OF POWER SW1 CITY OF WESTMINSTER

27-May-2004
Published: 27/05/2004, Volume II4, No. 5907 Page 12 13
CORRIDORS OF POWER SW1 CITY OF WESTMINSTER

14-May-2004
Published: 13/05/2004, Volume II4, No. 5905 Page 12 13
PCTs voice cash fears - but forego financial directors

14-May-2004
Published: 13/05/2004, Volume II4, No. 5905 Page 7
Payment by result ts to be extended

6-May-2004
Published: 06/05/2004, Volume II4, No. 5904 Page 6 7
PCTs given help to nail foundation contracts

6-May-2004
Published: 06/05/2004, Volume II4, No. 5904 Page 6
Premier division campus - but will it be a team player?

22-Apr-2004
on location North West London
CORRIDORS OF POWER SW1 CITY OF WESTMINSTER

8-Apr-2004
Published: 08/04/2004, Volume II4, No.5900 Page 12 13
inside track

1-Apr-2004
What's on managers' minds this week
PCT manager rise is 'still not enough'

25-Mar-2004
Published: 25/03/2004, Volume II4, No. 5898 Page 4
Ties that bind

26-Feb-2004
news focus
Night vision

19-Feb-2004
news focus
PCT commissioning 'consortium' formed

19-Feb-2004
Published: 19/02/2004, Volume II4, No. 5893 Page 4 5
Payback time

8-Jan-2004
news focus
PMS contract sees 'dual' dawn

8-Jan-2004
Published: 08/01/2004, Volume II4, No. 5886 Page 7
Ratings 'discredited' by indicator cha ange

8-Jan-2004
Published: 08/01/2004, Volume II4, No. 5886 Page 6 7
No-starred PCTs spared management franchise

20-Nov-2003
Published: 20/11/2003, Volume II3, No. 5882 Page 3
Every which way but loose

13-Nov-2003
news focus
Foundation trusts: is there any way back?

13-Nov-2003
Published: 13/11/2003, Volume II3, No. 5881 Page 3
National system for GP p payment

13-Nov-2003
Published: 13/11/2003, Volume II3, No. 5881 Page 8 9
Poor PCT support risks co-ops

30-Oct-2003
Published: 30/10/2003, Volume II3, No. 5879 Page 6 7
Make history or die, PCTs told

16-Oct-2003
Published: 16/10/2003, Volume II3, No. 5877 Page 8 9
DoH estimates 160,000 choice take-up rate

2-Oct-2003
Published: 02/10/2003, Volume II3, No. 5875 Page 5
Pharmacy contract will expand services

31-Jul-2003
Published: 31/07/2003, Volume II3, No.5866 Page 11
All change

17-Jul-2003
Published: 17/07/2003, Volume II3, No. 5864 Page 13
'Dislocated' GPs threaten PCT service redesign

10-Jul-2003
Published: 10/07/2003, Volume II3, No. 5862 Page 9
PCTs fear ratings 'not in context'

29-May-2003
Published:29/05/2003, Volume II3, No. 5857 Page 6 7
Soldiering on

24-Apr-2003
the hsj interview: pat troop
Rabbi with a cause

27-Feb-2003
the hsj interview: Rabbi Julia Neuberger
Wait of expectation

13-Feb-2003
news focus
Change 'puts patients at risk'

6-Feb-2003
Published: 06/02/2003, Volume II3, No. 5841 Page 10

Editor's Comment

Health Service JournalGraham Clews

Health Service Journal
Graham Clews