Conservative NHS Policy
Competitive tendering will be ‘as important’ as any qualified provider
Competitive tendering will be as significant as the use of any qualified provider in the reformed NHS, an influential commission is expected to conclude at the end of the month.
Lansley's 'shining example' forced to deny rationing claims
A social enterprise held up as a “shining example” by Andrew Lansley has been accused of “rationing” physiotherapy services through its use of the flagship any qualified provider policy.
Lansley: I have fought 'misinformation and misrepresentation' over reforms
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.
Unison 'will not campaign' against all reconfigurations
A senior Unison figure has revealed to HSJ that the union is prepared to accept some hospital reconfigurations.
Government sets out limits of Health Bill compromise
The government is prepared to compromise over how the Health Bill sets out the health secretary’s duties to ensure the NHS provides services, HSJ has been told.
Reforms will curtail access to information, say campaigners
Public access to information may be “increasingly restricted” because NHS reforms could increase the involvement of independent providers, campaigners have warned.
Public lose trust in Conservatives on health
Labour has almost doubled its poll lead over the Conservatives on health since the general election campaign in the face of concern over rising waiting times and falling standards, according to a survey by Ipsos MORI.
Lansley: 'We want to take people with us'
Concessions in the NHS reforms were made under pressure from the medical professions, health secretary Andrew Lansley admitted in a speech to GPs yesterday.
Consortia should have governing bodies, says Future Forum
The Health Bill should be amended to require commissioning consortia to have “a governing body that meets in public”, the NHS Future Forum has said.
Monitor duty to support integration of care
Monitor will be given a new duty to consider integration within the NHS and with social care, as part of the government’s changes to the Health Bill.
Lansley ready to modify reforms
Health secretary Andrew Lansley has said he was ready to accept “substantial and significant” changes to his NHS reform plans.
Blood service looks set to remain in house
The head of the NHS blood service has expressed optimism it will escape part-privatisation amid suggestions the government is worried about the public backlash against private involvement in public services.
Study lays bare 'exaggeration' of rise in NHS managers
The extent to which the increase in NHS managers has been “exaggerated” is laid bare in a King’s Fund analysis of workforce statistics.
Cameron defends NHS reforms
The prime minister has restated the case for the government’s NHS reforms and sought to clarify the plans for competition in the NHS.
Exclusive: McKinsey called in to advise PM on NHS reforms
The panel of senior health policy experts appointed to advise the prime minister on NHS reform met for the first time yesterday.
Government's crusade against red tape potentially 'damaging' to equalities - NHSE
A government campaign to reduce red tape gives the “damaging” impression that the Equalities Act is to be scrapped, NHS Employers director Dean Royles has warned.
Nurses pass vote of no confidence in Lansley
The Royal College of Nursing has overwhelmingly passed a no confidence motion in health secretary Andrew Lansley and the management of the coalition government’s NHS reform programme.
Lord Howe: 'Unsustainable' NHS needs reforms
The government’s modernisation plans are necessary if the NHS is to survive, Lord Howe has said.
Miliband attacks PM on NHS reform
Ed Miliband will seek to turn the screw on David Cameron over controversial NHS reforms today by accusing him of “betraying” Britain’s proudest institution.
Peer warns of upper house opposition to Health Bill
Government concessions over the Health Bill may be insufficient to dispel “profound disquiet” over the legislation in the House of Lords, which could significantly delay its passage, a senior peer has warned.
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Sally Gainsbury: shifting the goalposts on NHS spending
One of the more intriguing lines in last week’s NHS operating framework is about how primary care trust recurrent allocations for 2012-13 will be reviewed in the light of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s inflation forecast.
The government's failure to justify reform has left the public short of options
Huge strides have been taken to offer NHS patients a choice of different providers, but there is now a real chance of a backwards step under the coalition government, says management consultant Paul Corrigan.
'Without evidence, the rhetorical reforms are irrelevant at best'
As real funding is eroded amid grand health policy rhetoric, there is a desperate need for hard evidence and data to inform the fundamental policy challenges facing this government. Without it, the reforms are all but irrelevant, argues York University professor of health economics Alan Maynard.
Community action in the NHS is quietly building the Big Society
Mention the Big Society now in the voluntary sector and you are likely to be met with stony gazes. The prime minister’s relaunch of what he describes as his mission in politics will struggle to convince a sector facing the loss of £1.2bn in public funding from April.
Media Watch: letters from David Cameron
Not satisfied with the “see it from space” scale of the current NHS reorganisation, the Daily Telegraph warned another change of “seismic” proportions is heading the public sector’s way.
Can value-based drug pricing deliver a 'postcode lottery' alternative?
Value-based drug pricing is meant to reduce the postcode lottery but could end up achieving the opposite.
