Health Service Journal
11 December 2008
View all stories from this issue.
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A future for general practice
Issues such as GP extended hours (where clumsy government handling of the issue and stubborn BMA behaviour pushed the issue to the wire) and the procurement of GP-led health centres (GPLHCs) encapsulate the tensions from which GP services will be shaped in the next 10 years. -
Alan Johnson announces review of NHS dentistry
An independent review is to be conducted into NHS dentistry, health secretary Alan Johnson has announced.The review comes amid reports of patchy access to dentistry in some parts of the country and declining rates of complex treatments. -
Alan Johnson orders shop cigarette displays to be removed
Tobacco displays will be removed from shops and access to vending machines restricted as part of moves to stop children and young people from smoking.After holding a consultation on tobacco control, the Department of Health said cigarette displays promote smoking to young people, prompt impulse purchases of cigarettes and undermine efforts to quit. -
Alcohol policy: battle of the binge
As drink gets cheaper and licensing hours get longer, stemming the effect on the nation's health and the NHS budget is causing headaches. Stuart Shepherd reports -
BME leadership: secure people's place of honour
People from minorities face many obstacles in their careers. The NHS needs to view every individual fairly, says Lubna Haq -
Cancer survival rates vary widely, statistics show
Cancer survival rates in England have remained static, new figures reveal. But wide variations still exist between five-year survival rates for different types of cancer, according to Office for National Statistics data for 2005 - the latest available. -
Child safety is a double whammy for NHS managers
The death of Baby P has been a stark wake-up call for trusts - both in terms of whether children in their care are safe and whether staff on the front line are properly supported. Charlotte Santry reports -
Commission on future of public services launched
Former Audit Commission chief executive and NHS deputy chief executive Sir Andrew Foster is to chair a commission on the future of public services. The Commission on 2020 Public Services said it is to define the principles of a post-Beveridge framework for public services in an era of “hard fiscal choices”. -
Comply with NICE or pay, Care Quality Commission tells trusts
Healthcare providers could be shut down for failing to comply with National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance under plans to make adherence a requirement of the Care Quality Commission's registration scheme. -
David Lee on the prison mental health dilemma
Not only do mental health trusts work with some of the most vulnerable members of our communities, it sometimes falls to us to support unfashionable causes too. -
David Woodhead on an NHS revolution
'All that is solid', wrote Marx in 1848, 'melts into air'. He was reflecting on what happens when the certainties that give our life structure and meaning are inverted. -
DH looks to PCT property sales to balance its books
The sale of up to 6.5bn of primary care trust property will help the Department of Health out of the looming 16bn hole in its capital spending limit.The limit imposed on the DH and NHS by the Treasury will be jeopardised next April when new accountancy rules mean private finance initiative debts cannot be hidden from NHS balance sheets. -
DH names Patricia Hamilton as medical education head
The Department of Health has named the new director of medical education for England.Patricia Hamilton, currently president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, will take up the position in the New Year. -
DH urges work on NHS informatics
NHS commissioners have been told to step up work on informatics as part of a renewed drive to boost information use in service redesign. -
Former race equality leader complains of inaction
The former head of the Commission for Racial Equality, Lord Ouseley, has accused the new human rights watchdog of failing to fight discrimination in the health service. -
Health secretary Alan Johnson announces dramatic reforms to PCT funding
The Department of Health has unveiled dramatic reforms to primary care trust funding allocations.Health secretary Alan Johnson announced today that PCTs would receive £164bn funding for 2009-10 and 2010-11, equating to an average of £1,612 per person by 2010-11. -
Healthcare = customer care
It is Saturday morning, I am on call and working at my desk on lingering clinical work after the ward round, awaiting blood results, blood pressure data, etc. -
Healthcare Commission warns NHS has some way to go on patient safety
NHS boards are devolving vital decisions on safety and failing to report serious incidents such as radiation overdoses, preliminary Healthcare Commission findings have revealed. -
How Investors in People can help with trust mergers
The Calderdale and Huddersfield trust was formed in 2001 by the merger of Calderdale Healthcare trust and Huddersfield Healthcare Services trust. The trust's three hospitals, the Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax, the Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and St Luke's Hospital in Huddersfield, provide acute healthcare services to more than 420,000 people in the areas served by the boroughs of Calderdale and Kirklees. -
Huge leadership challenge to implement Darzi review
Managers have been warned to expect a 'huge leadership challenge' in an operating framework devoted to implementing the next stage review. -
Improving patient safety: advice for NHS boards
Institute for Healthcare Improvement president and chief executive Donald Berwick talks to Stockport foundation trust chair Robina Shah about the role of NHS boards in improving patient safety and quality of care -
Increase your competitive edge with Investors in People
Investors in People is key to gaining a competitive edge and building your reputation, which is more important than ever given the current economic climate. Now is the time to sharpen your performance through happy productive people. -
Ken Jarrold on Barack Obama the manager
For students of leadership and management, these are interesting times. Two very different people, in very different worlds, have been teaching those open to learning. -
London PCTs pin hopes on debt plan to avert mergers
London's primary care trusts are hoping a high profile bailout of the capital's historic debt will demonstrate they can work together - and avert the threat of mergers. -
Make tough patient choices a bit easier
Offering patients true choice in healthcare means giving them the right information at the right time and providing them with the skills and support to make informed decisions -
Managers' responses to the NHS operating framework
Adrian Roberts, director of finance, Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals trust"If the new tariff does what it says on the tin, specialist and tertiary acutes will be protected by it which would help us, but the efficiency savings will be even harder for district general hospitals."Denise McLellan, director of commissioning and deputy chief executive, Heart of Birmingham teaching PCT -
Media Watch: public health budgets
Those seeking to defend public health budgets amid financial turmoil were unlikely to take heart from the press this week. -
Michael White on the NHS in recession
A rough old trade is politics, as most MPs can confirm. All the same, I felt a bit sorry for Andrew Lansley the other week when he was beaten up for saying 'on many counts recession can be good for us'. -
More emergency consultants needed, says college
The number of emergency medicine consultant posts needs to increase from 740 to 1,500 by 2012, according to the College of Emergency Medicine. -
More GP practices offering extended hours
The number of GP practices offering extended hours has reached 5,380 or 65 per cent of 8,263 practices. This is an increase from 58.9 per cent in October. -
Neil Goodwin on coping with recession in the NHS
Recession. It's what everyone is talking about and it will affect you at some point. The boom years are now drawing to a close and public sector budgets are about to see their biggest squeeze in more than a decade. -
NHS constitution is a finance firewall, say advisers
The NHS constitution will force the government to invest in services and act as a protective 'firewall' against budget squeezes, advisers have predicted. -
NHS could be £13bn short in five years
There could be a £13bn gap between what the NHS has been assessed as needing and what it will get by 2013, the executive chair of the foundation trust regulator Monitor has warned. -
NHS Direct ups its in-house response after referrals criticism
NHS Direct is planning to set itself a higher target for the proportion of calls it deals with 'in-house'. -
NHS leadership programmes: what do they offer?
Leadership is a hot topic in the NHS. Lord Darzi mentions it no fewer than 50 times in High Quality Care for All. Why is it then that many clinicians are reticent about leadership and how can leadership training help? -
NHS operating framework 2009-10
NHS told to cap spending as more than half of£1.8bn surplus is lost -
NHS operating framework: winners and losers
PCTs whose funding targets have increased most and least under the new formula -
NHS surplus robbery risks a return to financial instability
This week the NHS was told part of the price it will have to pay for the collapse of the economy, as it bid a fond farewell to £1bn of its £1.8bn surplus. -
NHS told to cap spending as more than half of £1.8bn surplus is lost
The dire state of public finances means the NHS will be permitted to spend less than half the surplus it has generated over the last two years. -
Norovirus outbreaks hit beds and waiting times
A growing number of hospitals were last week facing pressure on waiting time targets as they dealt with norovirus outbreaks. -
Patient safety: communication solution
Reporting errors helps trusts to spot problems early on. How can you persuade staff to open up? Alison Moore finds out -
PCTs get green light for CQUIN
Primary care trusts have the green light to link payment to local quality improvement goals with the unveiling of the methodology for the commissioning for quality and innovation framework (CQUIN). -
PCTs struggle to cope with cost of increased referrals
Primary care trusts are struggling to cope with the financial fallout of increased referrals, with some now expecting the extra costs to drive them into deficit. -
PCTs urged to master social marketing
Primary care trusts must invest more in expertise in social marketing and profiling, a King’s Fund report recommends.Commissioning and Behaviour Change: kicking bad habits is based on a year-long programme of research by the think tank into how people can be convinced to live more healthily. -
Sandy Watson on NHS performance management
NHS boards have very clear roles. They must ensure governance arrangements are sound, probity and propriety are to the fore, a strategic steer is given to the executive team and staff, the executives are held to account and supported, and there are clear and effective performance management mechanisms. -
Scotland may lift NHS top-up ban
Scotland is proposing to lift the ban on NHS patients topping up their care if they wish to pay privately for part of their treatment. -
Six steps to integrated NHS workforce planning: step six
Are you considering your healthcare workforce plans? The Six Steps Methodology to Integrated Workforce Planning can help. -
Sophia Christie on becoming a world class commissioner
Every primary care trust is participating in the first stage of the world class commissioning assurance process. World class commissioning is not the little brother of foundation trust development, or even Big Brother, although it can seem like that. -
Trusts urged to continue employment checks over Christmas
NHS trusts are being urged to ensure employment agencies are carrying out proper staff checks as they increase temporary cover over Christmas. -
Two thirds of dementia sufferers not known to GPs
More than 60 per cent of dementia sufferers are not known to their GPs, according to research by the Liberal Democrats.The party’s health spokesman Norman Lamb said the figures showed the need for improved access to primary care. -
Unite calls for more school nurses to fight child obesity
Trade union Unite is calling for the government to double the number of school nurses in the light of child obesity figures. -
Weighing in on hospital scales
Lots to chew on of late. First I read my fellow blogger Inside Out's polemic about the grubby goings on in the world of hospital management. -
Welsh Assembly announces health transition directors
The managers who will oversee the creation of new health organisations in Wales have been announced by the Assembly government. -
What the operating framework means for PCTs, providers and SHAs
PCTsContracts with PCT provider services by AprilPreparing for legal right to choiceUpgrading and increasing GP premisesReductions in mixed-sex accommodation"Pricing framework" for community servicesProvidersNew MRSA minimum standard -
Why end of life care should be recorded
Our work in end of life care suggests coding is being significantly under-recorded. This impacts on risk-adjusted mortality rates and issues relating to length of stay, which in turn has implications for organisations that compile data. -
Your Humble Servant on NHS co-payments
To: Don Wise, chief executiveFrom: Paul Servant, assistant chief executiveRe: Co-payment cunning
