Health Service Journal
Oliver Evans
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Conservatives defend district general pledge
11-Oct-2007
Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley has defended the Conservative party's pledge to 'save' district general hospitals. -
Diagnostics firm Atos found inadequate
11-Oct-2007
A private provider has been slammed in an internal Department of Health report for its management of an NHS diagnostics deal - but local trusts were also criticised. -
wales violence
5-Oct-2007
The Welsh Assembly has set up a task force to tackle violence and aggression against NHS staff.Its remit is to improve information sharing, incident reporting and the way the service works with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service.The taskforce, to include union representatives, ... -
BMA says more funds are key to boosting GP access
4-Oct-2007
The chairman of the British Medical Association has told a government minister that more money and staff will be needed to improve GP access. -
Councillors to join PCT boards
4-Oct-2007
Primary care trusts might be told to have local authority councillors on their boards, health minister Ben Bradshaw told delegates. -
Going off Ofcare
4-Oct-2007
Ministers are not keen on the proposed name for the new health and social care regulator, Ofcare. -
NICE chief asks for divorce from DoH
4-Oct-2007
The chief executive of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has said that it would function better if it were set free from the Department of Health. -
Tories stake a claim to be the patient-centred party
4-Oct-2007
The Conservatives have fired their salvo in the battle to prove they are the party that can deliver a patient-centred NHS. -
alz
4-Oct-2007
The wife of an Alzheimer’s disease patient featured in a high-profile television documentary made a moving plea to break down barriers between health and social care. -
Hamish calls for more cash
1-Oct-2007
The chairman of the British Medical Association has told a government minister that more money and staff will be needed to improve GP access. Dr Hamish Meldrum spoke out after Ben Bradshaw, the health minister with responsibility ... -
nice
28-Sep-2007
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence would function better if it was cut off from the Department of Health, its chief executive has said. -
Johnson at odds with prime minister over alcohol licensing laws
27-Sep-2007
Health secretary Alan Johnson has publicly dismissed the chief medical officer's concerns about extended licensing hours - a view that now appears to put him at odds with his own prime minister. -
Labour conference: health secretary tackles flagging morale and 24-hour drinking
27-Sep-2007
Improving the morale of staff is not the first aim of Lord Darzi's review of the future of the NHS, health secretary Alan Johnson has admitted - but 'buy-in' by employees will be essential to its success. -
HART teams
24-Sep-2007
Emergency chiefs fear commissioners will balk at paying for an ambitious plan to allow specialist paramedics into the heart of major incidents including terrorist attacks. Commissioners have questioned how running costs for Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART) will be funded, HSJ has ... -
irp
21-Sep-2007
The Independent Reconfiguration Panel has put into action new powers that give it a greater say over which service changes go to it for a full review. -
NHS pension deal agreed
21-Sep-2007
Health unions, the Department of Health, employer representatives and NHS Employers have reached an agreement on the proposed changes to the NHS pension scheme. -
PFI link-ups could save millions
20-Sep-2007
Hospital trusts considering using the private finance initiative could save millions of pounds by teaming up with non-NHS partners, according to the chief executive of a trust set to go into partnership with a football club. -
Union 'gobsmacked' by ambulance funds blow
20-Sep-2007
North West Ambulance Service trust has admitted it can only afford to buy 35 of the 128 ambulances it needs to replace, raising questions over the reconfigured service's buying power. -
Alarm over new transport contracts
20-Sep-2007
More than half the contracts for the NHS to provide patient transport services are at risk of being given to private or voluntary-sector providers, ambulance trusts have warned. -
Colleges back clinical case for specialist acute service centres
20-Sep-2007
England's clinical leaders have backed moves to reconfigure specialist acute services - but urged caution over changes to the district general hospital. -
Do not 'party' early, Monitor warns trusts
20-Sep-2007
Concerns that foundation trusts are submitting over-optimistic forecasts of their performance have been borne out by the latest figures. -
'Patient engagement has flatlined'
20-Sep-2007
The government's vision for a patient-centred NHS is a long way from becoming a reality, two major studies have claimed. -
Trusts advised not to settle women's back pay claims
20-Sep-2007
Trusts have been urged not to settle back pay claims from women who claim they were unfairly treated before the introduction of Agenda for Change. -
Victory for NICE as High Court rejects drugs firm complaints
20-Sep-2007
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has had its integrity upheld after fending off its first High Court legal challenge. -
Warning for 'optimistic' foundations
20-Sep-2007
Foundation trusts could see one of their freedoms curtailed if they continue to make 'overly optimistic' predictions about their performance. -
Bradshaw calls for action to fix primary care democratic deficit
13-Sep-2007
Health minister Ben Bradshaw has raised the prospect of a shake-up of local governance after he issued a warning that there is a 'problem' with primary care trusts' accountability to their patients. -
Potential return to huge debt in three years' time
13-Sep-2007
The man who laid the ground for the massive spending boost to the NHS has warned that the service could be up to £15.2bn short again in three years. -
Wanless warns of spending 'hell'
13-Sep-2007
The NHS faces a 'hell of a job' after failing to deliver major advances in productivity and public health, Sir Derek Wanless has told HSJ. -
wanless comments
11-Sep-2007
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Experts clash on success rates data
6-Sep-2007
A Department of Health drive to publish more success rates for NHS services has split members of an expert panel charged with deciding what can be measured. They agree that using outcomes reported by trusts and patients is crucial, but members have different views over how easy it will be to apply throughout the NHS. -
Frustration as department drags its feet over choice
6-Sep-2007
Concerns have been raised over the future of choice as a major Department of Health policy document has yet to see the light of day. -
Scotland under the searchlight as executive begins its reforms
6-Sep-2007
With 100 days in power under its belt, the Scottish National Party has enjoyed some crowd-pleasing NHS moves and a positive report from the Scottish Executive, but is it a significant policy shift or political opportunism? Jennifer Trueland reports -
Johnson praised for backing reform plans
31-Aug-2007
Health secretary Alan Johnson has been commended for backing managers' plans to reconfigure hospital services in Manchester - as Conservatives face the fallout from a row about district general hospitals. -
Johnson praised for backing reform plans
31-Aug-2007
Health secretary Alan Johnson has been commended for backing managers' plans to reconfigure hospital services in Manchester - as Conservatives face the fallout from a row about district general hospitals. -
Media Watch
31-Aug-2007
There's a whiff of former health secretary Patricia Hewitt's infamous map of NHS-trouble-spots-which-could-cost-Labour-MPs-their-seats to the weekend's coverage of service changes in Greater Manchester. -
Restrictions eased for staff transferring to private sector
31-Aug-2007
Restrictions on staff leaving the NHS to work in second-wave independent sector treatment centres are to be scaled back. -
Acutes slipping on A&E target
23-Aug-2007
An increasing number of hospital trusts are moving further away from the Department of Health's high-profile accident and emergency waiting time target. -
Director resigns
23-Aug-2007
Dr Frank Margison, medical director at the troubled Manchester Mental Health and Social Care trust, has stepped down from his post. -
Warning for 'optimistic' foundations
22-Aug-2007
Foundation trusts could see one of their freedoms curtailed if they continue to make 'overly optimistic' predictions about their performance. -
Union 'gobsmacked' by ambulance funds blow
16-Aug-2007
North West Ambulance Service trust has admitted it can only afford to buy 35 of the 128 ambulances it needs to replace, raising questions over the reconfigured service's buying power. -
Victory for NICE as High Court rejects drugs firm complaints
16-Aug-2007
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has had its integrity upheld after fending off its first High Court legal challenge. -
Darzi pledges not to tinker
9-Aug-2007
Junior health minister Lord Darzi has pledged not to 'tinker' with the tools of reform as part of his Next Stage review of the NHS. -
Massive inaccuracies mar GP patient choice website
9-Aug-2007
Primary care trusts and GP practices will be asked to correct widespread mistakes on the Department of Health's flagship NHS Choices website. -
Meldrum unconvinced by BMA's 'cosy' reform plans
9-Aug-2007
The new chairman of the British Medical Association has distanced himself from one of the union's major recommendations for health service reform. -
DoH misses deadline as it fails to deliver own turnaround plan
2-Aug-2007
The Department of Health has missed its own deadline to publish plans on how it will address a catalogue of corporate failures set out in a government review. -
Wave three treatment centres axed
2-Aug-2007
The cancellation of the next wave of independent sector treatment centres has raised questions over the government's commitment to using private sector companies in the NHS. -
New PSAs will boost local freedoms
26-Jul-2007
Trusts are to be given greater freedom from central government to set their own local priorities and spend government funding as they see fit. -
Reforms hitting children's surgery, says royal college
26-Jul-2007
Competition between hospitals is damaging the collaboration needed to provide better children's surgery, the Royal College of Surgeons has warned. -
English GPs top earnings table despite lower rise
19-Jul-2007
English GPs earned more than their counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the first year of the new contract - despite getting the lowest increase. -
NHS split over Darzi review's reach
12-Jul-2007
Managers and clinicians are split over whether a review of the NHS will result in major changes to policy. -
Brief to ministers: calm NHS waters
5-Jul-2007
The new health ministers are facing high expectations that they will be able to win the hearts and minds of patients and staff. -
Johnson and Darzi lead Brown's campaign to woo back voters
5-Jul-2007
Prime minister Gordon Brown has unveiled a new health team that is widely perceived as an attempt to restore staff and public confidence in the NHS. -
Restructuring puts mothers at risk, warns Healthcare Commission
5-Jul-2007
The reconfiguration of maternity services is putting patients at risk, the chair of the Healthcare Commission has warned. -
Cameron pledges end to politically driven targets
28-Jun-2007
Conservative leader David Cameron has pledged that a Conservative government would increase spending on the NHS and scrap 'politically driven central targets'. And he promised it would not push through further reorganisations. -
Johnson named as health secretary
28-Jun-2007
Alan Johnson has been confirmed as the new health secretary. -
Health secretary suggests elected PCT boards and a new constitution
21-Jun-2007
Health secretary Patricia Hewitt has suggested further reforms for NHS accountability, including directly elected primary care trust boards and a new constitution. -
Leak reveals plan for Ofcare regime of fines and closures
7-Jun-2007
Underperforming trusts will face fines and closure under powers given to new health and adult social care regulator Ofcare, HSJ has learned. -
Health secretary should not interfere in redesign decisions, report finds
31-May-2007
The secretary of state for health should be removed from decisions about hospital reconfigurations, the Institute for Public Policy Research has said. -
NICE committee meetings will be open to the public
24-May-2007
The public is to be allowed to attend committee meetings at the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in a bid to make the body more transparent. -
New management teams tackle commissioning
17-May-2007
Six management teams have been appointed to manage the North East's 12 primary care trusts after fears that last year's mergers did not go far enough to encourage strong commissioning. -
'NHS family' accused of stifling entrepreneurialism
17-May-2007
Established NHS organisations are stifling entrepreneurialism by engaging in 'obstructive, disruptive and protectionist behaviours', the NHS Alliance has warned. -
Purchasing guidance could follow all NICE decisions
17-May-2007
Commissioning guides could be produced for every decision made by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, its chair has said. -
Briefing document aims to tackle 'misunderstanding and misinformation' management 'myths'
3-May-2007
A 'myth buster' defending NHS management is to be sent to MPs, influential media figures and other key opinion leaders, the NHS Confederation has announced. -
Tories and Lib Dems criticise Blair legacy
3-May-2007
The three main political parties have come out fighting over what 10 years under a Labour government has meant for the NHS. -
Move a fifth of surgery to specialists, says Darzi
19-Apr-2007
A fifth of all planned surgery should be concentrated at specialist hospitals, according to a report by Professor Sir Ara Darzi, the national adviser on surgery. -
MPs urgently demand a new IT strategy
19-Apr-2007
A Commons scrutiny committee has said 'urgent' action is needed to rescue the national IT programme. -
NHS Employers call for revamp of overseas staff rules
19-Apr-2007
All healthcare occupations should be wiped off a list of roles the Home Office says can be filled quickly by people from overseas, according to NHS Employers. -
RCN will back closures - as long as patients benefit
19-Apr-2007
The Royal College of Nursing will give its support to hospital closures but only if they are in the best interests of patient care, its new general secretary has said. -
Nurses want more time on patient care, says survey
12-Apr-2007
Three-quarters of staff nurses in acute trusts say they do not spend enough time on direct patient care, according to research by HSJ and Nursing Times. And nine in 10 of those believe this has an adverse impact on patients. -
BMA gives 'shocking' business advice to GPs
1-Jan-2007
The British Medical Association has urged GP practices to consider turning new patients away and cutting enhanced services to balance books. -
College calls for extra staff for home births
1-Jan-2007
Trusts must recruit more midwives to meet the Department of Health's promise to let women choose a home birth by 2009, the Royal College of Midwives has warned. -
Conservatives call for a halt to constant change
1-Jan-2007
The NHS needs urgent action, shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley has told his new opposite number. -
'Deficits have cut 22,000 jobs' claim
1-Jan-2007
More than 22,000 nursing jobs have disappeared in the past 18 months because of deficits, the Royal College of Nursing has alleged. -
Media Watch
1-Jan-2007
'The backlash came fast and furious. Leading doctors? Bully boys intent on pushing homeopathy out of the NHS, said the What Doctors Don't Tell You website' -
Nursing chief is good and bad cop all in one
1-Jan-2007
The Royal College of Nursing's general secretary, Peter Carter,.has altered its stance on reconfiguration, plurality and the wisdom of heckling Hewitt. But he promises fierce opposition to poor management and short-term cuts -
Primary care trusts told to fill Atos gap
1-Jan-2007
NHS providers could struggle to fill the gap left by the collapse of a £257m diagnostics contract. -
Report finds PCTs wanting on gender equality
1-Jan-2007
Primary care trusts are not taking sufficient account of gender when they plan services to meet new laws, a report commissioned by the Department of Health has found. -
Restructuring blamed for debt
1-Jan-2007
A primary care trust saw its overspend rocket more than fivefold, partly because of last year's PCT restructuring, an Audit Commission report has concluded. -
Sex clinic under pressure as HIV rates increase
1-Jan-2007
A senior strategic health authority manager has warned that high rates of HIV infection combined with poor data collection and a lack of funds for care are squeezing sexual health services in Manchester.
