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2.15pm: The BBC website has reported that the chief executive of a hospital trust which was put in special measures after a review of high mortality rates has been given a 15% pay rise.

1.52pm: The Royal College of GPs has welcomed the NHS England announcement, and repeated its calls for an expansion in GP numbers. Chair Clare Gerada, said: “This is a much-needed and long overdue opportunity to look at general practice from the inside out and come up with practical solutions for how GPs and commissioners can improve the care they deliver to patients in the future.

“It is very encouraging to see that the strengths of general practice and its position at the centre of the NHS are so readily acknowledged and that GPs, other clinicians and patients in their communities will have such a strong influence in the engagement process and the results it produces.

“We are also pleased that Dr Mike Bewick - a GP and Fellow of our College - is playing a lead role in this. As a GP, he is well aware of the challenges and ever-increasing pressures we are facing as we try to do the best we can for our patients, with dwindling budgets and resources…

“The College’s own 10-year vision for the future of primary care The 2022 GP already sets out many of the solutions we need to support and strengthen general practice for the future.

“We hope that NHS England will help us turn our aspirations for patient care into a reality and that we can work together to bring about major investment in general practice - including 10,000 more doctors -  so that GPs can do even more for their patients in their communities.”

1.43pm: The British Medical Association’s GP committee has gievn a wary welcome to NHS England’s “call to action” on primary care. GPC deputy chair Richard Vautrey said: “It is important that clinicians, NHS England and the government work together to find solutions to the challenges facing the NHS. The call to action contains a number of positive starting points that the BMA will be happy to discuss further with NHS England…

“However, we also need to recognise that declining resources are placing many GP practices under severe strain. Recent imposed changes to the GP contract have cut average practice funding while instructing GPs to undertake more administrative box ticking that is diverting valuable time and resources away from treating patients.  With the NHS facing years of budget constraint from the Treasury, the financial pressure on GP practices will increasingly have a negative impact on patient services.

“Out of hours care is another area that has been faced with years of underfunding that will need to be addressed…

“We need to recognise that rising workload will require increased funding for general practice as well as a commitment from the government to empower GPs, patients and other healthcare professionals to use their experience to help shape services in the future.”

1.31pm: We have published a news story including an exclusive interview with NHS England medical director for primary care Mike Bewick, which comes as the organisation embarks on a consultation exercise about the future of primary care. The piece is here. NHS England’s details of its engagement programme are here.

10.33am: Keeping objectives simple and valuing staff and their abilities will go a long way to securing success of any social enterprise, says Jonathan Lewis, chief executive of social enterprise Bromley Healthcare.

He says “there is a lot of theory about different organisational forms and the role of competition” in the health service, and explains how his social enterprise has helped to improve health in the region.

10.26am: Michael White focuses on shadow health secretary Andy Burnham in his column this week. While most Labourpoliticians have been silent over the summer, Mr Burnham has “remained conspicuous” and is capable of “’big thoughts’ on Labour’s policy needs”.

He writes: “In suggesting Labour needs to ‘shout louder’ and have clearer, gimmick free policies like his by next spring or risk losing the general election in 2015, Burnham surely states the obvious.”

10.21am: We have borken a signficant story this morning on dozens of clinical commissioning groups’ plans to tender innovative contracts in which a lead provider receives an outcomes based payment to integrate an entire care pathway. It appears to be a major trend in commissioners’ attempts to reform services.

Following an announcement by Bedfordshire CCG on MSK this week, HSJ has identified a raft of similar deals in the pipeline. They include a group of CCGs in Staffordshire planning to commission cancer and end of life care based on outcomes, and Oxfordshire’s proposal to bring in lead providers to integrate maternity, mental health and older people’s services.

10.19am: Barts Healthcare Trust has been issued with three formal warnings after inspectors found “unsafe” conditions including filthy maternity wards and water placed out of the reach of elderly patients.

10.17am: Ealing Council’s attempt to block plans to downgrade four local hospitals has been dealt a major blow after a High Court judge rejected its application for a judicial review. We have a report on it.

10.15am: NHS England has appointed a national clinical director for learning disability, Dominic Slowie. Dominic established and chaired the North East and Cumbria Learning Disability Network. He is a GP by clinical background and continues his clinical work three sessions a week. He was also senior medical tutor at Newcastle University Medical School.

10.14am: The General Dental Council (GDC) has set out its action plan in response to recommendations contained in the Francis Report. This action plan is the GDC’s response to this recommendation.The plan sets out 21 actions which are grouped under the following themes identified from the Francis Report as being central to the GDC’s work:

10.06am: In case you missed it yesterday, Monitor has announced it is going to investigate Royal Berkshire Foundation Trust over repeated A&E breaches. The intervention comes a few weeks after Monitor put Royal Berkshire’s neighbour, Heatherwood and Wexham Park Foundation Trust, on a three-month improvement notice for performance breaches including in A&E.

10am: Monitor has approved the merger of two London hospital trustsm, clearing them on competition grounds.

Its statement says: “The Cooperation and Competition Panel - an independent panel that provides advice to health regulator Monitor - has published its findings on a proposed merger between the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust

“The Panel has concluded that the merged organisation would continue to face a range of competitors for its services, and therefore the merger was unlikely to give rise to significant costs to patients or taxpayers as a result of a loss of choice or competition. “

8.50am: Good morning, a care framework has proven that it might make more financial sense to fund effective treatment for obesity rather than measures to prevent it.

The work of the Rotheram Institute has resulted in the weight of the town’s population being 18 tonnes lighter in the few years since a new service was commissioned across the town. There have been fewer health problems, and fewer medication prescriptions write Matthew Capehorn.