Health Service Journal
27 November 2008
View all stories from this issue.
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Advancing quality in the North West
The system being implemented in the North West was developed by US firm Premier, owned by 200 of the country’s not-for-profit hospitals. -
Alan Johnson opens England's first GP health centre
Health secretary Alan Johnson is today opening the first GP health centre in England. -
Ali Mohammed on NHS professions of the future
One of the issues that the good and the great are pondering is the role of different professions in the future. -
Andrew Jones on healthcare in a recession
We might not officially be in recession, but few would doubt the inevitability of a second quarter of negative growth being confirmed by the Office for National Statistics. -
Angela Greatley on help for released prisoners
Every year, more than 80,000 people end prison sentences in the UK. Most have a complex mix of mental health problems alongside drug or alcohol addictions and a myriad of other difficulties to face. -
Best foundation trust chief executives not getting best pay
The salaries of foundation trust chief executives bear little relation to the performance of their organisations, a pay analysis has revealed. -
Chancellor unveils plans for NHS cost savings
Primary care trusts will be asked to contribute to an extra £5bn of annual public sector efficiency savings by 2010-11, today's pre-Budget report saysThe report also says an extra £100m in capital funds will be spent upgrading up to 600 GP practices into 'training practices' as part of chancellor Alistair Darling's £3bn attempt to stimulate the economy by bringing forward planned investment from 2010-11 into the next two years. -
Complex public health problems need social innovation
The North West has made great strides in improving services but with complex problems persisting it will also take a process of social innovation to find creative solutions -
Deadline for Medical Education England job extended
The appointment of a chair to a new medical education body recommended by health minister Lord Darzi has been delayed amid fears the role is seen as a 'poisoned chalice'. -
DH reports mixed results on patient experience
The Department of Health has made mixed progress against a commitment to improve patient experience between 2005 and 2008. -
Did the HSJ50 event have a skeleton staff?
There were some great pictures of the HSJ50 soiree. -
Drive down NHS costs, raise quality: just a normal day at the office
While Alistair Darling's speech in the Commons on Monday barely mentioned the NHS, the small print of the chancellor's pre-Budget report spells the end of the era of rapid funding growth and big surpluses. -
Failings in end of life care waste £100m every year
Failings in the commissioning and provision of end of life care services are costing the NHS more than £100m every year.A damning National Audit Office report has found massive service variations, with a difference of more than £1,500 per death between the highest and lowest spending primary care trusts. -
Frank Atherton on the financial crisis and public health
The health and well-being of communities and individuals in the UK will not be immune from the effects of the evolving economic downturn in which we are now enmeshed. -
Give lifesaving care at a stroke
An Essex trust is proving what fast stroke response can achieve, by introducing a specialist acute unit. Mark Hunter explains -
GP referrals up by 300,000, statistics show
The number of GP referrals has shot up by nearly 300,000 compared with the same period last year, official statistics released today reveal.GP referrals made in the quarter ending 30 September have risen by 12.6 per cent, while other referrals have increased by 9.2 per cent. -
Great Ormond Street Hospital appoints new chairman
Great Ormond Street Hospital's new chair is to be former minister Baroness Blackstone. -
Health experts warn of measles epidemic
Health experts are warning of a measles epidemic after the highest ever number of cases were recorded. -
Healthcare Commission under fire after hygiene report
A row has erupted between the NHS Confederation and the Healthcare Commission, with the regulator accused of 'talking down' trusts in its latest report on the hygiene code. -
Healthcare quality measures that cannot be fudged
So new quality measures are in the offing. What about scrapping some of the old ones? Eighteen weeks has created an army of non-jobs, making up the rules, inspecting compliance and finding creative ways to get round -
Helen Bevan on NHS innovation
Innovation is a core theme for the next phase of NHS development. Innovation is about doing things differently or doing different things to achieve large gains in performance. -
Help announced to get people fit for work
Sick notes could be replaced by 'fit notes' and fit for work schemes launched for people who have been off work due to sickness, under proposals announced by health secretary Alan Johnson and work and pensions secretary James Purnell. -
Hidden racism and the health service
Does it matter to the NHS that an employee holds membership to the BNP? The BNP is not a banned organisation. -
HSJ50 got me thinking
I spent an idle 30 seconds last week perusing the HSJ's '50 people with the greatest influence on NHS management policy and practice in 2008'. -
HSJ50 list highlights inequalities
Your list of the 50 most influential people is notable for the low proportion of women: only seven out of 50. -
In search of an NHS chimera
As we all know, there are three kinds of people: those who can count and those who can't. -
Intelligence: how to streamline patient records
Welcome to the latest issue of Intelligence, the quarterly HSJ supplement dedicated to innovation, information and technology. -
Is cancer campaigning skewing health priorities?
It is a disease that grips both public and media attention and has become a dominant force in health policy as a result. But is vociferous campaigning over cancer care skewing priorities, asks Emma Dent -
Manchester Mental Health and Social Care trust appoints new chief
Manchester Mental Health and Social Care trust has appointed a new chief executive after its last one left and launched an unfair dismissal claim. -
Mark Hackett on healthcare and customer confidence
Some years ago our commissioners grasped the reality of market dynamics and sought to break traditional monopolies in healthcare provision. Cue the local opening of one of the country's largest independent sector treatment centres. -
Measuring healthcare quality
What a relief the Department of Health is not trying to second guess which quality measures have to be collected and reported. -
Media Watch: public sector salaries
Another day, another sackload of filthy dollars for the bloated plutocrats who make up the public sector workforce, according to The Daily Telegraph. -
Michael White on the NHS budget
I don't think I heard the word 'NHS' more than once during the chancellor's emergency budget - for that is what it was - on Monday. -
More to do on BME mental health - Healthcare Commission
NHS managers must work harder to improve mental health services for black and minority ethnic groups, the Healthcare Commission has urged. -
Most hospitals breaching hygiene code - Healthcare Commission
Only one in 10 hospitals is fully compliant with the government's hygiene code, a Healthcare Commission review suggests.Of 51 trusts visited unannounced by the regulator, only five met all the requirements. -
NHS braced for worst of Alistair Darling's £5bn spending cuts
The NHS must prepare for a substantial cut in planned funding from the year after next.Chancellor Alistair Darling's pre-Budget report set out plans to cut £5bn from government spending plans for 2010-11 - and the NHS is the largest of 12 areas that could be hit. -
NHS jobs and non-jobs
Flicking the comics recently, it looks like we're all in for a good kicking, with the first salvos being fired in the anticipated attack on so-called 'non-jobs' in the public sector. -
NHS procurement criticised for 'dysfuntional behavior'
The lack of an understood and agreed strategy has caused confusion, duplication and 'dysfunctional behaviour' in the NHS's procurement efforts, says the Office of Government Commerce. -
NHS property swap - from PCT to PPP
Plans to transfer billions of pounds of PCT property to public-private partnerships are one of the chancellor's initiatives to increase efficiency. -
Nursing and Midwifery Council 'making progress'
The Nursing and Midwifery Council is making 'real progress on all issues' since a highly critical regulatory review of its work, its stakeholders have said. -
Over a quarter of people in UK with HIV unaware of it, says HPA
Twenty-eight per cent of people living with HIV in the UK are unaware they are infected, the Health Protection Agency has said. -
Panel warns of European working time directive's risks
Growing concerns about NHS staffing could lead to service change plans neglecting accessibility and safety, the Independent Reconfiguration Panel has warned. -
Patients warn of clinical metrics bias
Efforts to win doctors' support for measuring quality should not be at the expense of involving patients, the Department of Health has been warned. -
Paul Stanton on steering the NHS through financial crisis
The credit crunch and the consequent financial turmoil it has unleashed is a global phenomenon. For those who govern NHS organisations, whether as commissioners or providers, the mantra 'think global, act local' has never been more pertinent. -
Person based allocations could help tackle health inequalities
Department of Health officials are drawing up a system to target health inequality funding towards the most deprived individuals in primary care trusts' areas, health secretary Alan Johnson has revealed. -
Personal branding: arm yourself with the right image
Is your image secure? In the latest in her series on branding, Debbie Smith offers a guide to reputation management -
Quality accounts: pressure on to pick a winning combination
In 18 months, trusts will have to produce their first quality accounts, based on a selection from hundreds of indicators. Dave West asks how trusts should choose their criteria, and how to act on what they find -
Six steps to integrated NHS workforce planning: step four
Are you considering your healthcare workforce plans? The Six Steps Methodology to Integrated Workforce Planning can help. -
Social care funding split could lead to schemes based on age
Health chiefs are considering splitting social care funding into separate schemes for people of working age and those in retirement. -
Social enterprise given three year shield from competition
New social enterprises in the health sector will be offered uncontested contracts for up to three years. -
South East Coast flows new funds into diversity networking
NHS South East Coast is spending 200,000 on equality and diversity networks in every trust following a damning review into barriers faced by the region’s black and minority ethnic staff. -
Steve Feast on leading care across boundaries
Achieving world class outcomes for patients challenges clinicians to ensure all parts of care pathways operate effectively and co-operatively. -
The end of the NHS
So the Labour Party has finally brought an end to the NHS. Universal healthcare free to all at the point of need and delivery is replaced by a universal healthcare floor over which you can buy anything that we're willing to sell you on an item of service basis depending on your ability to pay. -
Top-up implications will take years to become visible
The full consequences of Mike Richards' review of top-ups will only become apparent over the coming years. Managers and clinicians are scratching their heads trying to solve the problem of 'separation of care' between p -
Trafford Healthcare appoints new chief executive
Trafford Healthcare trust has appointed Ron Calvert as chief executive. -
Treasury is sending out mixed messages
Have we not been hearing that there is a need to stimulate the economy by encouraging people on lower to middle incomes to spend more? -
Trusts pressed to prepare for credit crisis blues
Commissioners must 'ramp up' capacity in psychological therapies to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of people being made redundant in the credit crunch. -
Warning that cuts will come as recession pushes up demand
Cuts to the planned NHS allocation for 2010-11 will come at a time of increased demand for health services caused by the ill effects of recession, managers are warning. -
What is causing GP referrals to rise?
The 15 per cent growth in GP referrals to hospital in quarter one 2008-09 is putting pressure on both providers and commissioners (see first graph). -
Working all hours means you're in the wrong job
I read Jenny Rogers' article with interest. If someone is working 60, 70 or 80 hours a week, takes work on holiday, works while eating and works at weekends, they are neither driven, ambitious, talented nor hard w -
Young people need better mental health services, says charity
Three in four young people with mental health problems are not receiving the treatment they need, according to a report by New Philanthropy Capital. -
Your Humble Servant: clinician questions
To: Don Wise, chief executiveFrom: Paul Servant, assistant chief executiveRe: How hard can it be?
