Health Service Journal
26 April 2012
View all stories from this issue.
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A little more conversation: appraisal and revalidation
Every five years doctors must be ruled fit to practise, and regular appraisal is the cornerstone of the decision. Jennifer Taylor explains how to lead the process in your organisation. -
Ali Parsa on hospital process management
A major management challenge for hospital operators is the fact that hospitals are hybrid organisations. -
Analysed: the wider effect of Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust's financial woes
HSJ Local Briefing is our new in-depth analysis of the key issues facing the NHS’s major health economies. This week: the future of Mid Yorkshire Hospital Trust and the effect it will have on the surrounding area. -
AWP sets up in house bank service
WORKFORCE: Avon and Wiltshire Partnership Trust has terminated its contract with NHS Professionals and implemneted its own bank system. -
Basildon and Thurrock chair raises cleaning concern
PERFORMANCE: The chairman of Basildon and Thurrock Hospitals Foundation Trust has taken the unusual step of raising concerns about the level of cleaning in the trust in his report to the March board. -
Basildon and Thurrock's performance slips
PERFORMANCE: Performance at Basildon and Thurrock Hospitals Foundation Trust slipped in February and the trust is now rating itself red against Monitor’s compliance framework. -
Birmingham and Solihull cluster 21 per cent behind on QIPP
PERFORMANCE: The Birmingham and Solihull primary care trust cluster fell 21 per cent short of its quality, innovation, productivity and prevention savings target in 2011-12. -
Birmingham maternity capacity review begins
STRUCTURE: A review of maternity capacity in the Birmingham and Solihull area began this month. -
Birmingham Women's trust struggles on CIPs
PERFORMANCE: Birmingham Women’s Foundation Trust is struggling financially on gynaecology and maternity services, and struggling to achieve its own objectives in four out of five service areas. -
C difficile success for Western Sussex
PERFORMANCE: Western Sussex Hospitals Trust finished last year below its threshold for cases of C difficile but faces a tougher infection control task over the coming 12 months. -
Case study: how coaches help managers improve their performance
Two managers share their experiences of using coaching sessions to improve their skills - and consequently performance in their roles. -
CCG data service support to come from local suppliers
A leaked NHS Commissioning Board document suggests the majority of data “intelligence” services supplied to clinical commissioning groups will have to be provided by local commissioning support units, rather than on a national scale. -
CCGs excluding local medical committees, says GP leader
GPs have attacked what they claim is a determined attempt to ignore the views of local medical committees in the developing NHS commissioning world. -
Central and North West London Foundation Trust launches recovery college
PERFORMANCE: The mental health and community services provider has launched an educational service for people with mental health issues and those in receipt of addictions and learning disabilities services. -
Commissioners back trust's FT bid despite previous concerns
STRUCTURE: East Cheshire Trust has secured its commissioners’ backing to make a bid for foundation trust status, just months after they expressed doubts about its survival as an independent organisation. -
Commissioning board chair: liberation of the NHS 'won't happen overnight'
The health service should not expect a “sudden overnight change on 1 April next year” to an autonomous and liberated system, the chair of the NHS Commissioning Board has told HSJ. -
Commissioning board 'could control half of some trusts' income'
The NHS Commissioning Board expects to control half of the income for some trusts through its funding of specialised services. -
Commissioning functions delegated to three Birmingham and Solihull CCGs
STRUCTURE: Commissioning functions have been delegated to three out of Birmingham and Solihull’s five clinical commissioning groups. -
Consultancy wins prize for work with Newham Hospital
WORKFORCE: PricewaterhouseCoopers won a Management Consultancy Association award for its work on the east London hospital’s cost reduction programme. -
CQC criticises Kent and Medway assessment service
PERFORMANCE: The Care Quality Commission has identified major concerns at a service run by Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust. -
CQC finds Surrey and Borders compliant following 'mouse' incident
PERFORMANCE: A review of Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust by the Care Quality Commission has found one of its facilities to be compliant with four essential standards, but noted improvements could be made. -
Dartford and Gravesham busts C difficile target
PERFORMANCE: Dartford and Gravesham Trust looked set to miss its yearly target for C difficile by nearly 50 per cent, according to latest board papers. -
Demand outstrips plan in Birmingham and Solihull
PERFORMANCE: Emergency and elective admissions have exceeded plan in Birmingham and Solihull, with particular pressure around the Heart of England Foundation Trust. -
Ealing Hospital misses maternity target
PERFORMANCE: Ealing Hospital Trust has missed its target for 12-week screenings for pregnant women. -
Ealing Hospital over-performs on planned activity by £8.5m
FINANCE: The west London acute trust recorded a year-end overperformance of £8.5m. -
East Sussex Healthcare issues pathology tender
COMMERCIAL: East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust has issued a tender to provide pathology services for its hospital sites. -
Exclusive: Lansley letter requires commissioning board to devolve power
Andrew Lansley has written the NHS Commissioning Board setting out its “strategic priorities”, with an apparent aim to ensure it devolves power to clinical commissioning groups. -
Expect years of fundamental changes and austerity, says Grant
Malcolm Grant has predicted “fundamental changes in provision of health services” driven by a “vision” covering “not less than 10 years”. -
Extended community x-ray service in Surrey
STRUCTURE: Woking Community Hospital has extended the opening hours of its x-ray facilities to include weekends. -
From healthcare to self care: services that help patients look after themselves
Dee Kyne explains how investing in a service redesign secured savings for one practice and health improvements for its patients. -
GP practice closes in Surrey
STRUCTURE: A GP practice has shut after unsuccessful contract negotiations, NHS Surrey has announced. -
Greater Manchester trust to take over Cumbria drug recovery services
STRUCTURE: The trust has won a contract to take over the running of alcohol and drugs recovery services in Cumbria from 1 July 2012, it reported last week. -
Harrogate FT expecting 'difficult' contract negotiation
FINANCE: Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust was exepcting “difficult” contract negotiations for 2012-13 with its lead commissioner. -
Health board seeks legal advice over torchlit surgery
A health board is taking legal advice after a surgeon had to finish an operation by torchlight when maintenance workers switched off the power. -
How coaches can get the best out of leaders' skillsets
A good coach can help leaders adapt their management style, resulting in better use of their skills. Sue Mortlock hears some success stories. -
How GP practices can help patients help themselves
Dee Kyne takes us through the learning one GP practice uncovered in designing services that would free up clinicians’ time and help patients become better at self care. -
How to buy: digital dictation technology
The purchase of digital dictation and other related software by an NHS trust will constitute a purchase of goods for the purposes of the EU procurement rules as implemented under UK law. -
How to deliver integrated care alongside effective staff engagement
How and why is people management crucial to the success of integrated care? HSJ Award winner Jane Wells explains. -
How to utilise digital dictation technology for cost and time efficiencies
Digital dictation and related technology can save the NHS time and money, as long as trusts think carefully first about their needs, writes Alison Moore. -
'In 10 years' time, doctors will require a second opinion from a computer'
Devi Shetty – nicknamed the Henry Ford of heart surgery – believes developments such as computerised diagnoses and technicians doing the work of highly trained medics are just around the corner. Ben Clover hears his ideas for the future of medicine. -
Integrate mental health services for bigger savings - Confed
Integrating mental health and physical health services can lead to better patient care and significant savings, according to the NHS Confederation. -
Investigate two London hospitals, say parents cleared of baby's death
A young couple cleared of killing their son have called for an inquiry into Great Ormond Street and University College hospitals, it has been reported. -
Isle of Wight prepares to split commissioner and provider functions
STRUCTURE: The purchaser-provider split is set to be implemented on the Isle of Wight after the secretary of state approved plans to break up the existing primary care trust. -
James Paget receives another CQC warning
PERFORMANCE: The troubled James Paget University Hospitals Trust in Great Yarmouth has been given another formal warning by the Care Quality Commission. -
Jim Easton: Board to move quickly on year of care tariffs
The NHS Commissioning Board is moving “quickly but carefully” to adopt year of care tariffs, which are considered essential if the service is to meet its £20bn efficiency challenge. -
King's Fund called in to look at options for unwanted hospital
STRUCTURE: The London/Surrey borders acute trust is working with the King’s Fund to examine options for St Helier Hospital. -
Labour proposes free social care for terminally ill
Labour has proposed providing free social care to patients with a terminal illness and ending means testing, the party announced yesterday. -
Lansley: CCG allocations should be based on age, not poverty
Health secretary Andrew Lansley has suggested clinical commissioning group funding should take into account the age of a population rather than indices of deprivation, arguing age is the “principal determinant of health need” in an area. -
Latest waiting times 'embarrassing' for government - Labour
The government’s own monthly waiting times statistics showed patients are “paying the price” for the coalition’s NHS shake-up, Labour has claimed. -
Legal wrangling over future of Gloucestershire's community services continues
STRUCTURE: Lawyers have written to NHS Gloucestershire accusing the organisation of having “set its face against” trying to keep its provider arm within the NHS. -
Libyan injured 'brought dangerous bacteria to UK hospitals'
Civilian patients who were injured in the Libyan conflict last year and taken to the UK for treatment brought a dangerous bacteria with them, newly released documents reveal. -
London Ambulance chief leaving for New Zealand
WORKFORCE: London Ambulance Service chief executive Peter Bradley has announced he is leaving the post to take up a role in New Zealand. -
Mandate will test government's 'political grip' on NHS
The government must use its first “mandate” to prove its “willingness to truly release a tight political grip from the NHS”, Malcolm Grant said. -
Media Watch: Lansley's regional pay plan is 'from another planet'
Andrew Lansley is “threatening another controversial revolution in the NHS” with his plan for regional pay, shouted the Observer, which splashed on a story first reported by HSJ a week earlier. -
Merger business case delayed until after local election
STRUCTURE: The full business case for the merger of Ealing and North West London Hospitals Trust has been delayed until after the London Mayoral elections in May. -
Michael White: the battle over waiting times is blurred by both sides
Ministers feel pretty sore about the Patients Association’s headline-generating allegations that hospital waiting times are again stretching under the coalition. But what else should they expect in such an ideologically polarised climate over the NHS? -
Mike Farrar warns to expect politicised mandate
NHS Confederation has said the first NHS “mandate” will spark public and political debate about the service’s priorities. -
More patients report nurse shortages on wards
More hospital patients are reporting shortages of nursing staff on the wards, the latest national inpatient survey has revealed. -
New chair appointed for Basildon and Thurrock
WORKFORCE: A former Lord Mayor of London has been appointed chair of Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals. -
New chief executive for the NHS Litigation Authority
The NHS Litigation Authority has a new chief executive. -
New community IV therapy provider for CCG
COMMERCIAL: Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale’s clinical commissioning group will this week be asked to approve the award of a £1.36m contract for community IV therapy to not-for-profit provider Mastercall. -
New director appointed to Sussex Partnership
WORKFORCE: Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has appointed a new non executive director. -
New private hospital construction to get underway
STRUCTURE: A new private tertiary care hospital that will be part owned by doctors is to be built in Kent, it has been announced. -
NHS data skewed by efforts to protect trust finances
The “disproportionate” financial implications of changes to the way the NHS classifies patients have led it to maintain “inaccurate recording and inaccurate payments”, the Audit Commission has reported. -
NHS Direct staff uncertain over future as 111 deals pick up pace
NHS Direct staff in the North East still do not know whether they will be transferred to the new NHS 111 service due to go live in 12 months. -
NHS Employers targets reduced incremental pay rises
NHS Employers has launched a bid to reduce the impact of incremental pay rises in the NHS, it has been revealed. -
NHS reports strong performance on 18 weeks targets
The NHS continued its strong performance on waiting times in February, achieving all three 18 week referral-to-treatment measures for the second consecutive month. -
NHS Somerset awards £1.2m telehealth contract
COMMERCIAL: NHS Somerset has awarded a £1.2m telehealth contract to Safe Patient Systems. -
NHS Surrey launches vaccination drive
PERFORMANCE: NHS Surrey is reminding parents of the importance of protecting their children by getting them vaccinated. -
NHS Trust Development Authority chair appointed
The body responsible for pushing NHS trusts through the foundation trust authorisation process has appointed a chair. -
Nigel Edwards: how Lansley's big vision got shredded
Could the amendments to the Health and Social Care Bill leave the health secretary powerless to see through his grand plan, asks Nigel Edwards. -
Norman Williams on driving change
The revolution in access to cardiac surgery that Devi Shetty has facilitated in India shows what is possible through clinical leadership. -
North Cumbria savings target under pressure from 2011 shortfall
FINANCE: Shortfalls in North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust’s 2011-12 savings programme have nearly doubled the cost reductions it will need this year, its latest finance report shows. -
Novartis launches legal challenge against PCT cluster
A pharmaceutical company is taking a primary care trust cluster to court over its decision to encourage the use of a cheaper, unlicensed drug in a case that could be worth millions to the NHS. -
PCT backtracks on GP move after lease agreement
COMMERCIAL: NHS Surrey has sent an “urgent communication” that a GP practice is to stay in its current location just days before it was planned to move elsewhere. -
PCTs restricting availability of contraceptives
Primary care trusts are restricting the availability and prescribing of contraceptives leaving 3.2 million women without access to a full range of services, according to a report by a group of experts. -
Prentis warns Lansley over 'attack' on Agenda for Change
The government will face widespread industrial action by health workers if it launches an attack on NHS pay and the Agenda for Change agreement, the general secretary of Unison said today. -
Public health leader quitting NHS for Canada role
One of the country’s leading public health directors will be leaving the NHS for Canada next month, HSJ can reveal. -
Putting patients in the centre: the whole person approach to integrated care
Seraphim Rose Patel explains, with a colleague, how a whole person, whole system approach can reduce NHS and social care costs. -
Quantifying QOF: why practices need to take data collection seriously
Finding efficient ways of collecting GP performance data is a challenge that is vital for practices to face head on, writes Hannoh Lowish. -
Readers' letters - 26 April 2012
Why health and wellbeing boards will integrate the system -
Response to PiP scare was 'inadequate', say MPs
Action by the government and a health regulator to communicate with women over the PiP breast implants scandal was “inadequate”, MPs have said. -
Revenue rise for Birmingham Women's trust
FINANCE: Commissioners have agreed a £2.96m income rise for Birmingham Women’s Foundation Trust. -
Royal Sussex County part of national trauma drive
STRUCTURE: Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust is to be part of a national trauma network, the Department of Health has announced. -
Sally Gainsbury: acute hospitals are living in Monitor's 'downside'
We knew it was bad, but as Monitor has effectively declared, the NHS is now officially living the “downside”. -
SHA's proposed cut to mental health funding 'disgraceful'
FINANCE: A strategic health authority has asked staff to plan for a cut of nearly two-thirds in its mental health research and analysis budget to make up a shortfall on cancer projects. -
SHIP CSS to take more than 350 staff from PCT cluster
WORKFORCE: Commissioning Support South, the commissioning support organisation for the Southampton, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Portsmouth cluster, is expected to inherit 363 staff members from primary care trusts. -
Shropshire reconfiguration plans finalised
STRUCTURE: The full business case for reconfiguring acute services in Shropshire has been published ahead of final decisions by commissioners and the West Midlands strategic health authority. -
Somerset Partnership reopens mental health ward
STRUCTURE: A mental health ward where three patients died has reopened following a £3m refurbishment. -
Southampton researchers find milk benefits premature babies
RESEARCH: A neonatal expert based at Southampton’s teaching hospitals says earlier introduction of milk feeds for premature babies can improve their health and weight and reduce time spent in intensive care. -
Spire to manage trust's private patient unit
COMMERCIAL: The private hospital chain Spire has secured a three-year deal to run the private patient unit at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in north London. -
Suffolk hits year-end MRSA target
PERFORMANCE: NHS Suffolk had 13 cases of MRSA in its area by the end of February, against a year to date ceiling of 13. -
Sunderland FT surplus exceeding plan by £3.5m
FINANCE: City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust was exceeding its planned surplus by £3.5m as of March. -
Surrey health and wellbeing board lauded in Westminster
STRUCTURE: Surrey County Council cabinet member for adult social care and health Michael Gosling has spoken at a Westminster event about improving health and wellbeing. -
The DH continues to dance around the issue of CCG freedoms
Nigel Edwards – in his masterly analysis of the Health Act – declares that “the real level of autonomy available to clinical commissioning groups is likely to be determined by the behaviour of the NHS Commissioning Board… rather than by the legislation.” -
The duty of communicating information to patients
These are not been the best of times for healthcare regulators, or the regulated for that matter. -
The next big technology impact: an HSJ special supplement
This week’s HSJ supplement reports from a technology in the NHS roundtable discussion, sponsored by O2 Health. -
Troubled Yorkshire trust may need to be split up
FINANCE: A Yorkshire hospital trust has begun addressing its huge financial challenge, but will later need to attempt major service reconfiguration, and may ultimately face being split up. -
Trust put finances ahead of waiting lists, Monitor suggests
The foundation trust regulator has voiced “concern” that the Royal Bolton Hospital placed finance ahead of tackling its burgeoning waiting list problems. -
Union leaders attack regional pay proposals
Changing the pay rates of public sector workers, including NHS staff, to reflect regional differences would be an “unworkable, divisive nightmare”, union leaders have warned. -
Virgin community services deal confirmed
COMMERCIAL: Virgin Care (formerly Assura Medical) has now signed a contract with NHS Surrey to deliver community services across much of the county from 2012 to 2017. -
Western Sussex found February tough month for A&E
PERFORMANCE: Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust’s performance on accident and emergency waits slipped below target in February. -
Yeovil appoints four new non-execs
WORKFORCE: The chair of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in the UK and a former executive from John Lewis are among four new non-executive directors appointed at Yeovil District Hospital.
