Health Service Journal
Rebecca Evans

There is no time to waste as GPs grasp the scale of the challenge

29 July 2010
If primary care trust managers, GPs or indeed anyone else thought the consultation document on commissioning accompanying the white paper would answer most of their questions about the new policy, they have now been disabused.
Healthwatch to advise patients on choice

22-Jul-2010
Local “HealthWatch” organisations could be given responsibility for helping the public navigate health services and exercise choice, under proposals out for consultation today.
CQC chief welcomes 'formalisation' of relationship with Monitor

14-Jul-2010
The Care Quality Commission is to become a “quality inspectorate” focusing solely on the safety and quality of providers.
Nicholson tells chief executives: don't be defensive about change

13-Jul-2010
Sir David Nicholson has told NHS managers not to become defensive about the enormous changes they will need to implement across the health system.
NHS to take 'immediate steps' to split oversight of commissioning and provision

13-Jul-2010
The NHS is to take “immediate steps” to split the responsibility for commissioner and provider strategy at national and regional level to lay the ground for the changes set out in yesterday’s white paper.
Clarity is the key to tackling excess admissions

1 July 2010
Penalties for trusts doing too many emergency admissions, introduced in April, do not appear to have brought the numbers down.
Clinical engagement is about more than GPs

1 July 2010
At last week’s NHS Confederation conference, health secretary Andrew Lansley stressed the need for managers to engage with GPs, while batting away the question of how Treasury officials feel about giving them control of the commissioning purse strings - a question that is not going to go away.
Lansley must keep information flowing while NHS targets ebb away

24 June 2010
Andrew Lansley’s keynote speech at this week’s NHS Confederation conference could be the largest audience of health service managers he will ever address as health secretary.
Social care commission to examine range of funding models

20-May-2010
The coalition government is to set up a commission to look at the future of social care funding.
No Department of Public Health in coalition agreement

20-May-2010
The Conservatives’ pre-election pledge to turn the Department of Health into a Department of Public Health has not been included in the government’s coalition agreement.
Coalition combines NHS policies: Tory competition with Lib Dem local democracy

20-May-2010
The Liberal Democrats’ proposals for locally elected health boards have been incorporated into the government’s formal coalition agreement.
Managers welcome Burstow

20 May 2010
The appointment of Paul Burstow as minister of state for health has been welcomed by NHS managers keen to see social care reform move apace.
Andrew Lansley sets out priorities for NHS

12-May-2010
Health secretary Andrew Lansley has set out his priorities for the NHS.
NHS budget will increase in real terms, coalition document confirms

12-May-2010
The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have agreed there will be a real terms spending increase in the NHS budget.
Two trusts registered with conditions

19-Mar-2010
Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust and Milton Keynes Hospital Foundation Trust have been told their registration with the Care Quality Commission is conditional on them improving the safety and quality of their care.
Heed Liam Donaldson’s frosty warning on winter pressures

18 March 2010
The chief medical officer’s call for a plan to reduce the number of deaths in winter was welcomed by the health service but the responses from different parts of the sector smacked of buck passing.
DH must help make integration seamless

18 March 2010
Progress on Transforming Community Services indicates more integration is coming our way. “Vertical integration” is the method of the moment, and HSJ understands some primary care trusts feel under considerable pressure to head in that direction.
Media Watch: Mid Staffs in the papers

4 March 2010
It hasn’t been a good week for NHS PR, with the report on failings at Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust filling tabloids and broadsheets alike on Thursday and Friday, and the weekend papers coming back for a second helping.
Secrets, buckets and a princely opinion

25 February 2010
After the very public spat between Andy Burnham, Andrew Lansley and Norman Lamb over the future of social care funding, and the will-they-won’t-they running commentary on which of them would attend a conference on the issue last Friday, the press were shut out of the event itself.
Senior NHS ranks have proved their value, how can they maintain it?

11 February 2010
HSJ this week reveals that NHS trusts with the greatest increases in the number of managers are often those that are providing the best quality services.
Andrew Lansley points to joint powers in public health

11 February 2010
Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley wants a Conservative government to keep a firm hand on public health. In a joint interview with HSJ and sister title Local Government Chronicle, he tells Rebecca Evans how local collaboration will be vital
Patients shortchanged in local trade-off

11 February 2010
It is ominous when the health secretary won’t deny that a political ideal has been a “damp squib” in practice. And so to foundation trusts’ local accountability, which Andy Burnham spoke to HSJ about in an exclusive interview this week.
PCTs told to review management of out of hours care

4-Feb-2010
Primary care trusts have been told to review the way they oversee their arrangements for out of hours GP services to “ensure they are robust and fit for purpose”.
It’s crunch time, but job cuts are not the only way to save the NHS money

4 February 2010
While politicians have been quibbling over the size and the semantics of the public sector spending cuts to come, the NHS is quietly starting to get on with them.
NHS quality accounts must live up to the name

4 February 2010
A year and a half after former health minister Lord Darzi’s next stage review called for all NHS providers to publish quality accounts, there is still no real consensus on what they should look like.
MMR: it doesn't stand for mild mannered reporting

28 January 2010
At the end of this week, the General Medical Council’s case against Andrew Wakefield, the doctor whose Lancet article sparked unfounded fears over a link between the combined measles, mumps and rubella jab and autism, will make its preliminary verdicts on the “facts” of the case.
This is PCTs’ admission of failure – but everyone shares the blame

21 January 2010
Analysis of primary care trusts’ emergency and elective admissions data, shared exclusively with HSJ by health intelligence provider CHKS, reveals that in the majority of areas, both trends are going in the wrong direction: upwards.
Four nations: was England’s approach to the NHS on target after all?

20-Jan-2010
Research published this week by the Nuffield trust has reignited the debate over the value of health service targets.
Zimmer frames in the snow and sinister swine flu

14 January 2010
Ten days ago it looked as though we would get nothing but blanket coverage of the snow - in both senses - for days on end.
Hospital income link to patient satisfaction

11-Dec-2009
Hospitals will have up to 10 per cent of their income based on patient satisfaction, health secretary Andy Burnham announced yesterday.
Andy Burnham tells local government and NHS not to be 'precious' about funding

10-Dec-2009
Health secretary Andy Burnham has called for health and social care to be more equal partners - and not be “precious” about budgets.
Andy Burnham offers to guarantee nurses' jobs in return for less pay

10-Dec-2009
Frontline NHS staff could be given a guarantee that they will be able to keep their job if they are prepared to be paid less, health secretary Andy Burnham announced today.
NHS management costs to be slashed by 30 per cent

10-Dec-2009
Management costs in primary care trusts and strategic health authorities are to be slashed by 30 per cent over the next four years, health secretary Andy Burnham has announced.
'You don't have to be insensitive to work here, but it helps'

10 December 2009
New Horizons, launched on Monday, got a pleasing amount of coverage for a mental health story.
Andy Burnham confirms health and social care marriage

9-Dec-2009
Health secretary Andy Burnham has told MPs that the NHS and local government should stop applying rigid rules about which services they each pay for, in direct response to HSJ’s revelation that the NHS is expected to take greater responsibility for social care.
Alistair Darling guarantees spending increases on 'frontline NHS'

9-Dec-2009
Chancellor Alistair Darling has pledged spending increases for the “frontline NHS” for two years from 2011.
Government spending growth will fall to 0.8 per cent by 2014

9-Dec-2009
Chancellor Alistair Darling said in his pre-Budget speech that spending growth will fall to 0.8 per cent a year between 2011-12 and 2014-15.
Alistair Darling pledges research and development boost for pharmaceutical industries

9-Dec-2009
Chancellor Alistair Darling has said he wants to encourage research and development in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, announcing a new lower 10 pence corporation tax on income which stems from patents in the UK.
Public sector pensions to be brought in line with private sector, Alistair Darling says

9-Dec-2009
Public sector pensions must be brought “broadly in line with those offered to the private sector”, chancellor Alistair Darling has announced.
Labour plan puts adult social care in NHS hands as ministers seek savings

9-Dec-2009
Radical proposals to give the NHS responsibility for social care are expected to be at the heart of a government “vision” of how the health service will be able to thrive in the context of restricted funding.
HSJ exclusive: NHS to take responsibility for social care

8-Dec-2009
The NHS is to be given far greater responsibility for social care under plans expected to be announced by the government in coming days, HSJ understands.
Are death rates fair? You decide

3 December 2009
Drip, drip, drip. No, not the sound of a hospital “deep clean” in action, but the horror-on-horror, day-by-day reporting in the run-up to and wake of the publication of Dr Foster’s annual Hospital Guide.
NHS managers to back Labour as job fears focus their minds

5 November 2009
An HSJ survey has revealed that NHS managers look more likely than the population at large to back Labour in next year’s general election, perhaps driven by anxiety about job security under the Conservatives. Rebecca Evans studies the findings
Bullying review: 'proud' chief executives must be forced to accept help

29-Oct-2009
Reluctance by “proud” chief executives in particularly challenging jobs to ask for help “should be resisted”, an independent review has concluded.
Media Watch: bingo wing treatment gets DH backing

29 October 2009
The Nintendo Wii Fit Plus has become the first computer game to be endorsed by the Department of Health, the papers trumpeted this week.
Media Watch: News of the World becomes preferred provider

22 October 2009
It doesn’t happen often, but this week the intricacies of health policy have made it into the tabloids.
NHS admin must be slashed by £1.5bn

8 October 2009
NHS organisations are preparing to have to shave a third off their running costs if the Conservatives take power next year.
Andrew Lansley pledges to slash NHS bureaucracy

5-Oct-2009
Conservative health spokesman Andrew Lansley has promised that a Tory government would cut spending on NHS admin by a third.
Media Watch: 'secret tipplers' and Scottish GPs

1 October 2009
In the NHS, there is widespread agreement that early action to prevent disease, or at least spot it earlier, is beneficial for patients and the health service alike.
Andy Burnham’s preferred bidder pledge questioned

24 September 2009
Questions have been raised over the implications for competition and world class commissioning of health secretary Andy Burnham’s statement that the NHS is the “preferred provider” of services.
Media Watch: NHS cost cutting

24 September 2009
At the start of last week, the papers were obsessed with Gordon Brown’s first use of the C-word. By the end of the week politicians of all hues were at it and it was impossible to get away from it.
Patient satisfaction guaranteed: the future of payment by results?

24 September 2009
The health secretary’s promise of a greater focus on patient experience has the approval of NHS leaders - as long as it is done properly, reports Rebecca Evans
Andy Burnham warns NHS managers not to conduct 'mini spending reviews'

17-Sep-2009
NHS managers must not conduct their own “mini spending reviews” in advance of political decisions about NHS funding, the health secretary has warned.
'People, the NHS needs managers'

10 September 2009
The media seized on HSJ’s scoop on the Department of Health-commissioned McKinsey report.
Acute trust mergers expected to increase

9-Sep-2009
The co-operation and competition panel is expecting a surge in cases evaluating the costs and benefits of acute trust mergers, says its director Andrew Taylor.
Media Watch: nurses, hospital food and cricket

3 September 2009
Last week nurses came under fire. All 300,000 of them were momentarily tarred with the same brush that had painted the 16 examples of poor care highlighted by the Patients Association last week.
NHS leaders vow to cut emissions by 10pc

2-Sep-2009
NHS organisations are being urged to make a public commitment to cut their carbon dioxide emissions by at least 10 per cent during 2010.
Military training for NHS managers will win frontline battles

27 August 2009
Monitor has invited senior foundation trust managers to attend a leadership programme at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Patient records: jokes about doctors’ bad handwriting are no longer funny

27 August 2009
The Audit Commission has found that 8 per cent of the bills sent by trusts to commissioners last year were for the wrong treatment.
Darzi's old fashioned defence of the NHS

20 August 2009
This week turned into a free for all when it came to writing about the NHS - pretty much anyone who’s ever come into contact with it (i.e. everyone)and can string a sentence together can join in.
Lords raise questions on swine flu preparedness

30 July 2009
The Lords science and technology committee has highlighted “serious questions” about the UK’s preparedness for swine flu.
Norman Lamb and his love of rap

30 July 2009
As populist scare stories go, The Sun has got to be applauded this week for combining two of the nation’s (largely unfounded) fears: drug users and swine flu - not just once but twice.
Keep calm and carry on: staff, like patients, need reassuring

23 July 2009
HSJ and Nursing Times’s survey this week of almost 1,500 staff reveals a national health service largely confident in its ability to cope with the swine flu pandemic, but concerned their jobs are being made more difficult by hype and hysteria.
Media Watch: is Burnham the new Pants Man?

16 July 2009
As swine flu takes increasing hold it will be interesting to see how the national papers’ coverage of the pandemic begins to diverge.
Number 10 confirms Lord Darzi resigns as health minister

15-Jul-2009
The government confirmed last night that health minister Lord Darzi would be leaving the government and published his resignation letter to the prime minister.
Mediawatch: swine flu... it could be you

9 July 2009
We’ve all got guilty pleasures that are bad for our health and this week there is another one to add to the list.
Michael Jackson brings out the celebrity in all of us

2 July 2009
In these digital times, it was interesting to watch the way the news of Michael Jackson’s death broke online and then spread through the more traditional news media.
NHS competition panel allows foundation trust to take over community services

30-Jun-2009
The co-operation and competition panel has recommended that the transfer of a primary care trust’s community services arm to a foundation trust be allowed.
Home care to ease hospital bed demands

18 June 2009
A Number 10 document setting out the government’s plans for the next 12 months will promise more care for people in their own homes.
Andy Burnham promises to overhaul NHS targets

11-Jun-2009
Health secretary Andy Burnham has promised to “deep clean the target regime”.
Andy Burnham makes prevention a mission for the NHS

11-Jun-2009
Health secretary Andy Burnham has said prevention of ill health will be a major plank of health policy on his watch.
Media Watch: Hello (again) Andy Burnham

11-Jun-2009
It’s farewell to Alan Johnson and hello (again) to Andy Burnham, previously a health minister, who’s made it back to the top job in Richmond House via what the press dubbed a “shotgun” reshuffle, forced by the unexpected resignation of work and pensions secretary James Purnell.
Andy Burnham: don't sideline NHS quality

11 June 2009
Raising the quality of services is the best way to improve productivity as NHS spending is cut, and this should not be a time of “gloom”, the new health secretary has told HSJ.
Steve Barnett says it’s 'make or break' for the NHS

10-Jun-2009
The NHS is facing a “make or break” moment in its history, NHS Confederation chief executive Steve Barnett told delegates at the conference today.
David Nicholson warns NHS: 'all bets are off'

4-Jun-2009
David Nicholson has told HSJ “all bets are off”, as the health service prepares itself now for impending spending cuts.
David Nicholson warns SHAs not to be defensive over visits

4 June 2009
Strategic health authorities have been warned not to “guard the borders” if they want to get the most out of their assurance process.
Media Watch: Alan Johnson does his own PR

28 May 2009
The weekend before last, The Independent ran an interview with Alan Johnson in which, in answer to a question about whether politicians would ever be trusted again, the health secretary said the political system needed a complete “overhaul” and called for voters to be consulted on proportional representation.
Media Watch: expenses and NHS prescriptions for sunshine

21 May 2009
With MPs’ expenses dominating the news this week, there was less room than usual for NHS manager bashing, miracle cures or the rest of the usual health-related fare.
Patient reported outcome measures raise questions of how need for operations is decided

14 May 2009
HSJ’s revelation this week that tens of millions of pounds are being spent on treatments that arguably do not improve patients’ lives serves to focus minds.
Strategic health authority chiefs bring a new flavour to the NHS

14 May 2009
After many months, we once again have a full complement of strategic health authority chief executives, even if one of them has been given the honour of being made temporary flu czar (news, page 7).
Mid Staffordshire: improvement must be routine, not just the result of a scandal

7 May 2009
In his report into the lessons to be learned from the failures at Mid Staffordshire foundation trust, national primary care director David Colin-Thomé concluded that responsibility lies firmly with the management board and staff.
NHS quality improvement needs patient choice data

7 May 2009
One year after the introduction of free choice, early analysis suggests some patients are using their right to choose the hospital at which they are treated.
Mid Staffs reports: new duties on NHS to prove patient involvement

30-Apr-2009
The government has announced that NHS organisations will have to publish information that proves they are involving patients to prevent a repeat of the failures at Mid Staffordshire foundation trust.
Rose Gibb judgement is 'the right decision', says Maidstone chief

28-Apr-2009
The chief executive of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust has welcomed the High Court judgement that it did not breach its former chief executive Rose Gibb’s contract.
Shock Rose Gibb court judgement

28-Apr-2009
Rose Gibb has lost her claim against Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust for breach of contract.
Whooping cough making a 'dramatic comeback', warn Liberal Democrats

27-Apr-2009
Diseases such as whooping cough and scarlet fever are making a “dramatic comeback”, the Liberal Democrats have warned.
Conservatives to let patients choose individual consultant

23 April 2009
The Conservatives have set out their intention to give patients more choice over the individual clinician providing their treatment.
NHS Employers appoints head of employment services

17-Apr-2009
NHS Employers has appointed Karen Charman as its head of employment services.
Media Watch: 'Forget the smears, this one was old fashioned political spin'

16 April 2009
Easter: for many the chance to enjoy a relaxing four day break. For health secretary Alan Johnson and his shadow Andrew Lansley, seemingly the ideal time to don political boxing gloves and engage in a little sparring. A warm-up when fewer people than usual are paying attention, perhaps?
Camden PCT given information warning

2-Apr-2009
Camden primary care trust has been given until the end of the month to improve the security of personal information it holds or risk being held in contempt of court.
NHS told to help staff get healthier

30-Mar-2009
NHS organisations have been told to follow private companies’ example to help their staff get fitter - and save the health service an estimated £1bn a year.
Camden PCT faces data penalty

26 March 2009
Camden primary care trust has been given until the end of the month to improve the security of personal information it holds or risk being held in contempt of court.
No excuses in this new era of regulation

26 March 2009
With the Care Quality Commission going live next Wednesday, the Healthcare Commission has published a swathe of reports before its demise.
Now stress levels are down, take the time to talk to staff

26 March 2009
The results of this year’s staff survey give managers - and the rest of the NHS - much to feel proud of and some obvious areas for improvement.
Oxford college principal appointed Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals chair

24-Mar-2009
Dame Fiona Caldicott has been appointed chairman of Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals trust.
Detailed care record legality challenged

23-Mar-2009
The NHS detailed care record and the secondary uses service are among two public sector databases deemed “almost certainly illegal” in a report by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust.
Media Watch: Sir Liam's proposals to cut binge drinking

19 March 2009
One can’t help but feel sorry for Sir Liam Donaldson. Britain’s “top doctor”, in theory the living, breathing exemplar of the Department of Health’s desire to have more clinical leaders, has been royally hung out to dry.
Scottish cancer centres lead on high-tech radiotherapy

18-Mar-2009
All of Scotland’s cancer centres are to be allocated money to provide high-tech radiotherapy.
Government boosts flu pandemic drug stockpile

30-Jan-2009
The government has awarded contracts to double supplies of antiviral drugs to treat pandemic flu.
Media Watch: South East Coast in the headlines

29-Jan-2009
NHS South East Coast must be holding its head in its hands about its press coverage this week and last.
NHS Confederation backtracks over SHA claims

29-Jan-2009
The NHS Confederation has been forced to clarify its position on strategic health authorities after one of its senior policy managers last week called for a major rethink of their role under a new regulatory regime.
Specialist doctors say NHS is institutionally ageist

27-Jan-2009
Almost half of specialist geriatric doctors think the NHS is institutionally ageist, according to a survey by Help the Aged.
Council must echo rousing call to next generation of leaders

22-Jan-2009
'If ever there was a moment for leadership in the public sector, this is it.' This statement, which sounds like a politician's soundbite, was in fact from Mark Goldman, chief executive of Heart of England foundation trust.
Maternity matters: stop passing the buck

22-Jan-2009
The commitments made in Maternity Matters are due to be met by the end of the year.
Special administrators will oversee fate of failing NHS trusts

22-Jan-2009
The fate of failing NHS trusts will be decided within three months of a special administrator being appointed to take over the roles of the chair and the board.
Gordon Brown, Alan Johnson and David Nicholson sign 'historic' NHS constitution

21-Jan-2009
Gordon Brown has described today's launch of the NHS constitution as an 'historic occasion'.
Media Watch: DH salaries

15-Jan-2009
Since everything is about money at the moment, it is perhaps no surprise that enterprising politicians have been totting up what the NHS and government spend on everything from celebrities to Department of Health officials.
NHS South Central blazes a trail on water fluoridation

15-Jan-2009
The consultation over putting fluoride in water supplies on the south coast is proving a ‘totemic argument between state and individual’. Other areas will be watching the outcome closely, reports Rebecca Evans
Trusts to monitor mobile phone use in hospitals

15-Jan-2009
Trusts must work out how they will effectively monitor the use of mobile phones with cameras to ensure they are not used in hospitals to take inappropriate pictures.
Hospitals told to prevent camera phone abuse

6-Jan-2009
Trusts must work out how they will effectively monitor the use of mobile phones with cameras to ensure they are not used in hospitals to take inappropriate pictures.Guidance published today by the Department of Health says trusts should have a clear written policy on the use of mobile and camera phones. All staff should know the policy and signs should leave patients in no doubt about the rules.
'Revolving doors' ministers should face greater scrutiny, MPs urge

5-Jan-2009
The House of Commons public administration select committee has called for greater consistency in the rules preventing former government ministers from using contacts built up in public office to further their own interests.
Unison 'disappointed' over NHS pay deal

17-Dec-2008
Unison has said it is disappointed by the NHS pay review body's decision not to ask the government to re-open the three-year pay deal.
Media Watch: Andrew Lansley's recession comments

4-Dec-2008
Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley does not make headlines that often, but this week he had no shortage of coverage after he wrote on an official Conservative party website that recession 'can be good for us' because people tend to smoke and booze less, eat less rich food and spend more time at home with their families.
Social enterprise given three year shield from competition

27-Nov-2008
New social enterprises in the health sector will be offered uncontested contracts for up to three years.
New social enterprises to be offered uncontested contracts

21-Nov-2008
New social enterprises in the health sector will be offered uncontested contracts for up to three years.
Local NHS managers will get free choice of quality measures

20-Nov-2008
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.
£13.5m earmarked for public health initiatives

19-Nov-2008
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.
Government announces new drug pricing scheme

19-Nov-2008
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.
Clawback puts financial safety net to the test

13-Nov-2008
A fortnight ago HSJ revealed the Treasury was eyeing up NHS surpluses. This week we tell you how much will be clawed back.
NHS top-ups are no substitute for offering a death with dignity

13-Nov-2008
The response to Mike Richards’ review of co-payments has been largely positive. The cancer czar had a tricky job to do, forced to navigate choppy ideological waters and land at a practical resolution.
Alan Johnson wants fewer London PCTs

30-Oct-2008
Alan Johnson has called for a debate about whether there are too many primary care trusts in London. The health secretary told HSJ that he didn't think having 31 PCTs covering London was 'the most sensible arrangement'.
Johnson keeps the faith on inequalities

30-Oct-2008
Health secretary Alan Johnson says the life expectancy gap is closing and he is promising the end of GP shortages. There is more to do but this is no time for a 'counsel of despair', he tells Rebecca Evans
Phil Hope gets beefed-up DH social care portfolio

9-Oct-2008
The profile of social care has been given a potential boost with the appointment of Phil Hope as a minister of state for care services in the Department of Health.
Phil Hope takes over social care brief at DH

6-Oct-2008
Phil Hope has been appointed as a minister in the Department of Health, replacing Ivan Lewis.Mr Hope takes over the social care portfolio. The department is in the middle of an emotive debate on the future shape of care and support, intended to precede a green paper on reform of social care funding.
Andrew Lansley pledges to double the count of single rooms

2-Oct-2008
The Conservatives have pledged to almost double the proportion of single rooms in NHS hospitals within the first term of a Conservative government.
Q&A: Andrew Lansley on the single-room promise

2-Oct-2008
HSJ asks Andrew Lansley about his pledge to give every patient access to a single room in five years.
Andrew Lansley wins strong support from NHS managers

25-Sep-2008
Andrew Lansley has won respect from managers for his detailed knowledge of the health service. Can he transfer this to the Cabinet if the Conservatives win power? Rebecca Evans asks him
Gordon Brown promises free prescriptions for cancer patients

24-Sep-2008
Gordon Brown promised to abolish prescription charges for cancer patients as part of a 'new settlement' focusing on fairness.In what had been described before he spoke as the speech of his life, the prime minister's announcement that he would scrap the charges for cancer patients from April was well received in the conference hall.
Conservatives plan to step up councils' role in health

4-Sep-2008
Public health directors would have to report to local authorities under plans announced by the shadow health secretary last week.
Media Watch: public health drive

4-Sep-2008
Andrew Lansley argued last week that businesses would sign up to the public health drive as long as they weren't subject to excessive regulation.
Government to underwrite hospital trusts' assets

3-Sep-2008
The government is to underwrite hospital trusts' assets to prevent them going bust and ending up in court.HSJ has learned that the Department of Health is to issue a consultation paper this month that rules out insolvency for trusts that are failing financially.
Lansley boosts councils' role in public health

1-Sep-2008
Public health directors would have to report to local authorities under plans announced by the shadow health secretary last week.Andrew Lansley told an audience at the think tank Reform that the Conservatives now envisaged councils having an even greater role in improving public health.
Media Watch: rats in hospitals

14-Aug-2008
It was no great surprise that the papers went wild for the Tories' freedom of information 'revelation' that our hospitals are overrun with 'vermin'.
Cancelling cleaning contracts 'will be easier'

31-Jul-2008
The government will look at how to make it easier for trusts to terminate contracted-out cleaning services when they are not satisfied with them.
Welsh trusts successful in call for their own abolition

24-Jul-2008
NHS trusts in Wales have succeeded in their unanimous push to bring about their own demise.
SHA chief gets top job at Care Quality Commission

22-Jul-2008
Cynthia Bower is to be appointed as the chief executive of the Care Quality Commission.Ms Bower, the chief executive of West Midlands strategic health authority, is expected to be confirmed as the chief executive imminently, HSJ can reveal.
Private orthopaedic clinic fined for registration breaches

17-Jul-2008
A court has fined the company that runs a private orthopaedic clinic for breaching the conditions of its registration as a healthcare provider.
Watchdogs call for alcohol and obesity focus

17-Jul-2008
Alcohol abuse and obesity must be tackled more systematically or they could 'derail' overall health improvements, the health and spending watchdogs have warned.
Join up - management is not the dark side

10-Jul-2008
Today we launch a new section on hsj.co.uk dedicated to the needs of present and aspirant clinical leaders.
Media Watch: looking back on 60 years

10-Jul-2008
On the NHS's 60th anniversary, several papers concluded the government is not doing a bad job of running the service.
Publish and be damned: death rates could improve outcomes

10-Jul-2008
With quality now firmly established as the health service's new mantra, its measurement is the next step.
Managers put faith in Darzi's clinical vision

3-Jul-2008
Managers believe Lord Darzi's vision for the NHS, where quality is financially rewarded and commissioning is the lynchpin of the service, is achievable within the next 10 years.
Johnson calls for 'champions of quality'

25-Jun-2008
Health secretary Alan Johnson has told managers they must be 'the champions of quality'.
Call for managers to improve NHS reputation

19-Jun-2008
NHS leaders must engage with their workforce, strengthen their communications and hold their hands up where mistakes have been made, the director of NHS communications has told delegates at the NHS Confederation conference.
Implement new technologies with care, trusts told

19-Jun-2008
Every trust should establish a technology planning committee to evaluate new technologies and consider their impact on the workforce and operation of the trust, attendees at the NHS Confederation annual conference have heard.
Alan Johnson tells Confed: champion quality

18-Jun-2008
Health secretary Alan Johnson has told managers they must be 'the champions of quality'.Speaking at the NHS Confederation conference, Mr Johnson said the 'overwhelming emphasis' of health minister Lord Darzi's next stage review would be on quality.
Media Watch: polyclinic plans

12-Jun-2008
It seems even apparently mild-mannered Alan Johnson can snap. After months of doctors sniping at polyclinics, he did - via The Observer.
Nick Clegg pledges GP rewards in poorer areas

12-Jun-2008
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has said he wants to 'slant the playing field in favour of GPs working in the most deprived areas'.
Darzi review: regions promise safer and fairer services

5-Jun-2008
NHS West Midlands is to focus on prevention, quality improvement and patient involvement in a bid to tackle 'an unjustifiable variability in the safety and quality of services'.
West Midlands and South East Coast set out Darzi visions

3-Jun-2008
NHS West Midlands has identified ‘seven big challenges’ for healthcare in the region, including an ‘unjustifiable variability’ in the safety and quality of services.
Darzi review: NHS South Central to tackle health inequalities

19-May-2008
NHS South Central has pledged to work to reduce massive variations in life expectancy and access to services.
Darzi review: PCTs told reforms must save lives

8-May-2008
Junior health minister Lord Darzi is to tell primary care trusts they can reconfigure local services only where they can prove it will save lives or improve health outcomes.
Conservatives to let GPs pick their own hours

24-Apr-2008
The Conservatives have backed GPs' calls to be allowed to determine their own opening hours.
London's red alert on Darzi will affect other regions

24-Apr-2008
NHS London has highlighted concerns over the implementation of Lord Darzi's proposals for healthcare, raising its rating of the risks of insufficient leadership from amber to red.
Welsh health service set on different path

24-Apr-2008
Proposals to abolish the internal market, end the purchaser provider split and fund services from the centre are setting Wales' health service on a different course from the rest of the UK.
Bradshaw warns PCTs: make the right choice

17-Apr-2008
As ‘free choice’ is extended to all patients, minister Ben Bradshaw tells primary care trusts they must undergo a cultural change to make it work - with consequences if they fail. Rebecca Evans met him
PCTs warned not to fail on choice

17-Apr-2008
Health minister Ben Bradshaw has told primary care trusts to 'get their act together' to promote and deliver choice of treatment for patients.
Freedom of information: accountability is part of the job

27-Mar-2008
Hounslow primary care trust's failure to meet its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act was so severe that the information commissioner Richard Thomas served draft High Court papers to force it ...
Practices' minimum income is a guarantee of health inequity

27-Mar-2008
Figures obtained by
IT programme saved £208m

13-Mar-2008
The national programme for IT saved the NHS £208m in 2006-07, a report on the benefits of the programme is expected to say.
Lousy singer, great lobbyist - Morgan is a tough act to follow

27-Feb-2008
As the tributes pour in for Gill Morgan following the announcement that she is to leave the NHS Confederation, it is clear not only how well liked and respected she is, but also how far she has taken the organisation in six years.
Basic data 'should be free'

21-Feb-2008
The chief executive of the Information Centre has promised to 'put right' the perception that Dr Foster has Intelligence unfair access to NHS data.
'Pay for performance' could be next, says NHS medical director

7-Feb-2008
The NHS medical director has warned managers of the national clinical audit programme that they 'must deliver' or they could lose their contract.
Mental health funding rows must not hinder urgent care

31-Jan-2008
Being sectioned under the Mental Health Act is traumatic, but a section being delayed because of a row over funding is even more distressing.
Patients could hold answer to gender work rate differences

31-Jan-2008
For the increasing number of female consultants, research this week that concludes they are less productive than their male counterparts is likely to make them bristle.
Management costs: trusts can only benefit from comparison

24-Jan-2008
Figures published by the Department of Health reveal huge variations in NHS trusts' management costs, from 0.4 per cent of their income up to 15 per cent.
Strong accountability offers a chance to focus on the neediest

24-Jan-2008
How best to reduce health inequalities? Our news analysis this week shows what has long been suspected: that different areas not only have starkly different premature death rates, but that in some ...
Clegg throws down mental health gauntlet

17-Jan-2008
Mental health is not an issue that politicians generally choose to make a splash on. But newly elected Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg had more to say about mental health in his inaugural speech on public policy than ...
Lib Dem leader outlines plans for the health service

17-Jan-2008
The new leader of the Liberal Democrats has outlined his party's proposals for all patients to be given a set of 'entitlements' to treatment, based on their condition.
Ministers should heed warnings over accountability

17-Jan-2008
Wrangling over the precise remit of the forthcoming Care Quality Commission continues apace.
Brown talks to HSJ about his preventive healthcare vision

10-Jan-2008
Foundation trusts are to provide primary care services, recruit more members and take over failing trusts under the prime minister’s vision for the future of the NHS.
Most managers doubt 21st century NHS will stay free

10-Jan-2008
Only one fifth of health service managers believe the NHS will be free at the point of demand in 60 years.
Brown calls for 'deeper and wider' NHS reform

7-Jan-2008
Gordon Brown has promised greater personal and preventive healthcare as part of his vision for the NHS.In his first major speech on health since becoming prime minister, Mr Brown told an audience of health professionals in London that if the NHS is to meet the needs of the 21st century, 'we will have to embrace even deeper and wider reform'.
NHS leaders honoured for services to healthcare

2-Jan-2008
Robert Naylor, chief executive of University College London Hospitals foundation trust, has been awarded a knighthood in recognition of his services to healthcare.He was among tens of healthcare professionals to be honoured in the Queen's New Year's Honours List.
Health inequalities focus for new national strategy

13-Dec-2007
Reducing health inequalities, cutting healthcare-acquired infections and planning for emergencies will be among the priorities for the health service in 2008.
Race law warning from DoH

13-Dec-2007
The NHS's most senior equality official has warned that the Department of Health could stop working with organisations that do not fulfil their obligations under race equality legislation.
Media Watch: cancer strategy

6-Dec-2007
The furore over party funding squeezed most health coverage out last week, but it made a return to the headlines as the government briefed newspapers on its new cancer strategy.
Climate change experts to visit trusts

29-Nov-2007
A team of climate change experts is to tour the country to galvanise trusts to take action on sustainable development in the health service.
Media Watch: Gordon Brown under fire

22-Nov-2007
Gordon Brown has been coming under fire this week for his behaviour both past and present. The Sun blamed the prime minister for the decision, announced by health secretary Alan Johnson, to scrap six contracts for independent sector treatment centres. The £100m compensation to the dropped companies ‘could have built two children’s hospitals, or hired 4,000 nurses’, it argued. His decision was ‘foolish’, it said, as the ‘NHS needs competition to drive up standards’.
Darzi blames poor leaders for hospital infection outbreaks

1-Nov-2007
Minimising hospital-acquired infections should be the responsibility of managers, junior health minister Lord Darzi has told the Commons health select committee.
Foundation trust applicants face an uncertain future

25-Oct-2007
It is widely accepted that the target for all trusts to become foundations by December 2008 will not be met. But what is the future for those that will not make the grade?
Primary care's big challenge is acting on great expectations

25-Oct-2007
One of the stated aims in the Department of Health's vision of world class commissioning is to eliminate health inequalities. Not to reduce them, but to get rid of them altogether.
DoH names 14 firms that will support PCTs

4-Oct-2007
Fourteen private firms have been appointed by the Department of Health to help primary care trusts commission services, HSJ can reveal.
Fundamental change key to NHS vision, says Darzi

4-Oct-2007
Lord Darzi will today tell the NHS that it has to make fundamental changes to the way it operates.
Darzi report stresses equality and access

4-Oct-2007
Health secretary Alan Johnson says he is confident GPs can be persuaded to provide the additional services proposed in Lord Darzi's review of the NHS, published this morning.But he made clear that the private sector would also be a part of moves to set up 150 new walk-in centres and increase GP provision in the areas facing the greatest shortage of doctors.
Safety first as government gets tough on causes of superbugs

27-Sep-2007
Gordon Brown has put patient safety at the top of the government’s priorities for the acute sector, promising stronger rules on hospital cleanliness.
DoH publishes long-awaited review plan

20-Sep-2007
The Department of Health has published its overdue plans to provide a better service following a damning government review.
Lib Dems: time to scrap PCTs

20-Sep-2007
Primary care trusts should be scrapped and replaced with elected local health boards, the Liberal Democrats have proposed.
Primary care inequalities to be Johnson's top focus

20-Sep-2007
Health secretary Alan Johnson has pledged to put primary care at the centre of the government drive to improve the UK's health.
BMA new deputy chair

17-Sep-2007
Dr Kate Bullen, an associate specialist anaesthetist from Bristol, has been elected as the deputy chairman of the British Medical Association’s council.She will take over immediately from Dr Sam Everington, who was deputy chairman of BMA Council from 2004 to 2007.In addition to being a member of BMA Council and the BMA’s equal opportunities committee, Dr Bullen is also an associate specialist anaesthetist at the Frenchay Hospital in Bristol.
How pharmacists can help with PBC

17-Sep-2007
NHS Alliance and the Primary Care Pharmacists' Association have published a guide for practice-based commissioners and GPs, highlighting the contribution that pharmacists can make to patient care and practice budgets.PCPA chair Shailen Rao said: '
One year on, the message from Nicholson is that he's listening

13-Sep-2007
NHS chief executive David Nicholson is in no doubt of the strength of staff's opposition to more change, or to their distaste for the idea of organisations competing against each other. Rebecca Evans quizzed him on what those staff can expect next
Tories' public services group calls for beefed up CMO role

6-Sep-2007
The Conservatives' public services policy group has made fresh calls to strengthen the role of the chief medical officer.
Conservatives pledge to save district generals

23-Aug-2007
The Conservatives have pledged to save the district general hospital, in what is being widely seen as an opening salvo in the run-up to a possible autumn snap election.

EDITOR'S COMMENT

Health Service JournalRebecca Evans

Health Service Journal
Rebecca Evans