All Acute care articles – Page 409

  • News

    Regions braced for change as plans put Darzi's vision on map

    2008-06-19T09:00:00Z

    The strategic health authorities have set out their stalls but is there anything new in the proposals and are they likely to make regional variations in care inevitable? Alison Moore investigates

  • News

    Top-up review set to question core NHS principles

    2008-06-19T09:00:00Z

    The 'founding principles of the NHS' are to be revisited after the government launched a review of the ban preventing patients making 'top-up' payments for drugs.

  • Comment

    Updating top-up rules need not be a dagger to the heart of NHS

    2008-06-19T09:00:00Z

    Just days before its 60th birthday the NHS is being forced to re-evaluate its founding principle - that treatment is based on clinical need not the ability to pay.

  • News

    Foundation failures upset Monitor

    2008-06-19T09:00:00Z

    An increasing number of applications for foundation trust status are being turned down first time round because they are not up to scratch, it has emerged.

  • News

    Foundation says it will use surplus to loosen PFI ties

    2008-06-19T09:00:00Z

    The chief executive of the foundation trust with the biggest cash surplus has said his organisation will use its £120m to minimise its dependence on the private finance initiative.

  • Comment

    Michael White on specialist trauma response

    2008-06-19T09:00:00Z

    The other day health minister Ben Bradshaw read out to concerned MPs a list of all the places on the body where young people get pierced these days.

  • News

    Hygiene code failures a 'wake-up call' says Healthcare Commission

    2008-06-16T16:11:00Z

    NHS trusts have been served with a 'wake-up call' to improve hygiene standards or risk service closures, following the latest annual health check declarations.More than a quarter of trusts have told the Healthcare Commission they failed to comply fully with the hygiene code in 2007-08.

  • Comment

    Ken Jarrold on why Darzi needs nurses

    2008-06-16T09:00:00Z

    Last November, commenting on the first Darzi report, I pointed out that only a crusade for nursing and a focus on team leaders would improve patient experience.

  • HSJ Knowledge

    How to generate staff enthusiasm

    2008-06-16T09:00:00Z

    Which qualities are needed in those who lead their organisation's services transformation? Triona Buckley sets out one trust's formula

  • News

    DH evades Treasury cap on central budgets

    2008-06-13T14:56:03Z

    The Department of Health will use part of its own internal underspend to release itself from Treasury-imposed cut backs in administrative spending. As part of the comprehensive spending review the Treasury imposed a two per cent (£5m) reduction each year to the DH’s central budget of£225m. But in its business ...

  • HSJ Knowledge

    Legal briefing: patients ineligible for NHS treatment

    2008-06-13T09:00:00Z

    What do you do if a patient who is not entitled to free treatment comes to you for help? Melea McFarlane explores the practicalities

  • News

    Senior doctors back plans for 360-degree patient appraisals

    2008-06-12T09:00:00Z

    Senior doctors' leaders are backing plans to allow patients to rate consultants' personalities as part of '360-degree appraisals'.

  • News

    Acquisitions need to be more attractive says takeover chief

    2008-06-12T09:00:00Z

    The chief executive of England's only foundation trust to take over a failing hospital has urged the government to make acquisitions more attractive.In an exclusive article for HSJ, Heart of England foundation trust chief executive Mark Goldman warns ministers not to rely on 'heroism'. His comments follow plans to replace ...

  • Leader

    Sacking managers may attract headlines but won't fix problems

    2008-06-12T09:00:00Z

    After 11 years of public service reform, the government's record is still dogged by poor performance. The failure regime unveiled last week shows ministers are running out of patience.

  • News

    Workforce contracts under fire

    2008-06-12T09:00:00Z

    NHS workforce contracts represent a 'missed opportunity' for change, today's joint report from the Healthcare Commission and Audit Commission concludes.

  • Comment

    Maggi Rose on clinical supervision

    2008-06-11T09:00:00Z

    While NHS organisations often get caught up in documenting the benefits and justifying the expense of clinical supervision, the most important thing to keep sight of are the benefits to the people directly involved the process

  • HSJ Partners

    Freeing bottlenecks in vital services

    2008-06-10T09:00:00Z

    When you have highly qualified, expert staff in costly facilities, the last thing service managers need are bottlenecks that make it difficult for patients to access vital services quickly, writes Christina Pond

  • HSJ Knowledge

    Solving the staff morale equation

    2008-06-10T09:00:00Z

    Your trust's performance is improving, staff vacancies and turnover are low and absenteeism is going down. So why is morale still low? Blair McPherson looks at the factors that affect how staff see their jobs and their organisation

  • Comment

    David Amos on NHS apprenticeships

    2008-06-09T09:00:00Z

    Last autumn, Chinese premier Wen Jiabao delivered a speech to the Communist Party congress entitled, 'Hold High the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Strive for New Victories in Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in all Respects'.

  • HSJ Knowledge

    Stephen Ramsden on measurement

    2008-06-09T09:00:00Z

    There is an old adage, 'if you can't measure it, you can't manage it', and measurement has been a big ingredient of NHS performance management.