Acute Care – Page 467
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HSJ Knowledge
Stronger links between annual health check and peer review
Links between peer review and the annual health check are to be strengthened, following discussions between the Health Commission and Information Centre.
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HSJ Knowledge
Andy Burnham to launch Information Centre business plan
Andy Burnham, minister of state for delivery and reform, will be the keynote speaker at the launch of the Information Centre for health and social care's business plan 2007/08 and information strategy.
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HSJ Knowledge
Best practice: stopping patients falling in hospital
When a patient falls in hospital it betrays the principle that a doctor - and by extension the healthcare system - should do no harm.
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HSJ Knowledge
Why hospitals are like cashpoints
When I first began talking to primary care staff about the Croydon virtual wards project I had to explain to them that patients would only be offered admission if they ranked highly on predictions from a computer.
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HSJ Knowledge
Legal briefing: franchising
Merger with a successful foundation trusts may seem the obvious solution for failing trusts. Indeed, the first such merger between Heart of England and Good Hope is well under way. But merging a successful trust with an unsuccessful target will not necessarily create a financially viable organisation, and the risks ...
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News
Noel Plumridge on questioning commissioning
As HSJreaders will be aware, the Department of Health is keen to improve standards of commissioning in the NHS.Much has been written in recent months about demand-management techniques (or rationing, as we used to call it) being the route to financial happiness. About the ...
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Comment
Hilary Thomas on living with cancer
'Acupuncture and ginger beer have been as effective as any the anti-emetics I've been doling out for years'
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Comment
Data briefing: deficit forecasts, financial reality
The recent quarterly financial report from the Department of Health provides some encouraging signs as the NHS gets to grips with previous years' overspends. But the detail looks patchy.
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Comment
Healthcheck ratings: tougher test means story must be retold
The Healthcare Commission said it would be a tougher test - and so it has proved. In the first national healthcheck ratings only two dozen organisations were rated excellent for service quality, and even fewer for their use of resources. Only half of NHS organisations met all the core standards, ...
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HSJ Knowledge
Data Briefing: Variations in length of stay
Length of hospital stay remains one of the greatest variables between acute trusts. By reviewing and influencing discharges commissioners can aim to improve the patient experience and save bed days, increasing capacity and saving money.
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Comment
HSJ Barometer: acute trusts October 2006
Confidence has leapt up in our acute trust chief executives about the chances of achieving financial break-even this year - the score out of 10 rose from 5.78 to 6.80.
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News
Variation in A&E admissions
Across England the rise in emergency admissions to hospital shows no sign of abating. Alongside it, bed days also continue to rise. The year-on-year rise in emergency admissions in the first quarter of 2006 was 7 per cent, while the corresponding rise in bed days was 5.9 per cent.
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Comment
Simon Stevens on winning hearts and minds
'NHS targets have not yet been tough enough (yes you read that right) to alter public perception'
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Comment
The age of uncertainty: new Audit Commission chair speaks out
New Audit Commission chair Michael O'Higgins has a lot on his plate as he waits for the health regulatory review and oversees the transition to a new inspection era ushered in by the local government white paper
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Comment
What's driving the admissions rise
In last week's Data Briefing I raised some issues about the increase in emergency admissions to acute hospitals over the last five years. The increase has primarily been in accident and emergency, and there has been a dramatic increase in the number of patients turned around on the day. While ...
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Comment
Patient and public involvement: clear water must flow into the goldfish bowl
Looking for a place to hide? Try the massed ranks of organisations currently holding the NHS to account. Jessica Crowe suggests clarity lies in resolving what it is accountability structures should be delivering