Health Service Journal
17 December 2010
View all stories from this issue.
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A Christmas Dorrell
Good King Dorrell did look out on the feast beneath him, With Andrew lay round about, deeply fried by Stephen… -
A survival plan for non-foundation trusts
The government has committed to the foundation trust model as the default structure for providers in the NHS. -
All admitted patients to have blood clot test
All patients being admitted into Scottish hospitals should be assessed for blood clots, new guidelines have said. -
An austere Christmas for the public sector
There was little Christmas cheer in the approach to the festive season as the media focused on cuts and austerity in the public sector. -
Another reconfiguration passes Lansley's 'four tests'
One of the reconfigurations stopped under Andrew Lansley’s post-election moratorium on hospital closures has been approved by a strategic health authority. -
Are NHS efficiency savings a dead dog?
In the golden years of transatlantic airfreight, a turboprop landed in Newfoundland to refuel. -
Basildon given all clear as safety concerns are raised
The Care Quality Commission has lifted the final condition on Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals Foundation Trust while at the same time raising fresh “major concerns” about patient care at the foundation. -
BMA criticises government for 'disregarding' the concerns of doctors
The government has ignored doctors’ “major concerns” about its radical health service reforms, the British Medical Association has claimed. -
Book Review: Made to Stick
You can make sure your messages have a strong grab, says James Potter. -
British public attitudes at ideological crossroads
The country is at a “political crossroads” but attitudes are now “far closer” to many of Margaret Thatcher’s core beliefs than when she left office, a report on social trends has claimed. -
Budget cuts make it 'impossible' to maintain social care standards
Social services directors have said the government’s local authority budget cuts will make it “impossible” to maintain current standards of social care without restricting the number of people who receive care. -
Call for action on teen pregnancy services
The number of teenage girls falling pregnant will rise unless the government takes action, experts have warned. -
Chief exec takes on extra PCT for no extra pay
The new joint chief executive of two primary care trusts has taken on the role for no extra salary. -
Clinicians put forward ideas on where to save £20bn
Senior clinicians have called on the NHS to cut unnecessary surgical interventions, lab tests, and referrals to help meet its challenging £20bn savings target. -
Commissioning group rapped for rules breach
The NHS competition watchdog has recommended the North West specialised commissioning group is barred from entering into long term “framework agreements” with providers. -
Computer models could help NHS save £20bn
The NHS could use computer simulations to help find £20bn savings needed by April 2015. -
Consortia should not inherit debts from PCTs, says government
Commissioning consortia will not inherit debts from primary care trusts when they take over in 2013, the government has announced in its white paper response. -
Consortia should share finance directors, says NHS finance chief
Some commissioning consortia are likely to share finance directors, the deputy NHS chief executive has confirmed. -
Consortia to get £25-35 per head for running costs
Commissioning consortia will have an allowance for running costs in the range of £25-35 per head of population by 2014-15, the government has announced. -
Danger consortia will overlook networked services
Measures must be put in place to ensure that networked hospital services covering large geographical areas are not overlooked when GPs take responsibility for commissioning, surgeons have warned. -
Delayed hospital patient discharges double
Almost twice as many patients as last year are enduring delayed discharges while a place in a care home is found on their behalf, figures have shown. -
DH figures show pathfinder GPs are set to bust budgets
A significant number of the new “pathfinder” commissioning consortia are on track to bust their budgets this financial year, an HSJ analysis reveals. -
DH sticks to guns on removal of FT income cap and borrowing controls
The government will push ahead with plans to free up foundation trusts from control, according to its response to the white paper consultation. -
DH U-turns on cash cut to children's hospitals
The Department of Health has dropped plans that would have seen a significant drop in funding for some specialist children’s hospitals, following political protest. -
Disability funding overhaul to improve patient choice
Disabled people will be able to use government money to buy their own support services or equipment under a “radical shake-up” of decision-making in parts of Britain. -
Dorrell's committee warns about impact of 'unprecedented' efficiency target
The Commons health committee has warned real terms cuts to adult social care will almost inevitably translate into unfunded extra demand on the NHS. -
Elderly care service review launched
The future planning of elderly care services is “one of the greatest challenges” for society, according to the chairman of a new group set up to investigate reforms in Scotland. -
Emergency targets scrapped in favour of performance measures
The four-hour accident and emergency target and the 19 minute category B response time for ambulances are to be scrapped, the government announced today. -
Emergency tariff to cost trusts nearly £200m
Hospital trusts are expected to miss out on nearly £200m income under the marginal emergency tariff during this year, according to information provided to HSJ. -
'Firm action' needed to avert disaster during transition period
The government must take “firm action” over the transition period to allow its “high-risk” reforms to succeed as the point of no return has passed, the NHS Confederation has warned. -
First single room-only hospital opens
The first publicly funded UK hospital to feature single rooms only has been opened on the site of a disused steelworks in Ebbw Vale, South Wales. -
Government delays GP quality accounts
The government has abandoned a requirement for GP practices to publish quality accounts from April next year. -
Government unveils proposals for value based drug pricing
A new pricing system for pharmaceutical drugs used in the NHS has been proposed by the government, which it claims will increase patient access to effective medicines. -
Hereford integrated care organisation approved
A new form of integrated care organisation has received approval from the cooperation and competition panel. -
Hospital productivity has fallen over last decade
Hospital productivity has fallen by an average of 1.4 per cent a year since the publication of the NHS Plan ten years ago, the National Audit Office has said. -
Hospitals to face mixed sex ward fines
NHS hospitals face fines for failing to end the use of mixed-sex wards under a renewed drive to tackle the issue. -
How to manage career worries following spending cuts
As huge changes sweep through the NHS, Mark Laffan explores how leaders can weather the storm and ensure they get the best for, and from, their team. -
HSJ exclusive: Lansley appoints first commissioning board chief
Health secretary Andrew Lansley has formally appointed Sir David Nicholson as the first chief executive of the NHS commissioning board. -
Incentives for doctors: the big chill will hit medics too
Incentives for doctors is not a bad idea but they should only be given for tangible improvements -
Jenny Rogers: Dropping the defensiveness
Wrestling with large organisations when you are a mere minnow yourself certainly takes focus and energy. In the wake of my husband’s death in July this year, I faced the crassness and inefficiency of our bank, NatWest, when my credit card was suddenly withdrawn with no warning. -
Key details added to radical reform plan
The government has added key details to its plans for wholesale reform of the NHS, while committing to pressing ahead with the changes. -
Lansley defends NHS reforms to MPs
Health secretary Andrew Lansley defended his NHS reforms to the House of Commons health committee on Wednesday, denying they will have a “destabilising” impact on services. -
'Lansley may play down his reforms' radicalism, but this does not involve big changes to his plans'
“Some have argued Liberating the NHS constitutes an unwise distraction from the quality and productivity challenge facing the NHS. -
Lansley: 'large number of people' support reforms
Health secretary Andrew Lansley has insisted there is broad support for his health service reforms. -
Levy on trusts to replace central NHS training funds
The £5bn central education and training fund will be replaced with a levy on NHS providers, under government proposals announced today. -
Lord Darzi launches Imperial health policy centre
Imperial College London has launched a major new health policy unit, headed by former minister Lord Ara Darzi. -
Maximum 0.3 per cent increase for PCT allocations
Primary care trusts will see a maximum of 0.3 per cent real terms growth in their allocations for 2011-12, the NHS deputy chief executive has said. -
MoD announces new healthcare staff recruitment partner
The Ministry of Defence has appointed Hays Healthcare as recruitment partner for all temporary healthcare staff. -
Monitor to keep intervention powers during transition
The transition to a new set of functions for Monitor will be “longer and more phased”, the Department of Health has said in its response to the white paper consultation. -
More criminals will get psychiatric help
Teams to divert criminal offenders with mental health needs to NHS services will be rolled out nationally by 2014, the government has announced. -
More powers for health ombudsman and local health forums
The health service ombudsman is to get more powers to share information in a bid to prevent another Mid Staffs while local HealthWatch groups will have a direct link to the Care Quality Commission. -
New chair for Cheshire PCT
A Cheshire primary care trust has chosen a new chair. -
New Provider Development Authority to govern non-FTs
All non-foundation trusts will be governed and performance managed by a new central agency by April 2012. -
NHS approaching breaking point - RCP
The NHS could reach “breaking point” within the next few years due to increasing demands on the service, senior doctors have said. -
NHS Employers proposes salary increment freeze
NHS Employers – the body that represents the Department of Health in pay negotiations with NHS staff – has proposed to freeze Agenda for Change pay increments for two years in exchange for a “no compulsory redundancy” agreement. -
NHS given another year to hit £20bn savings target
The NHS will have another year to achieve the quality, innovation, productivity and prevention savings target of £20bn, the operating framework has announced. -
NHS operating framework reasserts central 'grip'
Strategic health authorities will hold back 2 per cent of primary care trusts’ allocations next year to ensure funds are available to meet the “costs of change”. -
No roles for PCT and SHA staff with new health and wellbeing boards
Former primary care trust and strategic health authority staff should not expect to find jobs with the new health and wellbeing boards, the Department of Health has warned. -
PCTs given average 3 per cent rise in funding
Primary care trusts will receive an extra £2.6bn next year to spend on commissioning, the government has announced. -
PCTs identify roles to hand on speedily
Primary care trusts should be allowed to give up responsibility for maintaining lists of all GPs working in their area, as well as a range of other duties, as soon as possible, according to the Primary Care Trust Network. -
Pension changes to cost workers £67bn - NAO
Changes to public service pension schemes introduced in 2007-08 will cost NHS staff, teachers and civil servants a total of £67bn over the next 50 years, according to a National Audit Office (NAO) report. -
'People are skeptical of welfare spending'
As coalition ministers plough on with radical reforms of health and other public services, they should not take much comfort from this week’s social attitude survey suggesting Britain is now more right wing than in the Thatcherite 80s. -
Personal goals to improve physical fitness in NHS staff
A plan to get 2,012 NHS staff engaged in physical activity in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics should do much to inspire a traditionally unhealthy sector. -
Pickles unveils settlement
Local government grant funding appears to have been cut by 10.2 per cent for 2011-12, according to figures published by the Department for Communities Local Government, with some councils taking cuts in the region of 17per cent. -
Plans for 'at risk' NHS staff revealed
NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson has revealed the latest plans for the 90,000 staff whose jobs are at risk due to management cuts. -
Price competition could raise death rates, experts warn
The decision to let NHS hospitals compete with each other on price from next year threatens to harm care and raise death rates, experts warn. -
Primary care organisations welcome variation in pathfinders
Variation among the Department of Health’s pathfinder commissioning consortia will help the government to learn lessons about potential models, according to stakeholder organisations. -
Private healthcare market probed
An investigation is being launched into whether the market in private healthcare is “fully competitive” following complaints from within the sector. -
Private sector permitted to employ 'two tier' workforce
Private sector companies have been given a fresh incentive to bid for NHS contracts after the government scrapped a rule requiring them to pay new recruits the same as existing staff. -
Productivity gains elude NHS trusts
The NHS failed at the twin challenges of reducing emergency admissions and providing more care outside hospital in the last financial year, according to an Audit Commission report. -
Providers freed to set their own referral to treatment targets and set prices below tariff
The revised operating framework has freed providers to set prices below the tariff and set their own referral to treatment targets, opening the field further to competition. -
RCN 'extremely disappointed' at lack of nurse inclusion in reforms
Government reforms will “struggle to succeed” without more engagement with nurses, the Royal College of Nursing has warned. -
Redesign to save NHS from slash and burn
Dear Sir,In a blunt assessment of the coming few years, the Commons Health Select Committee recently stated that the NHS must achieve efficiency savings on a scale never before seen here, or indeed in other countries. -
Rise in cancer target breaches among foundation trusts, new Monitor report shows
The number of foundation trusts that missed cancer treatment targets rose by a third to 28 out of 130 in the past three months, their regulator Monitor has revealed. -
Service reconfiguration at London trust a step closer
Plans to close a hospital’s emergency and maternity services came a step closer last night after a joint committee of primary care trusts approved the proposals. -
'Strained relationships' at trusts criticised
The “strained relationship” between two trusts has been criticised after an inquiry into the potential misdiagnosis of patients. -
Student nurse intake to be cut
The number of students entering into nursing and midwifery courses will be reduced, the Scottish health secretary has announced. -
Survey finds support for Labour health record
Public satisfaction with the NHS reached an all time high last year, according to a national survey of opinion. -
Swine flu kills 14 people
Swine flu has killed 14 people in the UK this winter, according to the Health Protection Agency. -
Tariff to be cut by 1.5 per cent
The tariff, which prices thousands of procedures commissioned in the NHS, will be cut in cash terms by 1.5 per cent in 2011-12 compared with this year, the Department of Health has revealed. -
The outstanding ideas that will transform healthcare
HSJ and healthcare partnership Circle inaugurate a prize that will recognise the brightest and bravest thinking that seeks to influence health policy today. -
The public health white paper: sizing up reactions
HSJ’s sister title Local Government Chronicle gathers reaction to last week’s public health white paper, Healthy Lives, Healthy People. -
The roots of poor health in England
Poor health impacts on society in a vast number of ways. What can be done to tackle its causes in one of England’s worst-hit boroughs? -
Think tanks warn reforms are distraction from QIPP
The King’s Fund has warned that the government’s overhaul of the health service may not increase productivity or drive up quality. -
Trusts failing to review dementia readmissions
Trust boards are failing to review data on readmissions for patients with dementia, a major clinical audit has found. -
UK tops European obesity league
The UK has performed poorly in an influential health and lifestyle study, recording the highest levels of obesity and teen pregnancy. -
Unions claim NHS reforms are 'badly timed vanity project'
Union leaders have criticised the government’s NHS reforms, describing them as “dangerous”, “a big mistake”, and “uncosted and untested”. -
Weekend admission 'raises death risk'
Being admitted to hospital with internal bleeding on a bank holiday pushes up the risk of dying by 41%, researchers have said. -
White paper response: 'We were right to embark on this journey'
The government has handed maternity to commissioning consortia and given councils formal scrutiny powers to cover NHS funded services in changes outlined in its response to the white paper consultation.
