Policy

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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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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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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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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.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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.