Health Service Journal
PATRICK BUTLER
-
Your money or your life
17-Aug-2000
The hospice movement, a lynchpin of the voluntary sector, is running out of funds. Its leaders say it's time for the NHS to pay for the care of those who use it. Patrick Butler reports -
Money for old hope
10-Aug-2000
Clinical genetics have been transformed since the mapping of the genome. Patrick Butler reports on a Scottish case that could have far-reaching repercussions -
Power steering
29-Jun-2000
The final instalment of our series on the government's NHS modernisation plans looks at the two patient teams: empowerment and access. Essentially, this is about shifting the balance of power from the NHS towards patients, making sure they can get 'fast a -
Heading for a change
22-Jun-2000
The fourth article on the government's modernisation programme looks at the work of the professions modernisation action team. Its brief is 'to increase flexibility in training and working practices and remove demarcations, in the context of major expansion of the healthcare workforce'. -
Mothers' care labouring under delusions
25-May-2000
One of the doughtiest and most paradoxical champions of the NHS in the House of Commons recently returned to the subject of one of his greatest triumphs - maternity care - to lament with typical directness what he sees as its decline. -
No Ken do
11-May-2000
Will London's new mayor be able to do anything more substantive than meddle in the health arena - and how will managers cope with a new arrival on the political scene? Patrick Butler reports -
Target practice
27-Apr-2000
The general election is some way off, but the first salvos have been fired in the health debate. Patrick Butler gets caught in the crossfire -
Easy self-Assembly?
13-Apr-2000
The UK's three devolved power bases have had up to 10 months to forge their own identities. Patrick Butler asks key players how they see their progress -
On the case
30-Mar-2000
FRAUD If fraud in large organisations is 5 per cent of revenue, that's £2bn a year for the NHS in England alone. But is the counter-fraud directorate really going to deliver on the detection and recovery of funds? Patrick Butler reports -
Joyless triumph
23-Mar-2000
A trust's 'achievement' in bringing the first major PFI project to completion has been tempered by claims that the way it has been funded is a 'disaster'. Patrick Butler reports -
Conflict of interest
16-Mar-2000
The armed forces medical service faces the same staffing problems as the NHS - and the two are even competing for the same people, writes Patrick Butler -
Prentis ship
9-Mar-2000
A new leader is set to take the helm at Unison, but although he's known as a moderate, the union is on a collision course with government. Patrick Butler reports -
Managers are bearing brunt of fraud probes
2-Mar-2000
Managers and administrative workers are subject to more fraud investigations than any other NHS staff group, according to an unpublished document compiled by the Department of Health's new fraud squad. -
Crisis, what crisis?
24-Feb-2000
The media was determined to get its 'NHS winter crisis', but officially there wasn't one, junior health minister Gisela Stuart told MPs. That didn't entirely get her off the hook, though, Patrick Butler reports -
Union's friend aims to rid Thayne of strife
24-Feb-2000
Westminster diary -
The bill of the chase
17-Feb-2000
A ruling on 'duty of care' means ambulances, not hospitals, may be lawyers' next targets, writes Patrick Butler -
Milburn wins plaudits for 'more beds' move
10-Feb-2000
Health secretary Alan Milburn's promise of more NHS beds and a fresh focus on care for elderly people appears to have won the backing of key health service interest groups, boosting his attempts to sustain the momentum of his embattled reforms. -
The famous five
27-Jan-2000
Tony Blair's bold talk in a TV interview of a 5 per cent spending increase for the NHS sparked much debate as to what he really meant. Patrick Butler sifts through the evidence -
Research and destroy
20-Jan-2000
The cancer research industry is under fire, described as wasteful and driven by rivalry. Now MPs are launching a root and branch investigation. Patrick Butler reports -
The very rough guide
13-Jan-2000
It may be a shadow of its early draft, but the new planning and priorities guidance is maintaining a rapid pace of change, writes Patrick Butler -
Loss cause
9-Dec-1999
Eighty-five ex-employees of a privatised NHS consultancy who lost their pensions when it went to the wall have reached a settlement - but the fight goes on for those still awaiting justice. Patrick Butler reports -
Missing the vote
2-Dec-1999
Critics of Labour's task-forces say they are not so much 'inclusive' government as a means of keeping dissenters sweet and delaying heavy expenditure. And no-one elects their members, writes Patrick Butler -
Civil unrest - rude awakenings
25-Nov-1999
Modernisation is about to hit the civil service, long practised at absorbing change without actually changing much. But what will it mean for the DoH and the NHS Executive? Patrick Butler reports -
Lib Dem attacks NICE's 'hidden' rationing role
25-Nov-1999
The Liberal Democrats' promise to adopt a 'more trenchant oppositionist approach' to the government was delivered in an attack on the National Institute for Clinical Excellence by the party's former health spokesman, Dr Evan Harris. -
MPs put health officials on spot in Formula One tobacco ads row
25-Nov-1999
Senior health officials were subjected to embarrassing scrutiny by MPs last week over the government's decision to exclude Formula One motor racing from its tobacco advertising ban. -
The 'acceptable face of peerdom' hangs on
25-Nov-1999
Profile -
Insurance policy
4-Nov-1999
It's not 'repugnant' privatisation and he doesn't have any himself, but shadow health secretary Dr Liam Fox thinks health insurance is the key to improving health outcomes, as he tells Patrick Butler -
I've started so I'll finish
21-Oct-1999
He's back. The architect of the New NHS, Alan Milburn, steps into Frank Dobson's shoes as health secretary just as pressure to deliver on pledges mounts. Patrick Butler reports -
The importance of being Frank
21-Oct-1999
When he was appointed, few expected the outgoing health secretary to make much of the job. By and large, he has proved his critics wrong, says Patrick Butler -
Sly and the family Sloanes
14-Oct-1999
Liam Fox's speech to the Conservative Party conference sought to explain the 'Common Sense Revolution' in health policy. Patrick Butler was there -
Where angels fear to tread
7-Oct-1999
Labour leaders singled out doctors' conservatism at last week's party conference. But while Frank Dobson skirted around the issue, Tony Blair went for the jugular. Patrick Butler was there -
An appealing little number
23-Sep-1999
News Focus: -
Cut and thrust
16-Sep-1999
news focus: -
An appealing little number
9-Sep-1999
news focus: -
Sounds familiar
2-Sep-1999
news focus: -
Cast aside
26-Aug-1999
news focus: -
Lighting up time
5-Aug-1999
news focus: -
Make it a double
5-Aug-1999
news focus: -
Articulating Laurie
1-Jul-1999
news focus -
Lights out
1-Jul-1999
news focus: -
Baring the Brunt
10-Jun-1999
As he relinquishes the chair of the Institute of Health Services Management and prepares to become its president, John Brunt gives out a feeling of relief that the worst is over. -
Do the continental
27-May-1999
news focus -
Charge of the Right brigade
13-May-1999
Conservatives toiling on the Health Bill standing committee have been fearless in their doomed attempts to gain some ground, writes Patrick Butler -
Battening down the Thatchies
6-May-1999
news focus -
Building anxiety
4-Mar-1999
CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT -
Dame, set and match
4-Mar-1999
news focus -
Leadership academy seeks rise in standards
28-Jan-1999
Plans to set up a 'leadership academy' aimed at raising standards of management across all NHS professions are being considered by the NHS Executive and the NHS Confederation. -
Denham warned over huge task facing him
7-Jan-1999
this week -
Dispute ends in union re-recognition deal
29-Oct-1998
One of the most bitter and lengthy industrial relations stand- offs in the NHS has been resolved after Northumbria Ambulance trust agreed to sign a recognition deal with Unison. -
Surgeons admit need to root out 'poor performers' after Bristol
29-Oct-1998
Senior surgeons have admitted that regular performance 'MOTs' are needed to root out poorly performing clinicians and restore public confidence in the profession in the wake of the Bristol babies case. -
Shadow boxing
15-Oct-1998
Ann Widdecombe brought the faithful to their feet with fighting talk at last week's Conservative Party conference. Patrick Butler reports -
Managers cool over Dobson's plan for bed closures inquiry
8-Oct-1998
Decades of planning based on the assumption that the NHS has too many beds have been challenged by health secretary Frank Dobson's decision to launch an inquiry into whether bed closures have 'gone too far'. -
Nyes not Tonies
8-Oct-1998
An award for good practice named after the founder of the NHS was one of the 'appetisers' thrown to Labour delegates at Blackpool, but they made it clear that pay is still the key issue. Patrick Butler reports -
Back to Beveridge
17-Sep-1998
The Liberal Democrats believe they have a blueprint for reassessing the welfare state. But nowhere does their latest health policy paper say how much it would all cost. -
Local commitment with a global vision
30-Jul-1998
Having been a GP, an NHS manager, and a chair of social services, Liberal Democrat MP Jenny Tonge has a rare perspective across the rugged landscape of health and social care. -
Private ambulance services' fury over paramedic register
30-Jul-1998
Private ambulance operators have threatened legal action against plans for a national register of paramedics - claiming that it is an attempt to squeeze them out of the 30m 'public and sporting events' market. -
Sceptical MPs damp down cash boost euphoria
23-Jul-1998
The government's triumphant multi-billion pound boost for the NHS was left tarnished this week by MPs' allegations that it put a 'misleading' gloss on the real pounds8.8bn increase over three years by double and triple counting. -
The great pretenders
16-Jul-1998
Anyone can claim to be a paramedic, but steps are being taken to freeze out the fraudsters who blight the profession. Patrick Butler reports -
Trust chief challenges DoH on 999 call system
16-Jul-1998
A trailblazing trust chief executive has launched an outspoken attack on Department of Health officials over their alleged failure to acknowledge his trust's success in being first to meet a new 999 response-time target. -
Hearing voices
25-Jun-1998
Staff whose views are rarely made public speak out on the meaning of the NHS's 50th anniversary in a new book, Other Voices. Author Patrick Butler explains -
Auditor urges rule on 'insider knowledge'
11-Jun-1998
The NHS should draw up clear rules to prevent potential 'conflicts of interest' among senior managers who leave to work for private companies that do business with the health service, says a hard-hitting auditor's report. -
Pastures new
11-Jun-1998
Toby Harris's controversial departure from the CHC movement comes at a time of deep uncertainty over its future, writes Patrick Butler -
CHCs' chief goes in job showdown
4-Jun-1998
Community health councils' chief Toby Harris has resigned after a fierce row within the organisation over 'conflicts of interest'. -
Hansard
30-Apr-1998
The government is 'shortly' to publish a consultation document on the future organisation of health and personal social services in Northern Ireland. It will contain proposals for the abolition of the internal market and is likely to herald higher levels of management cost savings than the current target of £2m a year, said Northern Ireland health minister Tony Worthington. (27 March, col 286) -
Poll position
23-Apr-1998
Five health professionals who stood for election last May talk to Patrick Butler about their political lives -
Rural retreat
9-Apr-1998
The first cottage hospital has closed despite Labour's pledge to retain them. Patrick Butler reports -
Serving time
2-Apr-1998
Is the NHS ready to take on prison healthcare? Patrick Butler reports on the current debate -
Hansard
26-Mar-1998
The estimated total start-up cost of implementing the Putting Patients First white paper health reforms for Wales is £10m, with recurring costs of £7m a year. But they will provide savings of up to £50m over the next five years, said Welsh health minister Win Griffiths. (4 March, col 675) -
Community spirit
15-Jan-1998
One of the UK's smallest community trusts and its local GPs have set in motion a proposal to merge and create the UK's first primary care trust. Patrick Butler reports
