Health Service Journal
19 November 2009
View all stories from this issue.
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Ian Dalton's swine flu update - advice for pregnant women
In his weekly update for HSJ and Nursing Times, national director for NHS flu resilience Ian Dalton discusses the latest developments in UK swine flu preparations -
150 NHS staff attacked every day
More than 150 NHS staff are attacked every day during their work, according to latest figures. -
Anger over NHS roads pledge to council
An NHS governor has resigned after her primary care trust offered Durham county council £1m to help towards gritting roads. -
Birmingham GPs offered bonuses for hitting swine flu targets
GPs in Birmingham - one of the areas worst affected by the H1N1 swine flu pandemic - will receive bonuses for meeting swine flu vaccination targets, reports claim. -
Book Review: The Project Manager
This book tells all about how to see a project through, says George Absi -
Care Quality Combat?
The Care Quality Commission currently sits safely in the knowledge it comes top of the list when anyone types the acronym CQC into Google. -
Chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson resigns
Chief medical officer for England Sir Liam Donaldson is to step down in May after 12 years in the post. -
Clinical coding with confidence
Accuracy is essential in clinical coding not just to operate payment by results but to pursue quality and improvement with success, says Helen Mooney -
Clinical improvements could save NHS £9bn a year
The NHS could save more than £9bn in a year if trusts improved their performance in just eight “high impact” clinical areas, the chief nursing officer for England has said. -
Could a swine flu surge see a slump in targets?
A sustained outbreak of swine flu will put any region’s critical care services under pressure and a pandemic could have national consequences on workforce and resources. Will normal targets survive the winter unscathed? Alison Moore reports -
Courses for horses
To mark last week’s chief nursing officer’s conference, Today programme attack dog John Humphrys was set on chief nursing officer Christine Beasley and Unison head of nursing Gail Adams to thrash out whether nurses really need degrees. -
Data security lapses prompt pledges from PCTs
Two primary care trusts have been rapped for data security breakdowns, bringing the total number of NHS organisations in trouble over such lapses to three already this month. -
Dementia drugs warning
Powerful anti-psychotic drugs intended to treat schizophrenia are reportedly being regularly used to “chemically cosh” elderly dementia patients. -
Don’t apologise for executive pay – but you must explain it
Managers’ pay is now under continual scrutiny. This week’s contribution comes from consultancy Hay Group, which has given HSJ an analysis of salary data which it says shows there is no link between pay rises and performance for foundation trust chief executives. -
Dutch fluffiness
If you think British politicians are unhelpful in their tendency to pay more attention to Daily Mail headlines than rational decision making, pity the poor Dutch. -
Equality lead lodges discrimination claim
A foundation trust faces two tribunal battles after the manager overseeing its equality strategy complained of an 18 month race discrimination ordeal. -
Essex PCT shortlists FTs to take over community services
A primary care trust in Essex has shortlisted four foundation trusts to take over its provider arm in the first such service transfer of its type. -
How to make choose and book a success
An online toolkit is available to back up the ambitions of primary care trusts and hospitals for making choose and book and the 18 weeks promise successful -
Increasing NHS organisational productivity and efficiency
Is your organisation struggling to reduce costs while maintaining or even improving the quality of services? The current economic climate means the focus is now on spending smarter, investing for the future and delivering results. -
Independent sector treatment centres 'cherry pick' patients
The government is reportedly scaling back independent sector treatment centres amid claims that they do not provide value for money. -
Information Centre may sell Dr Foster Intelligence share
The NHS Information Centre is considering selling its £12m share in its controversial joint venture with Dr Foster. -
Intensive care investments cut death rate, study finds
Thousands of lives have been saved by increased intensive care funding and the introduction of treatment guidelines, research suggests. -
Jon Restell: NHS managers on the ropes
Everyone I talk to assumes that managers in the health service must be sweating. -
Ken Jarrold on motivating NHS managers
The latest annual health check ratings raise some important and difficult questions. It is time to think again about performance management. -
Liz Kendall on urgent care efficiency
More hospital admissions could be avoided if people needing emergency and urgent care were managed differently rather than just being taken to A&E -
London PCT support agency under review
London’s commissioning support body is reviewing its management structure and its chief executive is on “extended leave” - less than 10 months after it was established. -
Maidstone pledges crackdown after data loss
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust has pledged to tighten security procedures after the theft of three laptops containing patient data. -
Managers open to accusations of 'job hopping'
Senior NHS managers are laying themselves open to accusations of lack of commitment by “job hopping”, according to Royal College of Nursing chief executive Peter Carter. -
Media Watch: patient records
Medical records and their security, or lack of, was the main topic likely to pique NHS managers’ interest in the news this week - if, that is, you discount stories about the “miracle jab for snorers” and the “mindbend potheads” who are apparently flooding the NHS. -
Michael White: lessons from US healthcare
I stumbled on a way of thinking about NHS budgets the other day which I hadn’t previously encountered. -
NHS chief quits job to save cash
The joint chief executive of NHS Coventry is leaving his current job share to lead a government cost-cutting drive. -
NHS IT upgrade goes live in London
Patient records are to go online in London after long delays in the rollout of the government’s £12bn NHS IT upgrade. -
NHS leadership special report: taking the lead
We all know leadership matters. Leadership has been a neglected reform lever in the NHS but it is unacceptable for a business of our size and complexity not to have a systematic approach to developing it. -
NHS London launches innovation fund
NHS London has launched a multi-million pound fund to support and reward innovation in the region. -
NHS London suspends private care service
Out of hospital services run by the independent company Clinicenta have been suspended by NHS London following concerns over the company’s performance. -
NHS planners told to be more green
Managers need to “think beyond the inside of the building” when planning the design and location of services, according to the government’s adviser on architecture and design. -
No link found between FT chiefs’ pay rises and performance
There is no link between pay increases awarded to foundation trust chief executives and how much performance improves at their organisations, an analysis of public data claims to reveal. -
Nursing to become degree only profession
The government has rubber stamped plans for nursing in England to become a degree only profession -
One in five PCTs overspent as SHAs predict cash freeze
There has been a significant deterioration in the NHS’s finances, with more than a fifth of primary care trusts reporting overspending. -
Overspends are another reason to move care away from hospital
The revelation in HSJ this week of significant overspends in 33 primary care trusts is a worrying indicator of problems ahead. -
Patient Safety Awards shortlist revealed
The Patient Safety Awards shortlist has been announced. -
Paul Corrigan: commissioning competencies
Most, if not all, primary care trusts will improve their commissioning competencies over the next few months. This will be an important step towards gearing up commissioning to play its full role. -
Poor dementia care 'costs NHS millions'
Cutting dementia patients’ average hospital stay by one week could save the NHS at least £80m a year, a report by the Alzheimer’s Society claims. -
Property and competition to be investigated following takeover
A trust takeover has sparked an investigation into the relationship between property, competition and co-operation in the NHS. -
Regulated behaviour
HSJ last week revealed former Healthcare Commission chair Sir Ian Kennedy had complained about the Commons health select committee’s patient safety report. -
Risk management: create a culture of safety
The best approach to risk management is to establish a safety culture throughout your organisation, say Peter Mills and colleagues -
Rose Gibb wins full right to appeal compensation claim
Rose Gibb has won the right to a full appeal hearing on her claim for compensation against her former employer, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust. -
STI drive 'a waste of money' - NAO
The government’s chlamydia screening programme has wasted millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money and six years of work, the National Audit Office has said. -
Stroke care gets better since health check
Latest figures from the Department of Health indicate hospital trusts have improved stroke care since the Care Quality Commission undertook the 2008-09 annual health check. -
Talent development: achieving mental toughness
In these demanding times talent development has a powerful tool at its disposal, says Judith Krichefski -
Tension as a Monitor chair still not named
Foundation trusts and the Monitor board have raised concerns that the government has not yet appointed a chair for the regulator, with less than three months until its current executive chair leaves the organisation. -
Trusts target staff sickness to save money
Trusts are making radical changes to pay and allowances to try to reduce costs and increase productivity without deviating from Agenda for Change.
