Health Service Journal
Helen Crump

Variation shows NHS community services ripe for efficiencies

13 August 2009
Huge variations in the working practices of primary care trust provider arms are masking large potential efficiency savings.
Media Watch: swine flu backlash

13 August 2009
It was inevitable really - gone are the stories of soaring mortality rates and brave speeches issued from behind the sandbags at Richmond House.
DH scraps deadline for PCT provider arm strategies

6-Aug-2009
The Department of Health has scrapped its centrally set deadline for primary care trusts to create provider arm strategies. It comes amid fears of PCTs obsessed by organisational structure making poor decisions.
Quality and outcomes framework: GP incentives harm care quality

6-Aug-2009
The quality of care provided by GPs has decreased for some conditions where they do not receive performance related pay, a study has found.
First NICE quality standards will include stroke

6-Aug-2009
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is to create its first quality standards on stroke, dementia, neonatal care and venous thromboembolism.
Media Watch: GP access and swine flu panic

6-Aug-2009
Proof that the Department of Health’s drive to improve GP access was working arrived from an unlikely source this week.
DH defends East Midlands review

31-Jul-2009
The Department of Health has defended its inquiry into alleged bullying and harassment at NHS East Midlands after it emerged that the consultant hired to conduct the review lists the strategic health authority among his clients.
PCT rebranding still has a long way to go

30 July 2009
Getting local people to understand the role of primary care trusts has proved difficult, so has the NHS rebranding helped? HSJ polled the public to find out
DH will probe how row over NHS targets led to bullying claims

29-Jul-2009
The Department of Health is to launch an independent review into allegations of bullying and harassment against East Midlands strategic health authority.
£25m apprenticeships boost for NHS

28-Jul-2009
Strategic health authorities are to get a £25m boost to offer young people and others NHS apprenticeships.
Media Watch: the shrill cries of the doomsayers

23 July 2009
Depending on which paper you read this week, you could be forgiven for thinking you were living in two different countries.
NHS North Lancashire appoints new chief

22-Jul-2009
Former NHS North Yorkshire and York chief executive Janet Soo-Chung is to take up the reins at NHS North Lancashire.
GPs could hand commissioning to private firms under Tories

16 July 2009
GPs could be given the opportunity to bypass primary care trusts and hand commissioning to private sector organisations under Conservative plans.
PCTs lash out over audit use of world class scores

9 July 2009
Furious primary care trust chiefs have lambasted the Audit Commission after being marked down in annual reports on the basis of world class commissioning scores. They had been told they would not be judged on the measures.
Social care green paper delayed again

2 July 2009
The long awaited social care green paper has been delayed again.
Flu czar Ian Dalton sets September deadline for preparation

2 July 2009
The NHS flu czar has given board members a September deadline to make sure they can “justify” the strength of their pandemic flu plans.
Calls for fresh look at women's contraception access

2 July 2009
Women should be allowed to access contraception services without seeing a clinician if unplanned pregnancies do not fall, according to an expert group.
Practice based commissioning relationships finally paying off

2 July 2009
Primary care trusts’ efforts to formalise practice based commissioning relationships are finally paying off.
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
Mediawatch: Salient advice for health managers

25 June 2009
Summer is here. How do we know? Because the newspapers are full of utterly mad health stories.
NHS Confederation chair to be paid and not elected

25 June 2009
The role of NHS Confederation chair is to become an appointed, paid post after a radical shake-up of the organisation’s governance.
Team up to control costs of chlamydia campaigns

25 June 2009
Chlamydia screening campaigns should use a “single marketing approach” to control costs, a sexual health charity is urging.
DH to set up social enterprise support framework

22-Jun-2009
The Department of Health has launched a procurement drive to set up a framework of organisations to help primary care trust provider arms become social enterprises.
Department of Health plans to split Monitor top job

18 June 2009
Monitor’s top job is to be split in two under plans being developed by the Department of Health.
NHS flu czar warns PCTs over pandemic plans

18 June 2009
Primary care trusts have been ordered to “test to destruction” their plans to deal with swine flu amid concerns that some may be complacent about their preparedness.
Mark Britnell move 'will not hit world class commissioning'

18 June 2009
The Department of Health is downplaying Mark Britnell’s departure for the private sector, insisting the world class commissioning programme will not flounder without him.
Avoid tendering pitfalls, warns NHS competition panel director

12-Jun-2009
Co-operation and competition panel director Andrew Taylor has revealed some of the basic mistakes primary care trusts have made when tendering out services.
WHO declares swine flu pandemic

11-Jun-2009
The World Health Organisation has declared a swine flu pandemic.
Take on more risk to increase share of health market, private companies told

11-Jun-2009
Private companies must take on more risk if they want to gain a bigger share of the primary and community care market.
Andy Burnham: NHS must maintain strength in face of swine flu

11-Jun-2009
It is “vital” that the NHS maintains its national strength as the health service battles a swine flu pandemic, health secretary Andy Burnham has warned.
Best primary care trusts to get franchise on rest

11-Jun-2009
Top primary care trusts will be able to take over poor performing PCTs as franchises under sweeping changes set to boost commissioning performance.
PCTs call for tariff and GP contract reforms

11 June 2009
Radical reworking of the payment by results tariff and the GP contract is needed to make the savings required in the financial downturn, the NHS Confederation has warned.
PCTs find there are no shortcuts to freedom

11 June 2009
Pursuing the rewards for world class commissioning unveiled by the Department of Health this week looks likely to prove a test of every PCT’s whole operational strategy. Helen Crump reports
PCTs told they could save £3bn over five years

11 June 2009
Primary care trusts could save £3bn over five years through world class commissioning, the Department of Health has claimed.
NHS boards looking at wrong issues, Monitor tells NHS Confed

10-Jun-2009
More needs to be done to boost the quality of NHS boards, regulator Monitor has warned.
NHS waiting times up sharply

9-Jun-2009
The number of patients waiting more than eight weeks for an outpatient appointment has shot up by nearly a third in the space of a month, Department of Health figures reveal.
Andy Burnham called on to keep up pace of NHS reform

5-Jun-2009
Health secretary Andy Burnham has been called on to keep up momentum on NHS reform.
NHS productivity unit role revealed

4 June 2009
The NHS productivity unit will prepare the health service for the economic downturn with an initial budget of just £350,000.
Mediawatch: why FOI is an F-word for the NPSA

4 June 2009
Every journalist loves writing stories about secret reports, figures revealed under the Freedom of Information Act and leaks by angry whistleblowers - such phrases add an air of intrigue to even the dullest statistics.
PCTs leave public on the policy sidelines

4 June 2009
Primary care trusts are failing to put patients and the public at the centre of the very strategies designed to engage them.
Graham Ramsay named Mid Essex trust's chief executive

3-Jun-2009
West Hertfordshire Hospitals trust deputy chief executive Graham Ramsay is to leave to head up Mid Essex Hospital Services trust.
Whistleblowing doctors in the dark over safety fears, says BMA

3-Jun-2009
Nearly half of hospital doctors who reported a patient safety, malpractice or bullying concern to trust managers were left in the dark about whether anything had happened as a result, a British Medical Association survey has found.
Unite campaigns against community service reforms

2-Jun-2009
Trade union Unite has launched a campaign against Department of Health plans to separate primary care trust provider arms from commissioning PCTs.
World class commissioning could save PCTs £3bn

1-Jun-2009
Primary care trusts could save £3bn over five years through world class commissioning, the Department of Health has claimed.
New NHS tariff upsets PCT financial plans

28 May 2009
Cost inflation caused by the introduction of the latest version of the payment by results tariff could hit primary care trusts’ preparations for the financial downturn, commissioners have warned.
GP incentive system delivers disappointing results on diabetes

27-May-2009
The GP incentive scheme has not had the dramatic impact on diabetes care that was predicted when it was introduced five years ago, researchers have found.
NICE backs complementary therapies

27-May-2009
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has given its backing to complementary therapies for the first time.
Competition panel looks at NHS provider shift

27-May-2009
The co-operation and competition panel is to investigate plans to transfer a primary care trust provider arm’s services to a foundation trust.
East of England calls in heart czar to quell public outcry

22-May-2009
Commissioners in the East of England have called in heart disease czar Roger Boyle following a public outcry over changes to services for people suffering severe heart attacks.
Conservatives promise to axe dentists' contract

19-May-2009
The Conservatives have outlined plans to scrap the existing NHS dental contract and introduce a registration scheme for patients.
NHS staff could have stopped abusive GP sooner

15-May-2009
An independent review into a GP jailed for carrying out 23 indecent assaults on patients over a 20 year period has found NHS staff could have acted at least 12 years earlier than they did.
Fears grow over flu pandemic stockpiles

14 May 2009
Concerns are growing over whether primary care trusts will be able to avoid running out of flu pandemic equipment amid confusion over who should be stockpiling supplies.
Former finance director reprimanded for accounting failings

14 May 2009
A former primary care trust finance director has been reprimanded by her professional accountancy body after her organisation had to adjust its accounts by £7.1m.
Primary care trusts warned over misuse of end of life care cash

14 May 2009
Ministers have called on the Department of Health to make primary care trusts prove they are not spending extra funding for end of life care on other services.
NHS nets huge drugs saving

13-May-2009
The NHS has saved nearly £400m in the space of a year through more cost effective prescribing.
MPs warn NICE over cancer drug 'inequities'

12-May-2009
MPs have attacked as “inequitable and inefficient” the decision by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to allow less cost efficient drugs to be given to people at the end of their lives.
Swine flu stockpiles could compromise NHS, pharmacists warned

12-May-2009
The Department of Health has warned pharmacists not to stockpile swine flu medicines because this could undermine the NHS’s ability to cope with a pandemic.
Act now to prevent blood clots becoming the 'next MRSA', warns NHS Confederation

11-May-2009
Trust boards must act to stop deadly blood clots becoming “the next MRSA” in the eyes of patients and the media, the NHS Confederation is warning.
NHS Confederation warns primary care trusts to tender with caution

7 May 2009
Commissioners will need to be robust about which services they put out to tender, the NHS Confederation has warned.
Chief executives of worst rated PCTs to leave posts

6-May-2009
The chief executives of the two primary care trusts that achieved the lowest scores in last year’s world class commissioning governance tests are to leave their posts.
PCTs may face tests on financial competence

5-May-2009
A financial competence test could be reintroduced in next year’s round of world class commissioning competency assessments.
Advertising watchdog bans SHA from running 'misleading' choice ad

30-Apr-2009
The Advertising Standards Authority has banned NHS North East from running an advertisement for patient choice on the grounds that it could mislead the public.
Swine flu fears increase as WHO ups alert level for second time

30-Apr-2009
The World Health Organisation has raised its pandemic flu alert level for the second time in the space of a week, increasing fears that a global outbreak is inevitable.
Pilot will boost patient role in GP service plans

30 April 2009
Private companies will tell GPs how to make their services more customer friendly under plans to boost patients’ role in shaping primary care services.
Dental surgeries could extend opening hours

30 April 2009
Primary care trusts are to begin a £150m procurement process which could see dental surgeries opening outside normal hours.
NHS culture stifling innovation, Confed warns

30 April 2009
The NHS is stifling innovation through an organisational culture that places barriers in the way of staff with good ideas, the NHS Confederation has warned.
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.
WHO raises alert level as UK swine flu cases confirmed

28-Apr-2009
The World Health Organisation has raised its threat level to indicate increased risk of a flu pandemic in the wake of confirmed swine flu cases in several countries.
Alan Johnson: UK among best prepared for swine flu outbreak

27-Apr-2009
Health secretary Alan Johnson has attempted to calm fears over an outbreak of a new strain of flu called swine influenza.
GP pay changes: worst hit PCTs revealed

23 April 2009
The Department of Health has published a list of the primary care trusts which will be most disadvantaged as a result of changes to the way GP pay is allocated.
DH team launched to reduce infant deaths

22-Apr-2009
The Department of Health has launched a national support team to reduce differences in infant mortality rates in the face of a looming deadline.
Alistair Darling's Budget speech: minute by minute public sector announcements

22-Apr-2009
13.19pm: Total annual limit for ISAs to be £10,200, of which £5,100 can be saved in cash
UK government warns over EU health plans

22-Apr-2009
Patients should not be able to charge the NHS for hospital services they receive abroad without first seeking permission from their primary care trust, the government has said.
Anger over GP quality decision

22-Apr-2009
The Department of Health has angered senior figures in primary care by appointing external consultants McKinsey to advise a panel of experts on how to measure GP quality.
Monitor asks FT governors for feedback

21-Apr-2009
Monitor is urging foundation trust governors to respond to a consultation on guidance aimed to help them fulfil their statutory duties.
Trust sacks chief executive

20-Apr-2009
The Royal Cornwall Hospitals trust has dismissed suspended chief executive John Watkinson following an independent review into its management and governance.
NHS Careers boosts applications to the health service

17-Apr-2009
Nearly half of people who contact the NHS careers service take action to join the health service.
Acute overspending raises questions over PCT plans

16 April 2009
Primary care trusts have overspent against acute contracts by hundreds of millions of pounds, raising questions over the success of efforts to deliver care more cheaply in the community.
£30m boost for Welsh hospital redevelopment

15-Apr-2009
Welsh health minister Edwina Hart has earmarked £30m for the redevelopment of the Cardiff Royal Infirmary, she announced today.
Primary care trust seeks to team up with social services

14-Apr-2009
Blackburn with Darwen primary care trust has launched a bid to join forces with its local council.
Can integrated care usher in a new age of risk taking?

9 April 2009
A speedy selection process has led to 16 projects being picked for integrated care pilots. Can they improve quality and test bold ideas or have we seen it all before, asks Helen Crump
PCT boards risk governance failure over provider organisations

9 April 2009
Primary care trust boards risk failures in governance because arrangements for appointing the boards of their arm’s-length provider organisations are unclear.
Search starts for new chief executive of NHS Yorkshire and the Humber

9 April 2009
The hunt has begun for a new chief executive for the Yorkshire and Humber strategic health authority.
Study reveals three-fold cost variation in GP out of hours services

8-Apr-2009
GP out of hours services are costing more than three times more per patient in some parts of England than in others.
MPs launch inquiry into cancer treatment inequality

3-Apr-2009
MPs are to launch an inquiry into “postcode lotteries” in cancer treatment.
NICE to review GP quality incentives

2-Apr-2009
The Department of Health announced yesterday that it will be handing responsibility for reviewing clinical indicators included in the GP quality and outcome framework to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
DH rewrites top-ups guidance

2-Apr-2009
The Department of Health has rewritten its guidance on co-payments following fears of increased bureaucracy for primary care trusts and hospitals.
'Distressing failures' in NHS care for people with learning disabilities

2-Apr-2009
A report into the deaths of six people with learning disabilities has uncovered “significant and distressing” failures in services across health and social care.
PCTs demand end to community foundation trust pilot

2 April 2009
Primary care trust provider arms are calling on the Department of Health to drop the community foundation trust pilot scheme and allow them to apply for foundation status on a level playing field.
London PCT and council to share chief executive

2 April 2009
Hammersmith and Fulham primary care trust and the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham are to begin operating with a joint chief executive and integrated management team.
Integrated care will be tested by only 16 organisations

1-Apr-2009
Just 16 organisations have made it onto the Department of Health’s integrated care pilot scheme.
HIV diagnoses drop, but rates still high in gay men

27-Mar-2009
New HIV diagnoses in the UK fell slightly last year, but diagnosis rates among gay men were at their second highest level since recording began.
NHS hits 18 week target

27-Mar-2009
Waiting time targets have been met five months ahead of schedule
Media Watch: credit crunch scapegoat

26 March 2009
Now bank chiefs have been sufficiently humiliated in the press, the media’s attention seems to be turning to a new credit crunch scapegoat: NHS managers.
PCTs say incentives policy fails local commissioners

26 March 2009
Primary care trusts have criticised the Department of Health for backing away from plans to allow them to set local incentives in the national GPs’ bonus schemes.
Cash for healthy lifestyles

19 March 2009
Economic incentives such as paying people not to smoke should be incorporated into public health strategy, a government policy group has said.
Government accused of 'wanton experimentation on the public'

19 March 2009
MPs have accused the government of “wanton large scale experimentation on the public” through poorly evidenced health inequalities policies.
Lift Awards 2009 winners announced

19 March 2009
Renova Developments has won the award for Lift Area of the Year in this year’s Lift Awards.
Government accused of 'wanton experimentation on the public'

16-Mar-2009
MPs have accused the government of “wanton large scale experimentation on the public” through poorly evidenced health inequalities policies.
Dental equipment cleanliness under scrutiny

30-Jan-2009
Primary care trusts are to be asked to help find out from dentists how clean their surgical equipment is.
NHS sets itself difficult targets for greener future

29-Jan-2009
The health service is to set itself up as a trailblazer for public sector sustainability. Ambitious goals ranging from tough carbon-cutting targets to making staff walk and cycle are outlined in the NHS's first carbon reduction strategy, launched on Tuesday by chief executive David Nicholson.
PCT strategy plans expose the distance to world class

29-Jan-2009
Concerns have been raised over two out of three primary care trusts' strategic plans, the first scores for world class commissioning reveal.
PCTs told to be innovative with personal budgets

28-Jan-2009
The Department of Health is calling on primary care trusts to put forward proposals for controversial personal budget pilots.
NHS sets itself tough targets for green future

27-Jan-2009
The health service is to set itself up as a trailblazer for public sector sustainability.
Low carbon NHS commissioning is the green ideal

22-Jan-2009
Home working, green travel and low carbon commissioning are set to feature in the NHS's first ever carbon reduction strategy.
Managers call for GP commissioning reforms

22-Jan-2009
NHS managers are showing signs of breaking with government policy by calling for a complete overhaul of practice based commissioning.
Media Watch: social marketing

22-Jan-2009
The NHS is in the middle of a social marketing drive the like of which has never been seen before.
NHS Confederation slates inequality duty

22-Jan-2009
Government plans to make it a duty for the health service to tackle inequalities will result in meaningless bureaucracy, the NHS Confederation is warning.
Personal health budgets may spark tension between services

22-Jan-2009
Personal health budgets for patients to spend as they wish will radically change commissioners' roles, the NHS Confederation has warned.
HSJ talks to care services minister Phil Hope

21-Jan-2009
Care services minister Phil Hope promises his personal experience of the health service as a Hodgkin’s patient will mean service users are at the heart of his policies. Helen Crump finds out what’s on his to-do list. Plus, watch an exclusive video interview with Mr Hope
Trusts told to prioritise C difficile targets

15-Jan-2009
Trusts have been told to prioritise protecting patients from C difficile over other strategic goals in new Department of Health guidance on controlling infection rates.
Surgical safety checklist promises to cut deaths by a third

15-Jan-2009
Trusts have been told to use a new safety checklist after a global trial saw surgical deaths and complications cut by a third.
Choose and book glitches lose trusts income

15-Jan-2009
Hospitals are losing income because they are failing to get to grips with the Department of Health's choose and book system.
Department steps up push for separate PCT provider arms

15-Jan-2009
The Department of Health has turned up the heat under primary care trusts following concerns over the quality of their plans to separate their provider arms.
NICE backs changes to end of life drugs policy

15-Jan-2009
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is to proceed with controversial plans to broaden access to drugs for terminally ill people.
GPs warn against localising quality framework

14-Jan-2009
GPs have claimed allowing primary care trusts to draw up their own indicators under the quality and outcomes framework would result in a postcode lottery for patients and damage work on health inequalities.
Hamish Meldrum denies hypocrisy over polyclinic contract

8-Jan-2009
The chairman of the British Medical Association has defended himself against charges of hypocrisy after a consortium including his practice won the contract to deliver one of the GP-led health centres the association has campaigned vociferously against.Hamish Meldrum said his practice had taken the step to protect itself from threats posed by private providers and would make no financial gain from the work.
Graduates clamour for NHS management roles

8-Jan-2009
The credit crunch has led to a massive increase in the number of graduates applying to become NHS managers, the NHS Institute has said.
Health and social care commissioner for London named

8-Jan-2009
Former NHS Wales chief executive Ann Lloyd is to be health and social care commissioner for London, the Appointments Commission has announced.
New guidance on pharmaceutical needs assessments

8-Jan-2009
NHS Employers has launched guidance for primary care trusts on how to develop pharmaceutical needs assessments in line with world class commissioning.
End of life drugs move raises budget concerns

6-Jan-2009
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is to proceed with controversial plans to broaden access to drugs for the terminally ill in the face of serious concerns from health managers.
DH admits defeat over end of life tariff

18-Dec-2008
The Department of Health has admitted defeat over plans to create a tariff for end of life services provided by the voluntary sector.
PCTs facing probe over dentistry gaps

18-Dec-2008
Primary care trusts' success in commissioning NHS dental services will come under scrutiny as part of the forthcoming independent inquiry into health service dentistry, the chief dental officer for England has revealed.
NHS integrated care pilots to be test bed for 'risky' ideas

17-Dec-2008
Integrated care pilots will be given the chance to shape Department of Health policy up to and including tariff reform, the primary care czar has revealed.Speaking as the DH revealed the 36 organisations shortlisted for the scheme, national clinical director for primary care David Colin-Thomé said the organisations making the final cut would be at the forefront of radical trials of reforms perhaps 'too risky' to be introduced across the board. Those ...
Comply with NICE or pay, Care Quality Commission tells trusts

11-Dec-2008
Healthcare providers could be shut down for failing to comply with National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance under plans to make adherence a requirement of the Care Quality Commission's registration scheme.
PCTs get green light for CQUIN

11-Dec-2008
Primary care trusts have the green light to link payment to local quality improvement goals with the unveiling of the methodology for the commissioning for quality and innovation framework (CQUIN).
Cancer survival rates vary widely, statistics show

10-Dec-2008
Cancer survival rates in England have remained static, new figures reveal. But wide variations still exist between five-year survival rates for different types of cancer, according to Office for National Statistics data for 2005 - the latest available.
Health secretary Alan Johnson announces dramatic reforms to PCT funding

8-Dec-2008
The Department of Health has unveiled dramatic reforms to primary care trust funding allocations.Health secretary Alan Johnson announced today that PCTs would receive £164bn funding for 2009-10 and 2010-11, equating to an average of £1,612 per person by 2010-11.
London PCTs to pay off capital's debts

5-Dec-2008
London primary care trusts are to pay off the historic debt of trusts in the capital to prevent it reaching £579m by 2011.Backed by NHS London, the PCTs are proposing establishing a collective fund to pay off the debts, consisting of £304m of 'topslice' funding held by the strategic health authority and a non-returnable levy of 1.3 per cent on PCT funding for two years.
NHS 'wasting time and money' on outsourcing services

5-Dec-2008
The NHS is 'wasting precious time and money' on outsourcing services, trade union Unison is claiming.
Sir Ian Kennedy to oversee academic health science centre selection

5-Dec-2008
Healthcare Commission chair Sir Ian Kennedy is to oversee the process to select the organisations that will be designated academic health science centres.
Support for practice based commissioning 'static'

5-Dec-2008
Four in 10 GPs are still not supporting the Department of Health's practice based commissioning initiative, new figures reveal.
NHS top-up confusion persists

4-Dec-2008
Campaigners are demanding clarity over whether patients using non drug-based NHS services will be able to 'top up' their care.
Alan Johnson opens UK's first GP led health centre in Bradford

4-Dec-2008
Health secretary Alan Johnson attended the launch of the first GP-led health centre in Bradford last week.
Effort required on BME mental health inequality

4-Dec-2008
NHS managers must improve mental health services for black and minority ethnic groups, the Healthcare Commission has urged. It also called for 'renewed efforts' to provide more single sex wards.
PCTs warned not to throw provider arms 'into abyss'

4-Dec-2008
Primary care trusts are being warned not to 'jump into the abyss' with underdeveloped models for provider arms.
Pharmaceutical industry tactics could be blocking generic drugs

4-Dec-2008
The European Commission has uncovered a 'tool box' of pharmaceutical company strategies that may be delaying availability of cheaper generic alternatives to costly patented medicines.
Great Ormond Street Hospital appoints new chairman

27-Nov-2008
Great Ormond Street Hospital's new chair is to be former minister Baroness Blackstone.
More to do on BME mental health - Healthcare Commission

27-Nov-2008
NHS managers must work harder to improve mental health services for black and minority ethnic groups, the Healthcare Commission has urged.
Media Watch: public sector salaries

27-Nov-2008
Another day, another sackload of filthy dollars for the bloated plutocrats who make up the public sector workforce, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Person based allocations could help tackle health inequalities

27-Nov-2008
Department of Health officials are drawing up a system to target health inequality funding towards the most deprived individuals in primary care trusts' areas, health secretary Alan Johnson has revealed.
Trusts pressed to prepare for credit crisis blues

27-Nov-2008
Commissioners must 'ramp up' capacity in psychological therapies to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of people being made redundant in the credit crunch.
Social care funding split could lead to schemes based on age

26-Nov-2008
Health chiefs are considering splitting social care funding into separate schemes for people of working age and those in retirement.
Failings in end of life care waste £100m every year

26-Nov-2008
Failings in the commissioning and provision of end of life care services are costing the NHS more than £100m every year.A damning National Audit Office report has found massive service variations, with a difference of more than £1,500 per death between the highest and lowest spending primary care trusts.
Scotland slashes diagnostic waiting times

20-Nov-2008
The Scottish NHS has slashed diagnostic waiting times but must now ensure that services are as efficient as possible.
Hospitals making progress on blood clot risk assessments

20-Nov-2008
The number of hospital trusts assessing patients for deadly blood clots has more than doubled in the past year - but trusts must do more to protect patients, MPs are warning.
GP commissioning costs lots and delivers little

20-Nov-2008
A major study into practice based commissioning has found it to be an 'expensive investment' that has delivered little in terms of better services for patients or financial savings.
Media Watch: healthy towns

20-Nov-2008
'It won't work round here,' a resident of one of the Department of Health's newly designated Healthy Towns predicted to The Times.
More than 100 step up with integrated care scheme bids

20-Nov-2008
The Department of Health has received more than twice as many bids than expected to set up integrated care schemes.
SHAs urged not to abuse their power

20-Nov-2008
Strategic health authorities have been warned not to impose their strategies on primary care trusts through the world class commissioning process.
PCTs may face bill for top-up refunds

19-Nov-2008
Primary care trusts could come under pressure to refund tens of thousands of pounds to patients who have paid for top-up treatment.
Unite members vote to strike over NHS pay

13-Nov-2008
Members of trade union Unite yesterday voted in favour of strike action over the government's three-year NHS pay deal.
How are NHS top-ups going to affect your services?

13-Nov-2008
The announcement that patients may top up their NHS care with unapproved treatments means managers face overseeing segregation of patients and tough commissioning decisions. Helen Crump reports
Media Watch: top-ups

13-Nov-2008
Now that government policy on co-payments has become clearer, it's interesting to learn that MPs have been benefiting from 'top-ups' of their own.
Spectre of past mistakes looms over GP access push

13-Nov-2008
The £250m programme to provide new GP-led health centres in every local area risks repeating the mistakes made when independent sector treatment centres were set up, academics have warned.
Rise in assaults on NHS staff

6-Nov-2008
More than 55,000 physical assaults were reported against NHS staff in England last year.
Managers warn NHS top-up review risks inequalities

6-Nov-2008
Health managers have given a cautious welcome to cancer czar Mike Richards' landmark review of co-payments but warned that the plans could make the NHS less 'equal'.
Media Watch: food terror

6-Nov-2008
We're all doomed. From the day our mothers sipped their third cup of coffee while pregnant (Daily Mail) to the time we ignored the best before date on that pate at the back of the fridge (The Observer) to the decision to ditch the bran flakes for one of those nice upwardly mobile pastries on sale in posh coffee shops (The Daily Telegraph), we've all had it.
NICE may change drug rules for end of life

6-Nov-2008
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence wants to apply different rules when deciding whether to recommend expensive drugs for terminally ill patients with rare conditions.
Health committee gets cooking with Jamie Oliver

5-Nov-2008
Celebrity chef gives evidence to the parliamentary health committee's inequalities inquiry
NHS Alliance rallying cry for social enterprise

16-Oct-2008
The NHS Alliance has begun its annual conference in Bournemouth with a call to arms for the social enterprise movement.
GP practice fights PCT over branch surgery

16-Oct-2008
A GP practice is fighting a primary care trust, claiming it stopped its planned branch surgery because it would compete with another new practice.
Media Watch: public health Jamie Oliver style

9-Oct-2008
When a celebrity ventures into the inhospitable terrain of public health, the results tend to be predictably cringe-inducing.
NHS integrated care bids face two-part assessment

9-Oct-2008
Bidders will have to navigate a two-stage application process to take part in the Department of Health's integrated care pilot scheme.
PCTs failing to decommission services

9-Oct-2008
Two out of three primary care trusts failed to decommission any services last year, showing the extent of the challenge they face to become world class commissioners.
Picker Institute demands clarity for exceptional case decisions

9-Oct-2008
Primary care trusts must communicate with patients more clearly about exceptional case decisions, the Picker Institute is demanding.
Insurance model on the cards for elderly care

2-Oct-2008
The Conservatives are considering insurance-based schemes to fund care for the elderly as a way to defuse the 'demographic time bomb'.
Media Watch: cabinet reshuffle

2-Oct-2008
What's in a name? Plenty according to the papers, which were this weekend reporting that a crop of senior ministers including health secretary Alan Johnson are determined to hang on to their titles in the event of a reshuffle.
Mid Staffs takes positive action over A&E staff levels

2-Oct-2008
Mid Staffordshire foundation trust has 'responded positively' to Healthcare Commission concerns over Stafford Hospital's accident and emergency department.
New body set to improve public health profile

2-Oct-2008
A 6,000-strong campaigning organisation has been formed from the merger of two existing public health groups.
Media Watch: NHS complaints

25-Sep-2008
First they complained about the service, now they are complaining about the complaints system.
PCT campaigns against domestic violence

25-Sep-2008
Hull teaching primary care trust is to attempt to tackle the problems of domestic violence by using a social marketing campaign aimed at male perpetrators of attacks.
Prizes for world class commissioning winners

25-Sep-2008
Primary care trusts that are successful in world class commissioning may win the right to name the salaries of their senior managers and non-executive directors.
Trusts urged to act on blood clots advice

25-Sep-2008
Hospital trusts are being urged to adopt new guidelines designed to prevent blood clots that kill up to 25,000 people a year.
Media Watch: NHS in the headlines

18-Sep-2008
Headlines have been lent an oddly cinematic quality this week. In the horror category, Gordon Brown faced the 'revenge of the Blair Babes', according to The People. The Observer moved into gangster territory, imploring the prime minister to 'call off your mafioso aides'.
NHS managers lack faith in all three parties

18-Sep-2008
An exclusive poll for HSJ reveals the extent of dissatisfaction in the health service with the three main parties' policies.
Prescription drug marketing comes under debate

18-Sep-2008
Organisations representing patients, medical professionals and consumers are calling on the European Commission to rethink proposals to allow drug companies to provide information direct to consumers.
Care integration must tackle inequality

11-Sep-2008
Organisations in integrated care pilot schemes will be expected to deliver measurable improvements on health inequalities, the Department of Health has revealed.
Lord Darzi puts next stage show on the road

11-Sep-2008
Lord Darzi began a 'roadshow' tour of strategic health authorities this week, visiting NHS South East Coast and NHS Yorkshire and the Humber.
Nick Clegg rejects NHS insurance plans

11-Sep-2008
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has chosen the launch of a report calling for primary care trusts to be replaced by a health insurance style system to flesh out policies on healthcare reform.
Top-up status quo not an option - Mike Richards

11-Sep-2008
National clinical director for cancer Mike Richards has hinted that his review of top-up payments will result in a definite policy shift.
Accountancy firms win PCT board roles

4-Sep-2008
Three of the 'big four' accountancy firms have been selected to improve primary care trust boards' skills.KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young are all leading consortiums that have made successful bids to be on the Department of Health's new PCT board development framework.
Top-up payment review highlights NHS bodies' worries

4-Sep-2008
Responses to the review of co-payments have revealed the extent of uncertainty about the way forward for the NHS on top-ups.
Top-ups: experts divided over health's thorniest issue

4-Sep-2008
Should patients be allowed to top up their care by paying privately for drugs? The question has confounded experts and now the government has an unenviable task in making a final decision. Helen Crump reports
Hospitals hold back choose and book slots

28-Aug-2008
A senior Department of Health official has criticised 'significant numbers' of hospital trusts for holding appointments back from the choose and book system.
Probe calls for tariff for fertility services

28-Aug-2008
A Department of Health group probing inequalities in IVF provision is demanding a national tariff for fertility services.
Surrey is first to agree its integrated care proposals

28-Aug-2008
The first primary care trust to unveil its plans for an integrated care pilot has warned that commissioners will have to overcome existing 'anomalies' to make the initiative work.
PCTs fight for local decision making on controversial drugs

21-Aug-2008
Primary care trusts must retain their right to decide whether patients receive controversial drugs in exceptional circumstances, PCT leaders have warned.
Guilty by emission as carbon cuts loom large

14-Aug-2008
The NHS emits a million tonnes of carbon a year, but it must cut this figure drastically. Helen Crump asks whether trusts are giving this issue the priority it requires and highlights some innovative ideas.
PCT 'dragons' hunt fresh ideas

14-Aug-2008
Primary care trusts are attempting to spice up public health and recruitment initiatives by copying popular TV programmes.
Top-up review risks compromising NHS credibility

7-Aug-2008
The government's review of the ban on 'top-up' payments for non-NHS treatments risks compromising the credibility of the NHS, public health chiefs are warning.
Campaigners urge Johnson to legislate against obesity

31-Jul-2008
Public health bodies are urging the government to back up its rhetoric on obesity with legislation.
Patients report striking variation in choice

31-Jul-2008
A Healthcare Commission survey has highlighted wide variations in patient experiences of primary care between different PCT areas.
People with learning disabilities let down by trusts

31-Jul-2008
People with learning disabilities are facing unnecessary suffering and even death because existing laws and guidance are not being followed by trusts.
Abolition of consultant and GP contracts is a 'logical' move

24-Jul-2008
Abolishing consultant and GP contracts will be the 'logical conclusion' of successful integrated care organisations, NHS director general for commissioning Mark Britnell has claimed.
Bradshaw to bring in firms to boost GP commissioning

24-Jul-2008
Private companies are to help practice based commissioning consortiums put together business cases that primary care trusts can understand.
NICE calls for quicker access to specialist stroke treatment

24-Jul-2008
Commissioners and providers should ensure all patients with a suspected stroke are admitted as quickly as possible to an acute stroke unit.
£300m fund to tackle end of life care skills shortage

17-Jul-2008
The Department of Health has unveiled nearly £300m of funding for end of life care and told strategic health authorities to resolve significant skills shortages among staff working in the sector.
Chief medical officer's annual report confronts surgical safety

17-Jul-2008
Survival rates 30 days after surgery should be analysed and made public, the chief medical officer has demanded.
Councils warn over planned PCT merger

17-Jul-2008
Council leaders have attacked proposals by NHS London to merge primary care trust commissioning functions in the capital.
Data shortfalls hinder world class commissioning efforts

17-Jul-2008
Primary care trust managers have warned that poor data is preventing them making progress on world class commissioning.PCTs told HSJ they felt they had no choice but to commission outside firms for 'social marketing' research on the health needs of their local population. Others said they thought data on services provided locally was too poor in some areas.
Public health gets lift from social marketing

17-Jul-2008
The Department of Health is to boost access to public health training and population profiling tools to help embed social marketing principles in health improvement work.
CBI warning on stop-start procurement projects

10-Jul-2008
Primary care trusts that drag out procurements are hiking up the cost of schemes to taxpayers, the Confederation of British Industry has warned.
GPs open up to extended access target

10-Jul-2008
Almost a quarter of primary care trust areas have now hit the Department of Health's target to extend GP opening hours, latest figures reveal.
Move sex health provision to community says charity

10-Jul-2008
The Terrence Higgins Trust has called on primary care trusts to apply Lord Darzi's access reforms to sexual health services to improve an unacceptably outmoded system.
PCTs will have veto on Darzi integrated care pilots

10-Jul-2008
Strategic health authorities and primary care trusts will be expected to take a lead role in setting up and supporting integrated care pilots.
Leadership roles for clinicians get a boost from Darzi

3-Jul-2008
Lord Darzi's workforce strategy unveils sweeping reforms to workforce planning and education.
Managers put faith in Darzi's clinical vision

3-Jul-2008
Managers believe Lord Darzi's vision for the NHS, where quality is financially rewarded and commissioning is the lynchpin of the service, is achievable within the next 10 years.
PCT-backed integrated care pilots to go ahead

3-Jul-2008
Lord Darzi's primary and community care strategy, due today, will push for integrated services and new rights for primary care trust provider staff.
Health profiles allow comparison of inequalities

26-Jun-2008
Health profiles for every English local authority area and region have been published by the Department of Health and the Association of Public Health Observatories.
Pilot trusts hire PR firm to keep project in public eye

25-Jun-2008
The six pilot community foundation trusts have hired a public relations firm to promote their primary care trust provider model.
Top ups put vulnerable patients at risk, Confed hears

20-Jun-2008
Vulnerable patients risk being exploited and health inequalities widened if rules on topping up NHS services are relaxed, a panel of experts has warned delegates at the NHS Confederation conference.
PCTs not ready to regulate choice, says Darzi adviser

20-Jun-2008
Primary care trusts are not yet up to the job of policing choice under integrated healthcare models, a senior health adviser has warned delegates at the NHS Confederation conference.
Mark Britnell announces changes to commissioning framework

20-Jun-2008
The time it takes to use the framework for procuring external support for commissioners is to be slashed under plans unveiled at the NHS Confederation conference.
Provider arms should scrutinise unprofitable services

19-Jun-2008
Primary care trust provider arms must be prepared to question the future of unprofitable services in order to succeed as standalone organisations, the NHS Confederation conference has heard.
Web can worsen inequalities, Confed warned

19-Jun-2008
Web-based patient information initiatives can make health inequalities worse, delegates at the NHS Confederation conference were warned.
Pilot scheme aims to integrate health and social care

19-Jun-2008
An £11m pilot scheme creating systems to integrate health and social care assessment and planning is to be launched, delegates at the NHS Confederation annual conference have been told.
Don't alienate private sector, warns panel

19-Jun-2008
Ministers must spell out the future direction of NHS reform or risk losing the interest of the private sector, an influential panel has warned.
Integrated care heightens provider monopolies risk

19-Jun-2008
Primary care trusts will need to hold powerful monopoly providers to account if Lord Darzi gives integrated care systems the go-ahead.
Alan Johnson steps up pace of inequalities reform

12-Jun-2008
Health secretary Alan Johnson has outlined plans to ramp up the pace of reform in the face of a struggle to meet health inequalities targets.
County council tries to wrest control of PCT

12-Jun-2008
A county council has launched an audacious bid to take over its local primary care trust.
Integrated care pilots tipped for Darzi review

12-Jun-2008
Significant changes to how primary care trusts commission services are being considered as part of Lord Darzi's next stage review.Sources have revealed to HSJ that pilots for integrated care schemes are strongly tipped to feature in the report due out in two weeks.
PCTs under fire on new GP scheme

12-Jun-2008
Independent providers have slammed primary care trusts' attempts to procure new services under a flagship Department of Health scheme. They say the equitable access to primary medical care scheme is 'appallingly poorly managed'.
Darzi review: East Midlands opts for local focus

5-Jun-2008
NHS East Midlands has focused on localism in its regional Darzi vision.The strategic health authority said it had divided its patch into smaller areas to make sure its proposals reflect the diversity of its residents.
Darzi review: regions promise safer and fairer services

5-Jun-2008
NHS West Midlands is to focus on prevention, quality improvement and patient involvement in a bid to tackle 'an unjustifiable variability in the safety and quality of services'.
Doctors plan industrial action vote

5-Jun-2008
Doctors are set to vote on industrial action at the British Medical Association's annual GP conference next week.
King's Fund bursts the polyclinic plan bubble

5-Jun-2008
Lord Darzi's proposals for a shake-up of primary care polarised opinion. This week the King's Fund attempts to clarify the terms of debate and set out what will work - and what won't, writes Helen Crump
King's Fund urges polyclinic caution

5-Jun-2008
Primary care trusts should consider polyclinic models that do not centralise GP services under one roof, the King's Fund has urged.
Parliament warns on NHS underspend damage

5-Jun-2008
More than one in five NHS organisations were still in deficit by the close of the 2006-07 financial year, despite the health service itself achieving surplus.
Darzi review: North East sets targets for 'region of paradox'

29-May-2008
Eight-month targets designed to eliminate health service 'paradoxes' are the cornerstone of NHS North East's Darzi vision.
Hospital trusts failing to check inpatients' risk of deadly clots

29-May-2008
More than half of hospital trusts are not carrying out government-backed checks for vascular conditions that kill around 25,000 people a year. Only 29 per cent of trusts carry out checks for all inpatients.
Darzi review: South West to match Europe's best

22-May-2008
NHS South West is planning to match the lowest rates in Europe for smoking, cancer, heart disease and stroke deaths and healthcare associated infections.
David Nicholson says standards must not slip

22-May-2008
Hospital trusts have failed by a whisker to meet the government's target to treat all accident and emergency patients within four hours.
Virgin Healthcare unveils GP contract details

22-May-2008
Virgin Healthcare has revealed detailed plans for its new GP services, which will involve leaving family doctors on standard contracts but taking control of their non-clinical work.
Darzi review: NHS North West to focus on patient engagement

21-May-2008
Patient engagement, health promotion and illness prevention are at the core of NHS North West's 10-year Darzi vision.
First regional Darzi visions offer glimpse into future

15-May-2008
Lord Darzi's review of the NHS finally became a reality this week with the publication of the first two regional plans spelling out what the process means for patients.
National GP assessment to aid choice

15-May-2008
Primary care trusts will be able to assess GP practice performance against a national standard for the first time under a new primary medical care provider accreditation scheme
DH toughens line on GP exception reporting

8-May-2008
Primary care trusts must ensure they have a strategy in place on GP exception reporting, a health inequalities official has warned.
Focus on GP hours is too narrow says PCT Network

8-May-2008
The government has been warned to broaden its approach to improving primary care services beyond a focus on extended hours.
Health managers seek clarity on PCT assets

8-May-2008
Health managers are calling for clarity on how primary care trusts should manage their assets when separating commissioner and provider functions.
Darzi reforms must not be dictated by DH - Nuffield Trust

1-May-2008
The government must not dictate how to develop integrated care systems following Lord Darzi's forthcoming review, a leading health policy organisation warns.
Doubts over community foundation trusts

1-May-2008
Conflicts of interest, difficulties in demonstrating autonomy and low pay are just some of the potential problems facing community foundation trusts.
Public health network to help avoid 'postcode lotteries'

1-May-2008
A new public health network is to give primary care trusts advice on licensed drugs before the publication of NICE guidance, HSJ can reveal.The advice will help PCTs avoid accusations that they are imposing a 'postcode lottery'.
Commissioner-provider split is inefficient, study claims

24-Apr-2008
Separating commissioner and provider functions, as advocated in world class commissioning, may damage the efficiency of the health service, a leading academic has claimed.
European Commission warned over drug promotion

24-Apr-2008
Prescribing budgets could come under pressure as a result of European Commission proposals to let drug companies provide information directly to patients.
PCTs plan to recruit public members to shape reform

24-Apr-2008
Primary care trusts could link up with foundations by sharing public membership bodies that drive local health priorities. PCTs are considering recruiting public members to counter perceptions they are undemocratic and overly centralised.
Scottish doctors to vote on no-confidence motion

24-Apr-2008
Scottish GPs are set to consider a vote of no confidence in the UK government's stewardship of the NHS.
Vascular checks could mean insurance hikes

24-Apr-2008
Thousands of people face higher health insurance premiums and may unwittingly invalidate their policies if government plans for vascular checks get the green light.
Doctors' leaders challenge GP pay deal

18-Apr-2008
British Medical Association chair Hamish Meldrum has written to health secretary Alan Johnson challenging the proposed pay deal for GPs.
Inflation fears lead Unite to turn against three-year pay deal

17-Apr-2008
Trade union Unite has recommended that ancillary and ambulance staff in the NHS reject the government's three-year pay offer.
IT a challenge for polyclinics

17-Apr-2008
The patient record and information systems created by NHS Connecting for Health will be a 'significant challenge' to the realisation of the vision for polyclinics.
Attack on 'cool' screen smokers

10-Apr-2008
A partnership organisation led by a primary care trust is campaigning for under-18s to be banned from watching films that feature characters who smoke.
Local targets are the way to fight inequality, MPs told

10-Apr-2008
Performance against national inequality targets may tell us little about how successful primary care trusts are in dealing with local challenges, the NHS Confederation has warned MPs.
New unit set up as trusts miss green targets

10-Apr-2008
Four out of 10 NHS managers have not yet begun to develop plans to reduce carbon emissions in the health service, despite green targets set by the Department of Health.
Large scale screening may affect access

3-Apr-2008
The implementation of the government's flagship vascular screening programme for 40 to 74-year-olds must be clearly set out and carefully managed, primary care specialists have warned.

EDITOR'S COMMENT

Health Service JournalHelen Crump

Health Service Journal
Helen Crump