Health Service Journal
12 April 2012
View all stories from this issue.
-
£250m proton cancer therapy boost announced
Hundreds of patients currently sent abroad for a cancer treatment will soon be able to get it at home, the government has announced. -
Acute trusts absent from local wellbeing boards
Emerging health and wellbeing boards believe they will successfully shape local health policies and drive service integration. But many boards still lack input from NHS providers, a survey shared exclusively with HSJ reveals. -
An open source vision
A campaign is attempting to bring VistA, an open source IT system, to the NHS. Why should you consider it? -
Analysed: Birmingham and Solihull CCGs find their form
HSJ Local Briefing is our new in-depth analysis of the key issues facing the NHS’s major health economies. This week: how the CCGs in Birmingham and Solihull are shaping up, and their plans to tackle QIPP. -
Board brilliance unpacked
What is it like working with a high performing NHS board? Penny Lock and Margot Corbin took a look inside the very best. -
Bradford FT adopts SpyGlass gallstone technique
RESEARCH: Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has become the first provider in its area to adopt a new method of shattering gallstones. -
CCP to investigate ambulance merger
STRUCTURE: The Co-operation and Competition panel has begun its consideration of the proposed merger between South West Ambulance Service Foundation Trust and Great Western Ambulance Service. -
Child safety an 'afterthought' of NHS reform, say doctors
The safety of children is an “afterthought” of NHS reforms, paediatricians have warned. Many say they are not adequately trained and resources are “spread too thinly.” -
Commissioning board mandate must set out a clear vision
With the Health Act now law, attention should turn to the “mandate” the government will give the NHS Commissioning Board this autumn - and on which it must start consulting in the near future. -
Demand for lifesaving treatment could outstrip supply
Demand for a blood component vital in the treatment of cancer and diseases of the immune system is set to outstrip supply unless thousands more donors can be found, HSJ has been told. -
Derbyshire Healthcare spells out mandatory standards of care
PERFORMANCE: A mental health trust has unveiled a set of compulsory standards of care all its patients can expect to receive and posted them on a public website. -
Devon Partnership reports a year with no mixed sex breach
PERFORMANCE: Devon Partnership Trust has declared compliance with standards on mixed sex accomodation after going a whole year without a breach. -
Diagnosis: earlier
Research has found that for many patients diagnosis is too slow, so an alliance of patients, professionals and charities is campaigning for earlier action -
Doctors: disabled patients get poorer care in hospital
A poll of hundreds of hospital doctors and GPs has found most believe patients with a learning disability get poorer care than the rest of the population. -
Don Redding: give the public remote control
To create a mandate for the commissioning board that truly belongs to the public, the government should take a cue from the BBC. -
Dorset Healthcare University FT considers new name
STRUCTURE: Dorset Healthcare University Foundation Trust is planning to “refresh the organisational brand” after taking on community service provision. -
Exclusive: Poor patients face shorter GP opening hours
The number of GP practices paid to offer longer opening hours dropped sharply last year, an HSJ investigation has revealed. The fall was particularly steep in poorer areas. -
Ex-iSoft chairman to go on trial
A football club owner will go on trial today accused of conspiring to make misleading statements about an IT firm involved in a major NHS project. -
Flory calls on PCTs to check DOLS compliance
NHS deputy chief executive David Flory has written to chief executives and PCTs urging them to ensure rules on when patients can be deprived of their liberty are followed. -
Free online innovation webinar for HSJ subscribers
HSJ invites subscribers to view and participate in an exclusive webinar “Innovations in Healthcare”, in association with the Healthcare Advisory Forum and sponsored by Oracle. -
Further votes on pension strike action expected
More public sector workers are to vote on whether to accept the government’s controversial pension reforms. -
Get to grips with qualification change
Is 2012 crunch time for EU recognition of professional qualifications? Elisabetta Zanon finds out. -
Health board management to be scrutinised over waiting times
An independent review is to be carried out into the culture of management at a Scottish health board accused of doctoring waiting times figures to meet official targets. -
How an NHS-pharma partnership is improving prevention
By partnering with a pharmaceutical firm an East Midlands trust became the first in the region to achieve a major target for VTE risk assessment. Scott Savage explains. -
How Colchester brought its services back in-house
Nick Chatten, Philip Kitchener and Marcus Hill explain in detail some of the issue they faced when Colchester brought its facilities services back in-house -
How staff can lead the way in a redesign
There is no shortage of examples of staff-led redesign saving money while improving care - the workforce just needs the permission to do it, writes RCN chief executive Peter Carter. -
How the Barts Health merger avoided failure
Those involved in the merger of three London trusts have had to overcome some testing financial and cultural challenges in order to succeed. Dr Lucy Moore and Richard Lewis explain how a positive outcome was reached. -
How to put great ideas into serious practice
Amazing ideas ran freely through one trust but it did not know how to make them a reality until it embedded innovation as a core value, explains Tony Bell. -
In detail: how Kettering tackled VTE
How did Kettering General Hospital Foundation Trust meet the national VTE assessment target? Scott Savage explains. -
Kettering warning on 62-day target
Kettering General Hospital Foundation Trust has warned it is at risk of not delivering on its target for 62 day wait for treatment for urgent GP referrals. -
Keys delivered for new £5m cancer centre
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust has taken receipt of the keys for its new £5m Lingen Davies Cancer Centre. -
Labour targets NHS reforms in local elections
Ed Miliband has targeted the government’s health reforms as he launched Labour’s local elections campaign, with the promise to govern for the whole country, “not just for the wealthy few”. -
Larger trusts warn over C difficile rules
New Monitor rules on C difficile infections could still mean foundation trusts are downgraded by the regulator for relatively small outbreaks, HSJ has been told. -
London trusts could cut nurse expenditure by up to half
Some London hospital trusts could safely cut their spending on nurses by half, NHS London documents have claimed. -
Michael White: abortion row gives a glimpse of politically disfiguring culture wars
Experience has taught me to avoid certain subjects whenever possible because passionate advocates on both sides of the argument sincerely believe it’s very simple: that we all face a binary choice between good and evil. -
New DOF for West Yorkshire PCTs
WORKFORCE: The West Yorkshire PCT cluster - composed of Calderdale, Wakefield District and Kirklees PCTs - has appointed a new finance director. -
North Middlesex tenders for five-year 'total bed management' contract
COMMERCIAL: The north London acute trust is tendering for a five-year maintainance and repair contract, with an opton to extend the contract for another two years. -
North Staffs launches park and ride
WORKFORCE: Staff at a Midlands hospital are being asked to use a park and ride service in a bid to free up car parking space for patients after a major reorgainsation. -
Paul Corrigan: the integration conundrum
It seems to me that the more everyone agrees with the policy of integrated care, the further away the reality of integrated practice seems to be? -
Plan for clinical awards, hospitals told
NHS providers should budget for an employer-based round of clinical excellence awards taking place later this year, NHS Employers has said. -
Private hospital will offer ‘the only’ tertiary care beds in Kent
A private hospital in Kent will claim to offer NHS and private patients “the only” cardiothoracic and neurosurgery tertiary care beds in the county, helping to reduce referrals to London trusts. -
Readers' letters - 12 April 2012
Are 12-hour nursing shifts harming care? Plus a tribute to a popular manager. -
Royal National Orthopaedic Trust 'significantly under-performed' on private patient income
COMMERCIAL: The north London specialist hospital said its private unit had “significantly under-performed” in 2011-12 and that is was “finalising” plans for the private management of the facility. -
Royal National Orthopaedic Trust wants £5.2m loan for 2012-13
FINANCE: The north London specialist hospital’s outline business plan anticipates applying for £5.2m in working capital loans in this financial year. -
Royal Wolverhampton re-starts FT bid
STRUCTURE: A West Midlands hospital which had its bid for foundation trust status suspended due to concerns over care standards has relaunched its application following discussions with Monitor. -
Safety checks ordered for UK air ambulances
Urgent safety checks are to be carried out on helicopters used by air ambulance providers across England after a crack was found in a rotar hub. -
Sally Gainsbury: quiet panic at the DH
It is, as they say, the quiet ones you have to watch. -
Serious about improving care? Then use the net promoter score
Health professionals are being urged to consider the way they measure the effectiveness of the care they give in a bid to further improve patient experience. -
South West Ambulance FT seeks opportunities in Hampshire
COMMERCIAL: South West Ambulance Service Foundation Trust is exploring the possibility of running out of hours services in Hampshire. -
Stockport and East Cheshire trusts consider pooled breast surgery service
STRUCTURE: The foundation trust is reviewing its clinical services with East Cheshire Trust to identify specialties that could be provided jointly across the two acute providers. -
There are no clear winners from the new price-setting regime
Who stands to gain most from Monitor’s new power to dictate “local modifications” to the price of NHS services? -
Tim Wilson: thirty good men and true
Reassurance, respect, relationships, responsibility and reporting. -
Trust aims to slash mortality by quarter in 5 years
A hospital trust has launched an ambitious five-year plan to dramatically reduce its death rates with a host of actions to improve standards of care. -
Trust apology over cancelled operations
Nottingham University Hospitals Trust has issued an apology to patients after cancelling 532 operations on the day they were supposed to take place since the start of the year. -
UCLH tenders for bed management service
COMMERCIAL: The central London secondary and tertiary care hospital trust has tendered for a firm to provide bed management services. -
Why one trust brought all its facilities services back home
Why did one trust decide to return its estates and facilities services back in-house, what were the challenges and was it worth it in the end? Nick Chatten and colleagues explain. -
Winston backs Labour's NHS campaign
Fertility expert Lord Winston has thrown his weight behind Labour’s NHS-focused campaign in the forthcoming local elections. -
Workers vote on pension reforms
Hundreds of thousands of NHS workers will today start voting on whether to accept the government’s controversial pension reforms, with a no vote set to spark fresh strikes.
