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Ambulance

Exclusive: NHS Direct abandons cost cut plans following 111 debacle

NHS Direct has abandoned plans to down-band frontline staff because it needs to retain people to run its NHS 111 service, HSJ has learned.

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Don Berwick

Berwick: I'm optimistic about the future of the NHS

A “better” NHS would involve redesign of service delivery but the answer is not in finding the “right number of agencies”, according to the man leading the government’s zero harm review.

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money

Exclusive: NHS England could 'ratchet up' financial pressure on private mental health providers, analysts warn

Private mental health providers could see pressure on their profit margins “ratcheted up” by the centralisation of secure and specialised mental healthcare commissioning in the hands of NHS England, according to a new report by market analysts Laing and Buisson.

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Health secretary Andy Burnham

Most leaders would leave if groups' budgets were given to councils, survey finds

Large numbers of clinical commissioning group leaders would leave their roles if the groups’ budgets were given to local authorities, as has been proposed by the shadow health secretary.

David Bennett

Patients able to complain to Monitor about anti-competitive behaviour

Monitor will consider complaints about anti-competitive commissioning from individual patients and representative groups, under new guidance.

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Northamptonshire Healthcare joins DH funded Stonewall group

PERFORMANCE: Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust has become part of Stonewall’s Health Champions programme, receiving free advice and expertise on health services from the gay equality charity.

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Uncertainty grows over NHS Direct's future

NHS Direct may not continue to deliver the NHS 111 service beyond the end of this financial year, it has emerged.

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Robert Francis

Exclusive: Francis presses government on criminal sanctions

The absence of an ability to prosecute individual NHS staff in cases of serious patient neglect would cause “public confidence” in the service to “evaporate”, Robert Francis QC has told HSJ.

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Norman Lamb

Lamb invites bids from 'integration pioneers'

Health economies have been invited to bid to become integration “pioneers” running large-scale experiments in integrated care, in an initiative launched by health minister Norman Lamb.

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Robert Francis

Francis warns recommendations could be lost in 'long grass'

Robert Francis QC has cautioned the government against allowing its review of safety in the NHS to “disappear beneath the long grass”. He also called for an “honest” conversation between the NHS and the public about which health services could be safely provided.

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Robert Francis

NHS leaders must make improvements, warns Francis

NHS leaders who fail to make improvements in response to the Francis report should not have “a place in that system”, Robert Francis QC has told HSJ.

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Group of clinical professionals talking

Francis criticises nursing leaders

The leaders of the nursing profession have been criticised by Robert Francis QC, who told HSJ he has seen little to “give him cause for optimism”.

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Updated: NHS England and Monitor plan major reform of payment by results

Clinical commissioning groups will be encouraged to experiment with different ways of paying for care next year, in what could be the start of the biggest reform of NHS payment systems since the introduction of payment by results.

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Call centre

Exclusive: DH 'pressure contributed to 111 failure', Alliance report finds

“Unprecedented” central pressure and a procurement process focused more on cost than quality were two of the biggest factors in the failure of NHS 111’s launch, a new report has concluded.

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Norman Lamb

Care bill extends CQC's powers

The Care Quality Commission will be able to order Monitor to put trusts into special administration over quality failures, under new powers set out in the Care Bill.

Nick Seddon

Health adviser to prime minister appointed

Nick Seddon, deputy director of right-leaning think tank Reform, has been appointed health and social care adviser to the prime minister.

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Person looking at microscope

Exploring how new NHS organisations will collaborate

How HWBs and AHSN will help each other

Telephone headset and keyboard

The remote care revolution needs a boost

Stronger support is needed to get telecare off the ground

Why governors are the power behind chairs

The power behind the chairs

Governors are becoming the lynchpins of greater local accountability

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A group of happy managers

Why CCGs should be encouraged to innovate in the new NHS

Clinical commissioning groups must embrace diversity and innovation to be truly progressive, says Simon Bird.

Innovation lightbulb idea

Harnessing leadership to drive a culture of innovation

Innovating health services successfully will require staff at all levels of healthcare organisations to create a culture in which innovation can thrive, say Lynne Maher and Mark Mugglestone.

A workforce planning meeting

How to create a long-term strategy for better workforce planning

The Department of Health’s strategic vision for the NHS presents several workforce planning challenges for the service to tackle. Dulani Mendis suggests strategy tips for creating a culture of long-term improvement.

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