Health Service Journal
30 August 2012
View all stories from this issue.
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£1.5m invested in Bedfordshire practices
FINANCE: Up to £1.5m is to be invested in improving services in GP practices in Bedfordshire. -
A mountain to climb
Language, culture and distinct health needs are among the challenges for commissioners who have growing numbers of Nepalese people settling in their communities -
Barts misses A&E and cancer referral targets
PERFORMANCE: Barts Health Trust has missed performance targets for A&E and cancer referrals in quarter one of 2012-13. -
Barts predicts 'escalation' over FT application issues
STRUCTURE: Barts Health Trust has reported it is likely to be ‘escalated’ to the Department of Health for scrutiny of its foundation trust application. -
Barts reporting £8m deficit at end of June
FINANCE: Barts Health Trust saw “further slippage” on its finances in June, leaving a deficit of £8m at the end of the month, a report said. -
Barts software will not allow treatment to start without VTE assessment
PERFORMANCE: A new IT system being installed at Barts Health Trust in October will make it impossible to continue treatment of a patient without a venous thromboembolism assessment. -
Basildon receives CQC warning over A&E waits for children
Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals Foundation Trust has been given a formal warning by the Care Quality Commission after unannounced inspections found triage times for children were being breached. -
Blood tracking system plan for Nottingham
PATIENT SAFETY: Nottingham University Hospitals has become the first NHS trust in the country to use special blood-tracking software. -
Call to maintain Cancer Drugs Fund
Tens of thousands of cancer sufferers could be denied life-extending drugs unless the government finds a way to continue funding treatment for patients, a charity has warned. -
Cambridge seeks three non-executive directors
WORKFORCE: Three non-executive directors are being sought by Cambridge University Hospitals Foundation Trust. -
Chief: £170m mental health trust 'lost its way'
South West London and St George’s Mental Health Trust must win back the support of its commissioners if it is to survive as a standalone organisation, its new chief executive David Bradley has told HSJ. -
Colchester's £25m radiotherapy unit gets go-ahead
SERVICES: Plans for a £25m state-of-the-art radiotherapy unit at Colchester General Hospital have won planning permission, enabling work to get underway. -
Consultation in Herts before council takes over sexual health
SERVICES: People who use sexual health services in Hertfordshire are being asked what they think about the services as part of a consultation process. -
Crackdown on foreigners' use of NHS treatment
Ministers have warned they will not tolerate abuse of the NHS by foreign visitors after a woman reportedly flew from Nigeria so that she could have her baby in a British hospital. -
DH claims £1bn saving on IT deal
The Department of Health has finally reached a deal with the National Programme for IT’s biggest provider, which it claims will save more than £1 billion and give NHS organisations freedom to choose their own IT providers. -
DH tightens up rules on PCT redundancies
The Department of Health has tightened up the approval process for NHS redundancy payments as the abolition of primary care trusts and strategic health authorities approaches. -
Dozens of ambulance stations set to close in East Midlands
Dozens of ambulance stations could be closed across the East Midlands under plans intended to improve emergency response times. -
Fire disrupts Crawley Hospital
PERFORMANCE: A fire occurred at Crawley Hospital during the afternoon of Tuesday 28 August, mostly affecting two wards. -
For the good of the nation
There has been an unprecedented level of interest in mental health recently, both from the public and the national media. -
FT to receive council payout after planning win
FINANCE: Derby Hospitals Foundation Trust will receive thousands of pounds in legal costs from its local authority after winning a planning battle. -
Gynaecology ward refurbishment at West Suffolk
SERVICES: A £190,000 ward refurbishment will give women at West Suffolk Hospital for gynaecological services more privacy and dignity. -
Herts Partnership forms social enterprise to offer patients training
SERVICES: People with mental health conditions in Hertfordshire are to get the chance to train as grounds maintenance staff in a new initiative. -
Hospital fire probed over arson link
A fire at a hospital is being investigated by detectives amid fears it may be linked to three other suspected arson attacks. -
Huge rise in gastric bypass ops
The number of gastric bypass operations carried out by the NHS in England has risen five-fold during the past five years, new figures have revealed. -
Ignore the integration naysayers
Guts, passion and perseverance are key to integrating health and social care commissioning -
Increase in new consultants affects NHS job market
An annual survey of newly-qualified medical consultants has revealed the first indications of a workforce bulge, with new medics experiencing a “hostile” jobs market. -
Innovation beacon status for personality disorder service
SERVICES: Hertfordshire’s personality disorder service - run by Hertfordshire Partnership Foundation Trust - has been invited to become one of 15 community innovation beacon site in England. -
Jonathan Williams joins East Coast Community Healthcare
WORKFORCE: Jonathan Williams has taken up post as director of quality and assurance at East Coast Community Healthcare. -
Leicester contract for unit refurbishment
STRUCTURE: University Hospitals of Leicester is planning a £495,000 refurbishment of its existing aseptic unit at the Leicester Royal Infirmary. -
Local nurses for local people
The birth of CCGs is leading to more localised community nursing teams. But is this at the expense of specialist care? -
More about how we can help
Mills & Reeve can help you manage the changes and challenges flowing from the Health and Social Care Act -
New rules to tackle drugs lottery
More details have come to light of how hospitals that delay acting on National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance will be forced to explain hold-ups to patients. -
NHS Brent commissioning new trauma, medical oncology and orthopaedics outpatient services
COMMERCIAL: NHS Brent is commissioning new outpatient services in 11 service lines. -
Nicholson clamps down on interim managers' pay
NHS trusts have been ordered to stop paying interim senior executives off-payroll in a bid by the Department of Health to tackle possible tax avoidance. -
No CCG is an island
What are the legal implications of collaboration? -
Non-exec director gaffe sparks A&E charges row
FINANCE: A Midlands hospital has been forced to clarify its position on charging for A&E prescriptions after a PCT non-executive director misspoke in a meeting. -
North Somerset integration plan hits the rocks
Plans to create a new integrated foundation trust in North Somerset are looking increasingly unlikely to succeed due to the scale of the financial challenge involved, HSJ has learned. -
North West London Hospitals and Ealing Hospital merger to cost £30.4m
STRUCTURE: The merger of North West London Hospitals Trust and Ealing Hospital Trust is to cost £30.4m, board papers reveal. -
One in 10 NHS appointments missed
One in 10 health appointments were missed last year, costing the NHS millions of pounds and delaying treatment for other patients, figures suggest. -
Options for engaging members of the CCG governing body
One important issue facing the emerging CCG community is how to engage members of their governing bodies. Here we look at the available options. -
Out of the shadows
Bronchiectasis, first described by Rene Laennec in 1819, is a common long term respiratory condition caused by permanently damaged airways and over one in 1000 people in the UK now suffer from the disease. -
Patients lodge 3,000 complaints a week
Patients lodged 3,000 complaints about their experience of the NHS every week in the past year, figures suggest. -
Penalty clauses and the rule of law in NHS acute services
Are the financial adjustments for performance in relation to C difficile legal? -
Plans for coping with fewer staff criticised
Government departments do not have long-term plans in place for new ways of working with fewer staff, a group of MPs has warned. -
Police investigate 11 NHS staff after A&E death
PERFORMANCE: A criminal investigation has been launched into the death of a patient who collapsed outside a hospital A&E department. -
Regional pay consortium claims it can save 6,000 jobs
More than 6,000 NHS “jobs” in the South West could be saved if major changes go ahead to staff pay, and terms and conditions, it has been claimed. -
Reorganisation of mental health services in Luton
SERVICES: A number of mental health services in Luton are moving into a refurbished and extended unit on the Luton and Dunstable Hospital site. -
South West trusts sign multimillion-pound imaging contract
COMMERCIAL: Five South West trusts have signed a multimillion-pound contract for a digital imaging system which will allow staff to view images taken in other hospitals. -
Steve Field appointed to NHS Commissioning Board
Steve Field and Keith Willett have been appointed to senior positions on the NHS Commissioning Board, HSJ has been told. -
Suffolk invests in surgery
SERVICES: A new medical centre for Felixstowe has won the support of NHS Suffolk. -
The focus on reablement
The role of housing and health is not new. -
The Great UDI care race
America has fired the starting gun for sweeping changes to medical device procurement across the globe, with the Food and Drugs Administration announcing its mandate that all devices should have Unique Device Identifiers (UDIs). -
Training reforms make the grade
As the health workforce moves closer to the start of new education and training arrangements, we find out how it will help employers to shape their future workforce -
West Suffolk leases scanners for seven years
SERVICES: Two new scanners will provide better imaging services at West Suffolk Hospital. -
What makes service redesign legally defensible?
The British relationship with the NHS is a complex one. -
Yorkshire savings rely on reconfiguration
Two of the most challenged health economies in the country are relying significantly on major service reconfigurations, which are likely to require public consultation, for savings.
