Health Service Journal
THELMA AGNEW
-
Alarm over research plans
1-Sep-2005
FINANCE DoH proposals could lead to 'collapse' of teaching hospitals -
Full ban gathers support
30-Jun-2005
SMOKING Hospitality industry will argue partial abolition unworkable -
Beds and Herts face tough cuts
9-Jun-2005
FINANCE Managers focus on bottom line after preoccupation with targets and ratings -
MEDIA WATCH
26-May-2005
Published: 26/05/2005, Volume II5, No. 5957 Page 10 -
Police cautioned former PCT chief
26-May-2005
RESIGNATION Welwyn Hatf ield PCT boss leaves post pledging 'debt of gratitude' to staff -
Pragmatic 'caretaker' leaves behind a service with values
12-May-2005
PROFILE -
Trusts slammed over cost of agency nurses
2-Aug-2001
NEWS -
The urge to merge
28-Jun-2001
CARE TRUSTS: Rivalry between the health and social care elements in the new care trusts is not uncommon. But in some organisations, the urge to merge is almost irresistible, reports Thelma Agnew -
Age discrimination pledge may reignite debate on rationing
29-Mar-2001
The government's pledge to end age discrimination in NHS services will reignite the debate on rationing and could even prompt a 'backlash' as younger patients lose ground to elderly people, it has been claimed. -
Time to remember
29-Mar-2001
The learning disabilities white paper is being trumpeted as a revolution in care that will bring an end to the NHS's neglect of the forgotten generations. Thelma Agnew reports -
Key trusts fail targets though others do well
1-Mar-2001
Trusts in some parts of England are failing to meet targets on the number of patients waiting more than 12 months for surgery, though the best performers are progressing at a much faster rate than that demanded by their regional offices. -
Many happy returns
22-Feb-2001
Return-to-practice initiatives for nurses are proving highly successful, but they still have some way to go to understand those who take them. Thelma Agnew reports -
The bigger picture
22-Feb-2001
How much of an impact have NVQs had in the health service - and will they be superseded by the new individual learning accounts with their broader outlook? Thelma Agnew reports -
Obesity epidemic kills 30,000 each year as costs top £485m
15-Feb-2001
An obesity epidemic is costing the NHS in England at least £480m a year, with costs to the wider economy probably in excess of £2bn, the National Audit Office has revealed. -
The age of consent
8-Feb-2001
How well-founded are fears that the Redfern report on Alder Hey will produce a raft of new procedures and regulations that will hamper vital clinical research? Thelma Agnew reports -
Tragic irony
25-Jan-2001
Is the murder of eight-year-old Anna Climbie a tragic one-off or proof that an overhaul of the child protection system is needed? Thelma Agnew reports on how opinions have been polarised -
East Sussex hit by rash of bed blocks
26-Oct-2000
A shortfall in social services funding is causing severe bed blocking in East Sussex hospitals. -
Extra £154m for NI health fails to dispel winter pressure fears
26-Oct-2000
Northern Ireland health minister Bairbre de Brun has secured an extra £154m for next year's health and social services budget. But she says the 7.2 per cent increase is not enough - and the chief executive of the province's biggest acute trust has warned that there is still 'a mountain to climb'. -
Delayed discharges rise as winter looms
19-Oct-2000
The latest social service performance indicators have exposed an increase in the delayed discharge of elderly patients from acute hospitals, a trend which could lead to more blocked beds this winter. -
Knock knock
5-Oct-2000
Healthcare assistants may be making headway in their battle against the 'second-class'stigma - and that could mean them finally winning RCN membership. Thelma Agnew reports -
Anti-poverty policies may save 10,000 lives
28-Sep-2000
More than 10,000 premature deaths per year will be saved if the government persists with policies to combat poverty and reduce health inequalities, according to a report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. -
Get some in
21-Sep-2000
Alan Milburn says he wants a new drive to boost bed numbers - but how easy will it be to achieve this at grassroots level, asks Thelma Agnew -
Deficit inflames row on use of 'extortionate' private sector
6-Jul-2000
The NHS's use of the 'extortionate' private sector has come under the spotlight following the revelation that a south London mental health trust ran up a deficit of almost £1m in two months, largely because of reliance on private beds. -
Speedy end for NI fundholding
29-Jun-2000
Northern Ireland has begun the process of dismantling GP fundholding, prompting hopes that its new system will be superior to England's primary care groups. -
Troubleshooter blasts HA for failure to tackle £20m deficit
25-May-2000
A damning report on West Sussex health authority says it has failed to provide strategic leadership or implement the government's modernisation agenda. -
Women offenders 'victims of shambolic special hospitals'
25-May-2000
Most women in high-security hospitals should not be there. They are the victims of a 'shambolic' system that has failed to provide them with more appropriate care, the Commons health select committee has heard. -
Breathe easy
4-May-2000
As the four key confidential enquiries into patient deaths come under the wing of NICE, Thelma Agnew wonders whether they will take on a new spirit of openness -
Down equality street
6-Apr-2000
The NHS may have good intentions on race relations, but it has a long way to go before it achieves equality. Thelma Agnew reports on an HSJ survey -
Senior manager equality targets set out to smash NHS glass ceiling
6-Apr-2000
Health minister John Denham has announced tough new targets to break the 'glass ceiling' in NHS management and ensure that women and ethnic minorities secure more of the top posts. -
PCTs' mental health role doubted by MPs
30-Mar-2000
Primary care trusts lack the 'depth of expertise'needed to take responsibility for mental health services, according to Commons health select committee members. -
On the slide?
23-Mar-2000
Whatever their feelings on the government's approach to cancer services, the experts agree more cash and manpower are needed - fast. Thelma Agnew reports -
£10m renal cash follows expose
16-Mar-2000
London regional director Nigel Crisp is to enter emergency talks with the capital's top renal specialists, following a public exposure of the 'worsening crisis' facing their units by senior clinicians. -
Blair line on beds is 'contradictory'
9-Mar-2000
The prime minister's 'U-turn' on NHS spending in the private sector has pitched the health service into confusion, it has been claimed. -
Winning hearts and minds
24-Feb-2000
Work pressures make life difficult for managers and clinicians - and dangerous for patients. Thelma Agnew hears frank talk at a seminar on work culture -
Anti-smoking battle 'will be led by Europe'
17-Feb-2000
The battle against the tobacco industry will be spearheaded by European directives, not homegrown legislation or court actions, health secretary Alan Milburn has told MPs. -
'Failure to win funding' behind LAS chief's shock resignation
17-Feb-2000
The shock resignation of London Ambulance Service trust chief executive Michael Honey has sparked speculation that he was forced out for failing to win adequate funding for the service. -
NI health service braces itself as Assembly crisis deepens
10-Feb-2000
This Week -
Institute head stands by lab staff survey despite rebuttal
3-Feb-2000
The head of the Institute of Biomedical Science is standing by a survey that claims one in 10 NHS laboratories is using unqualified staff in testing processes, despite putting his name to a Department of Health rebuttal statement. -
Poverty plays a major role in risk of cot death, report says
3-Feb-2000
The largest ever study of cot deaths in the UK has found that babies born into poor families are at a far greater risk than those born to better-off parents. -
GPs alienated by fast roll-out of NHS Direct
6-Jan-2000
The rapid implementation of NHS Direct has alienated many GPs and may hinder its future development, according to a study of London s first two schemes. -
Scots ambulances get priority system after target failures
16-Dec-1999
Scotland's ambulance service is set to introduce a priority despatch system following a National Audit Office finding that just one in three Glasgow ambulances reached a 999 incident within seven minutes, against a target of one in two. -
Government stalls on long term care again
9-Dec-1999
The government's decision on who should fund long-term care has been put off until next summer - more than a year after a royal commission recommended that the state should foot the bill. -
Milburn calls for new outpatient efficiency
2-Dec-1999
Health secretary Alan Milburn has told trusts they must implement a new programme to improve the management of outpatient services and cut waiting times. -
NHS told 'don't give up' on social services
2-Dec-1999
Health authorities and trusts have been urged not to give up on poorly performing social services departments, following health minister John Hutton’s announcement that 17 are failing so badly they are on an ‘at risk’ register. -
Down on the farm
11-Nov-1999
An outreach service for a rural population which finds conventional health services inaccessible has made pleasing progress, reports Thelma Agnew -
Ship-shape, not Bristol fashion
28-Oct-1999
The Royal Brompton Hospital was exonerated after an inquiry into its paediatric surgery, but dealing with the allegations was costly. Thelma Agnew reports -
Plans for mental health could be hard to deliver, experts predict
7-Oct-1999
Managers could find themselves struggling to deliver the new national service framework for mental health, experts have warned. -
Cash for cancer dogged by Lottery row
30-Sep-1999
A £150m Lottery cash boost for cancer care provoked a row this week as managers called for a more consistent investment programme and a leading cancer specialist accused them of allowing essential machinery to go to 'rack and ruin'. -
PCGs eclipse HAs on public health agenda
16-Sep-1999
news -
Cash on delivery
8-Jul-1999
news focus: -
PFI staff allowed to stay in public sector
1-Jul-1999
news -
Reforms risk further damage to flawed learning services
1-Jul-1999
news -
'Hatchet woman' of days gone by is appointed to trust board
24-Jun-1999
One of the most controversial figures from the era of the Conservative NHS reforms has staged a surprise comeback by winning a seat on a trust board. -
Executive steps in to prevent GP 'carve-up'
21-Jan-1999
A regional office has stepped in to prevent a health authority paying GPs to manage a primary care group instead of appointing a chief executive. -
Fixer's trust has bad debts
21-Jan-1999
A top NHS manager drafted in to troubleshoot at a London trust facing a £6m deficit has admitted his own trust has run up a £3m bad debts loss. -
Change in account rules could spell the end for PFI
17-Sep-1998
Strict new accountancy rules will mean the end of the private finance initiative in the health service, it has been predicted. -
Labour warned by academics on drift towards centralisation
17-Sep-1998
Labour looks set to repeat a key Conservative error by imposing heavy-handed central control on the NHS, according to the most comprehensive review yet of the last set of reforms. -
Survey finds failure in NHS equality practice
10-Sep-1998
Many trusts are failing to put their own equal opportunities policies into practice, a comprehensive survey for the NHS Executive has suggested. -
Forces health chief quits before review
25-Jun-1998
The armed forces healthcare agency is to lose its chief executive early next month - shortly before the findings of a radical review of military hospitals are made public. -
Scots parliament will 'have handle' on health
25-Jun-1998
The new Scottish parliament will have unprecedented power to interfere in the running of health boards and trusts, and could jeopardise partnerships between the NHS and local government, some managers fear. -
Confederation top team quits en bloc to leave Thornton alone at the helm
4-Jun-1998
NHS Confederation chief executive Stephen Thornton appeared to be isolated at the head of the organisation this week after it emerged that the entire top management team he inherited just six months ago is quitting.
