Health Service Journal
20 November 2008
View all stories from this issue.
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£13.5m earmarked for public health initiatives
Public health minister Dawn Primarolo has unveiled a package of measures to help break down the barriers between primary care trusts and local authorities when tackling pockets of poor health. -
Audit Commission slams £37.9m deal at Whipps Cross University Hospital trust
The Audit Commission has issued a public interest report outlining 'serious concerns' about a £37.9m back-dated procurement deal at Whipps Cross University Hospital trust. -
Benjamin Ellis on clinician-manager rivalries
A few years ago, a doctor friend told me of a revelation she had had after attending a lecture on clinical nutrition. 'You see,' she said, 'I'd never really thought of calories as something you needed in order to survive - I'd spent my whole life trying to avoid them.' -
Calls for more mental health funding as economic worries increase
Mental health charity Mind has called for more investment in services to help cope with an expected surge in demand caused by the economic downturn. -
Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence appoints new chair
A former chief executive of the National Council for Carers is to be the next chair of the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence. -
Data tsunami will swamp trusts unless commissioners get a say
The clinical data revolution came closer this week with the unveiling of the approach for improving quality and a survey on what to include in quality accounts. -
Defensive emailing
Anyone notice the growth in the postscript statements protecting the sender and warning the recipient against all manner of email misuse and abuse - the ones stating that the contents are confidential, if sent by accident, etc? -
Department of Health appoints deputy chief nursing officer
David Foster has been appointed as deputy chief nursing officer at the Department of Health. -
Developing the Clinical Leaders Network
Following a successful pilot in the North West, the Clinical Leaders Network is being rolled out to strategic health authorities throughout England. Ingrid Torjesen talks to the network's national lead Dr Raj Kumar -
DH sets out framework for improving quality of care
The Department of Health has set out how NHS organisations should move towards measuring and improving quality of care.Chief executive David Nicholson and medical director Sir Bruce Keogh have written to managers with a framework describing the role different organisations will play. -
Emma Dent on the need for a national hygiene drive
Obviously I'm in favour of tight infection controls in hospitals, but don't you feel for the mitts of the staff having to wash them dozens of times a day? They must get red raw. -
Foundation trust websites leave patients in the dark
Foundation trusts' communications skills have been called into question after it was revealed that four in 10 trust websites lacked basic information on service quality. -
Government announces new drug pricing scheme
A new deal on drug pricing will see the cost of branded drugs cut and ensure the cost of medicines reflects their importance to patients, the government has claimed. -
GP commissioning costs lots and delivers little
A major study into practice based commissioning has found it to be an 'expensive investment' that has delivered little in terms of better services for patients or financial savings. -
Griffiths report could have freed NHS from politics
The Griffiths report could have created the utopian ideal of an NHS buffered from political meddling, but it was not to be. -
Hospitals making progress on blood clot risk assessments
The number of hospital trusts assessing patients for deadly blood clots has more than doubled in the past year - but trusts must do more to protect patients, MPs are warning. -
HSJ50 guilt
I am dismayed to see so few women and virtually no representatives from a black and minority ethnic background among the top 50. Is there a twinge of guilt somewhere? -
HSJ50 is no surprise
Shock horror! The top three most powerful people in current NHS policy are 1) the specially created health minister 2) the chief executive and 3) the health secretary. -
HSJ50 shows lack of NHS diversity
Can it really be true that only one of the people who deserves a place in the HSJ50 - Lord Darzi - is apparently from a visible ethnic minority? -
Human resources and the 18-week target
The role of human resources and admin teams in getting NHS waiting lists down to size deserves recognition, says Andy Cowper -
Implementing the next stage review
A recent paper published by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, The Next Leg of the Journey: how do we make High Quality Care for All a reality?, identified key success factors for implementation of the next stage review, amid concern that many NHS organisations lack capability. -
Improving older people's mental health
A consultant clinical psychologist is proving that group analysis work with older people with mental health disorders can be successful. -
Innovation Live: bringing ideas to life
Innovation Live, the great event in London this month, showcased innovative health service ideas and examples in practice and this supplement fills you in on many of the leading themes. -
John Coakley on NHS targets
Most clinicians hate targets and view them as something that obstructs clinical care. However, it seems they have worked. -
Keith Pearson on the NHS constitution consultation
Sitting as a member of the NHS constitutional advisory forum for the past four months, I found myself among an august body of people, all with a passion to drive forward one of the most significant developments in NHS history. -
Ken Jarrold on the patient experience
There is nothing like being a patient to bring you face to face with the realities of working lives. Fortunately for me, my recent experience was entirely positive. -
Laura Thomas on information prescriptions
By the end of 2008, people with long-term conditions should leave GP surgeries and hospitals clutching not one prescription but two: one for their medicines and another for the information and support they need. -
Local NHS managers will get free choice of quality measures
The Department of Health has published an ambitious framework for improving the quality of NHS care but its architect Lord Darzi has warned it is likely to get off to a slow start. -
London hospitals jostle to run specialist stroke units
London's hospital trusts are clamouring to be named specialist stroke centres as the capital embarks on centralising major acute services. -
Maggie Rae on NHS core competencies
Am I competent? We must all have asked ourselves this question. In the build-up to world class commissioning assessment, it is interesting to ponder what competency we have and whether we have any weak links. -
Management styles: could you be a bully?
Who, me? If it comes as a shock that your team finds your style too forceful, it is time to reflect, says coach Sheila Williams -
Mapping health inequalities unmasks variations
For the first time comprehensive local health and well-being data has been compiled across Ireland. -
Maternity services 'account for half of NHS negligence claims'
Maternity services have accounted for nearly half of the value of clinical negligence claims against the NHS since 1995. -
Media Watch: healthy towns
'It won't work round here,' a resident of one of the Department of Health's newly designated Healthy Towns predicted to The Times. -
Mental health innovation with Gránne Fadden
Dr Gránne Fadden details the ambitious work of the Meriden programme, which won an award for innovation at the HSJ Awards 2008 -
Mental health trusts win contracts to treat defence personnel
Seven NHS mental health trusts have been awarded contracts to provide inpatient mental health services to serving defence personnel. -
Mental health under the microscope
I enjoyed Charles Kaye and Michael Howlett's analysis of mental health services yet failed to see where the 'gloss' was in any of the stories listed at the start of the article. -
Michael White on euthanasia
Buried away in a Commons debate the other day was a remark that could apply to the unhealthy state of the economy and assorted remedies to cure it, including a large injection of job-boosting cash into the NHS capital building programme. -
More than 100 step up with integrated care scheme bids
The Department of Health has received more than twice as many bids than expected to set up integrated care schemes. -
More to do on Scottish cancer waiting targets, says minister
Most Scottish NHS boards are meeting or exceeding the target of 95 per cent of patients with cancer going from referral to treatment within 62 days, but more needs to be done to ensure all boards are meeting the target, Scottish health secretary Nicola Sturgeon has said. -
MPs get tough on alcoholism
MPs have grilled Department of Health officials including permanent secretary Hugh Taylor and senior medical officer Mark Prunty over alcohol dependency figures published by the National Audit Office. -
New social enterprises to be offered uncontested contracts
New social enterprises in the health sector will be offered uncontested contracts for up to three years. -
NHS compensation culture: do patients justice
The time taken to settle negligence claims against the NHS compares well with the insurance industry. But trusts could act quicker, or avoid litigation altogether by offering an apology. Jennifer Taylor reports -
NHS Evidence advisory committee established
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has announced it is setting up an independent advisory committee for NHS Evidence. -
NHS recruitment and the patient safety push
NHS recruitment and staff record-keeping are important levers in the push to improve patient safety. Stephen Dangerfield explains -
Obesity leaves eating disorders in the shade
While national guidelines have stimulated change in crisis areas of mental health, eating disorders are only just beginning to receive the attention and specialist services sufferers need. Alison Moore reports -
PbR tariff for next year delayed until January
The final payment by results tariff for 2009-10 will be published in January, around three months late. -
PCTs may face bill for top-up refunds
Primary care trusts could come under pressure to refund tens of thousands of pounds to patients who have paid for top-up treatment. -
Presumed consent for organ donation
The British Medical Association has long enthusiastically supported presumed consent for organ donation, while strongly opposing presumed consent for doctors uploading patient records to a central electronic databas -
Quality and outcomes framework 'distracts GPs'
The quality and outcomes framework has been criticised as offering 'inappropriate financial incentives' to GPs that can 'distract' them from offering the best care. -
Report reveals financial benefits of medical research
Every pound invested in cardiovascular disease research brings benefits worth 39p a year, forever, academics have calculated.The year-long study into the financial and social benefits of investment in medical research, led by Brunel University, found that for mental health research the benefits were 37p per pound invested each year. -
Scotland slashes diagnostic waiting times
The Scottish NHS has slashed diagnostic waiting times but must now ensure that services are as efficient as possible. -
SHAs urged not to abuse their power
Strategic health authorities have been warned not to impose their strategies on primary care trusts through the world class commissioning process. -
Simon Stevens on Barack Obama's first steps
So what does Barack Obama's election victory mean for the future of the US health system? And what lessons, if any, are US policy makers likely to derive from recent NHS reforms? -
Six steps to integrated NHS workforce planning: step three
Are you considering your healthcare workforce plans? The Six Steps Methodology to Integrated Workforce Planning can help. -
Six steps to integrated NHS workforce planning: step two
Are you considering your healthcare workforce plans? The Six Steps Methodology to Integrated Workforce Planning can help. -
Social care: how can we help the helpless?
The death of Baby P has highlighted failings in assessing risk. Staff must be supported in making tough decisions if the chances of such tragedies happening are to be minimised -
Strengthening NHS customer service
Believing that customer service is the battleground where patients will be won, South Essex Partnership foundation trust has recently implemented a renewed customer service strategy. -
Task force rejects presumed consent for organ donation
Presumed consent for organ donation has been rejected by an expert government advisory committee.The UK organ donation task force said the risks of moving to the system outweighed the potential benefits. -
The 7 habits of highly ineffective managers
I've been re-dipping into one my bestest ever pop-management textbooks, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. -
UK risks a weaker role in EU health decisions
Devolution is weakening the UK's ability to influence the EU's growing hold over health policy, a report from the Nuffield Trust warns. -
Unite plans industrial action over NHS pay deal
Unite is planning a day of action against the three-year NHS pay deal. -
Where are the women in the HSJ50?
I was sorry to see only eight of the HSJ50 are women, and none of the top 10. -
Why are so many NHS influencers white men?
The HSJ50 - the ranking of the 50 most powerful people in English health management policy and practice, published in last week's magazine - is very male and very white.
