Health Service Journal
18 December 2008
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A Christmas message from Alan Johnson
I am really pleased to be celebrating another Christmas as health secretary. I could fill HSJ with a catalogue of NHS achievements over the past year. -
A year in health management volunteering
In her regular column from Cambodia, Patricia Sloan looks back on her first year as a health volunteer -
Alan Johnson hails ‘major progress’ to 18 weeks and MRSA targets
The Department of Health has published its first report on progress against its 2007 public service agreement and departmental strategic objectives. -
Alcohol dependency: glad tidings for safer drinking
A social care organisation is identifying and engaging dependent drinkers at three hospitals to help them turn their lives around -
Alzheimer’s Society urges government to publish dementia strategy
The Alzheimer’s Society has called on the government to publish its delayed dementia strategy following the announcement that all NHS GPs will be trained to spot the disease. -
Andrea Sutcliffe on PCT provider services
In recent weeks, I have been contacted by increasing numbers of chairs and non-executives who are struggling with the governance arrangements for the separation of their provider services. -
Annual health check to be replaced with 'periodic reviews'
The annual health check will be scrapped next year and replaced with 'periodic reviews' of commissioners and providers, the Care Quality Commission has announced.The CQC, which takes over from the three health and social care regulators next April, has set out its proposals for assessing organisations in a consultation paper released today. -
'Cartel' pharmaceutical company pays £1m settlement
A pharmaceutical company accused of “anti-competitive cartel conduct” is to pay more than £1m in an out of court settlement.' -
Clinical negligence fees set to soar
The fees trusts must pay to the NHS Litigation Authority for its clinical negligence scheme are to shoot up by more than half. -
Consultation on expensive NHS phone numbers
A 14-week public consultation has been launched on more expensive phone numbers being used by NHS organisations. -
Council fights Chase Farm closure plan
A borough council has been granted a judicial review of a plan to close a hospital accident and emergency department. -
DH admits defeat over end of life tariff
The Department of Health has admitted defeat over plans to create a tariff for end of life services provided by the voluntary sector. -
End of life drugs set to put financial pressure on PCTs
PCTs could face significant financial pressures as a result of proposals to make more drugs available to patients at the end of life, the NHS Confederation is warning. -
Father Christmas visits the NHS
So what's Santa going to be putting in the stockings of the NHS this year? -
Foundation trust failure: who's for the chop?
As the original deadline passes, 80-odd trusts are lagging in the race to achieve foundation status. Sally Gainsbury ponders the fate of those that fail to hit the mark -
Foundation trust transition reaches halfway mark
The transition of acute and mental health trusts to foundation status passed the halfway mark this week. -
Fraud team urges check-ups on Christmas temporary staff
Trusts are being urged to ensure employment agencies carry out proper staff checks as they increase temporary cover over Christmas. -
Healthcare Commission rebukes trust over maternity failures
A hospital trust has been ordered to strengthen its leadership and recruit more midwives following a Healthcare Commission investigation. -
Hilary Thomas on clinical-managerial networks
I have had the worst cold I can remember for some years - and every time I get on the Tube somebody sneezes on me. The economy is depressing, the weather has been depressing and the built-in obsolescence of collapsible umbrellas convinces me their manufacturers did not consider the eventuality of rain or wind, and certainly not both at the same time. In short I am a curmudgeon. Bah humbug. -
How will you lead the NHS spending revolution?
Last week's operating framework presented managers with a 'huge leadership challenge' - juggling savings with productivity. But what problems might spending cuts put in their way, asks Sally Gainsbury -
HSJ reader survey: 2008 in review
We surveyed readers on their feelings about the last 12 months. This is what you told us -
HSJ's review of 2008: diamonds, debt and Darzi
The NHS’s diamond anniversary year began with Gordon Brown’s relaunch and ended with the health service paying the price for the banking sector’s profligacy. Richard Vize looks back over an eventful 12 months -
Independent sector treatment centres could keep subsidies
The Department of Health has indicated it may revisit its pledge that independent sector treatment centres will not receive subsidies over the NHS tariff when their current contracts run out. -
Jenny Rogers on friendships
A holiday in deepest Norfolk has brought home some lessons about friendship. In a village you do not have the lazy luxury of making friends who are identikit portraits of yourself: same profession, age, income, newspaper - and prejudices. -
Jon Restell on an NHS Christmas list for Santa
For this column, I am going to cheat by giving you something I have been working on for a while - my Christmas wish list. -
Keep the NHS data ball rolling
General agreement all round then that scrutiny is a legitimate part of running a publicly funded service. -
London hospital redesign row heats up
A London reconfiguration dispute has escalated after a borough council was granted a judicial review of the plan. -
Maggie Rae on the role of GPs
Yes, they have won again. The GPs have excelled in our local area survey. Each year, like the rest of the country, we participate in what is known as the place survey. -
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells appoints new chair
A new chairman will take the helm at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust in the New Year – after the salary on offer was nearly doubled to attract suitable candidates. -
Mark Simmonds on developing young clinical leaders
The profile of NHS clinical leadership has risen considerably in recent times, but the concept is not a new one. Arguably, it rests at the heart of working as a doctor. -
Media Watch: NHS Blackpool
Anyone still planning their Christmas celebrations may wish to take heed of the recent experience of NHS Blackpool. -
Mental health contract gets cool reception from service
The standard mental health contract has had a dismal reception from NHS managers. They have complained it lacks substance and makes only 'minor adaptations' to the acute contract. -
Merger on the cards for troubled foundation trust
The Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases foundation trust has decided it may need to merge with another organisation to be financially stable. -
Michael White on NHS politics
In these times of global recession and rising unemployment we should seek cheerful news. I offer these crumbs of comfort from the thinly attended fag end of the Queen's Speech debate, where health and education were bundled up as one. -
Monitor pushes training for foundation trust board chiefs
Chief executives and chairs joining foundation trusts from non-authorised trusts will be expected to attend a Monitor 'induction programme', the regulator is proposing. -
Monitor tightens private patient income cap but calls for law change
Regulator Monitor is to tighten the rules on the private patient income cap after the Department of Health and auditors criticised a 'loophole' in the regime. -
Monitor tightens private patient income rules
Monitor has ruled that income from foundation trusts’ joint ventures and associate ventures will count towards their private patient income cap.However, the regulator has also recommended that the government changes the legislation on the cap on the proportion of income foundations can earn from private patients. -
Naomi Chambers on NHS lessons from the private sector
Public sector organisations are frequently exhorted to raise their game by borrowing from approaches used in the business world.How can non-executive directors on NHS boards make sense of their role in today's uncertain climate? -
National uniform launched for NHS Scotland
A national uniform and dress code that will see the end of the white coat is being introduced for all NHS staff in Scotland. -
NHS Confederation debates its future
The NHS Confederation has renewed its hunt for a chief executive in light of findings from a strategic review of the organisation. -
NHS Confederation: stop dithering or start shedding members
More than 10 months after Gill Morgan quit as NHS Confederation chief executive, it has failed to appoint a successor. -
NHS Direct names interim chief executive
NHS Direct has appointed an interim chief executive to replace Matt Tee, who left to become permanent secretary for government communications. -
NHS integrated care pilots to be test bed for 'risky' ideas
Integrated care pilots will be given the chance to shape Department of Health policy up to and including tariff reform, the primary care czar has revealed.Speaking as the DH revealed the 36 organisations shortlisted for the scheme, national clinical director for primary care David Colin-Thomé said the organisations making the final cut would be at the forefront of radical trials of reforms perhaps 'too risky' to be introduced across the board. Those that -
NHS Medical Education England appoints chairman
Sir Christopher Edwards has been appointed as chairman of NHS Medical Education England. -
NHS personal branding: how to get staff to follow your lead
A strong image of leadership includes drive, self-belief and the ability to inspire others. Debbie Smith reveals the formula -
NHS surplus will bolster restricted spending
The NHS finished last financial year with a surplus equivalent to £2.2bn, spending watchdogs have said. -
NHS trusts waste effort chasing EU working time directive
Trusts are wasting millions of pounds and losing thousands of service hours over-preparing for the European working time directive, figures shared exclusively with HSJ reveal.Others risk prosecution and fines because the way they are assessing junior doctors' compliance with the directive does not match the EU measurement. -
Nicola Sturgeon vows to ensure a place for public on NHS boards
Scotland's health secretary Nicola Sturgeon has vowed to press ahead with direct elections to NHS boards, despite strong opposition from the health service. -
Patricia Hewitt warns of 'difficult decisions' for PCTs
The NHS faces 'difficult decisions' in coming years as it adjusts to smaller - and possibly negative - funding growth, former health secretary Patricia Hewitt has warned. -
PCTs facing probe over dentistry gaps
Primary care trusts' success in commissioning NHS dental services will come under scrutiny as part of the forthcoming independent inquiry into health service dentistry, the chief dental officer for England has revealed. -
PCTs given £17m cancer immunisation fund
Primary care trusts are being handed up to £17m to carry out an anti-cancer immunisation programme for teenage girls two years ahead of schedule. -
Put children at centre of services
A great deal of effort is being poured into strategic partnerships for children's and young people's health. Seamless communication between countless organisations will be critical -
Retired NHS workers may face pension cuts
Some NHS pensioners may face cuts in their pensions from April after it was discovered some people receiving public sector pensions might have been paid up to twice as much as they should have been.The error occurred when guaranteed minimum pensions were not taken into account when annual pension increases were calculated. -
Sexual health commissioning: making sense of contraceptive use
Sexual health is firmly on the national to-do list. NHS organisations are implementing the 2001 Sexual Health and HIV strategy. -
Taxpayers deserve a say over NHS, but there is a less disruptive way
Disputes at opposite ends of the UK highlight the complexities of introducing democracy into the health service. -
Unison 'disappointed' over NHS pay deal
Unison has said it is disappointed by the NHS pay review body's decision not to ask the government to re-open the three-year pay deal. -
Welsh NHS seeks expert advice for redesign
An expert group has been convened to advise the Welsh Assembly government on health policy. -
World class commissioning failing on equality duties
The Department of Health could face action for failing to ensure the world class commissioning framework complies with equality duties, HSJ has learnt. -
Your Humble Servant: an NHS Christmas
To: Don Wise, chief executiveFrom: Paul Servant, assistant chief executiveRe: Manager in a manger
