Acute Care – Page 480

  • News

    Scotland motors into the future as England gears up for change

    2006-11-02T11:00:00Z

    Scotland is already getting stuck into the tough decisions involved in redesigning its health services, but in many parts of England managers are still perceived to lack the mandate they need to make their own plans. Jennifer Trueland examines the big divide

  • News

    Doctors 'most trusted profession'

    2006-11-02T00:00:00Z

    A survey by the Royal College of Physicians has found that doctors top the polls as the professionals the public most trust. The annual survey by MORI shows that nine out of 10 people say that they trust their doctors to tell the truth.

  • News

    New orthopaedic treatment plan

    2006-11-02T00:00:00Z

    Health minister Andy Burnham has announced a new musculoskeletal services framework intended to provide the NHS with new guidance to help improve services for people who suffer from such conditions. An estimated 10 million people in England suffer from musculoskeletal problems.The guidance sets out how the NHS can use a ...

  • News

    Guide to help achieve 18-week target launched

    2006-11-01T00:00:00Z

    A tool to help trusts achieve the 18-week waiting-time target will be launched today by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Achievement at an HSJconference. The No Delays Achievermatches trust data with service improvement tools to produce plans for hitting the target.The guide is in four parts. Download them here, ...

  • Comment

    Privacy in hospitals

    2006-10-31T00:00:00Z

    I have always had a problem with issues of privacy in acute hospitals. I started my career as a clinical psychologist working with people with learning disabilities and being very aware that I was going into people's homes - even when they were in NHS care.

  • Comment

    Efficiency indicators and Christie trust

    2006-10-31T00:00:00Z

    Nick Edwards is quite right to suggest that efficiency indicators do not tell the story behind the numbers ( Click here to read the comment). So why did HSJcompound this by labelling Christie Hospital trust the worst in England ...

  • News

    50th foundation trust approved

    2006-10-31T00:00:00Z

    Three new foundation trusts have been approved by regulator Monitor, bringing the total to 52. The 50th foundation trust is South London and Maudsley. Tavistock and Portman trust and University Hospital of South Manchester trust have also been authorised. To ...

  • News

    Inpatient waiting-time figures

    2006-10-31T00:00:00Z

    Almost 200 patients were waiting over 26 weeks at the end of September, the Department of Health has said. Of 198 patients for whom English commissioners are responsible, 21 were waiting in Welsh hospitals. The number of patients waiting over 20 weeks was down by ...

  • News

    Peter Cardy on rewriting the cancer plan

    2006-10-30T00:00:00Z

    As cancer care shifts out of hospital, more cancer patients risk poverty as the associated costs rise. Now is the time to tackle the financial distress of the disease, argues Peter Cardy

  • News

    Lansley slams PFI 'lunacy'

    2006-10-27T00:00:00Z

    Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley has described hospital private finance initiatives as 'complete lunacy' after government responses to his parliamentary questions showed that the NHS will pay private sector contractors £53bn for hospitals worth only £8bn. Mr Lansley is calling for a 'fundamental review' of how the NHS accesses capital ...

  • News

    Patients allowed to opt out of care records service

    2006-10-27T00:00:00Z

    Patients will have the right to opt out of having their information shared through the NHS care records service, health minister Lord Warner told HSJ's Demystifying the National Programme for IT conference yesterday.Under the government implied consent model, those who do not opt out will be deemed to have given ...

  • News

    New figures show improvement in inpatient waits

    2006-10-27T00:00:00Z

    The proportion of patients waiting under 13 weeks for an inpatient appointment rose year on year in September from 70.8 per cent to 74.7 per cent, according to figures published today by the Department of Health. The median waiting time was 7.4 weeks, down on the 7.9 weeks recorded in ...

  • News

    Government responds to report on ITCs

    2006-10-26T02:00:00Z

    The government has published its response to the Commons health select committee's report on independent treatment centres.The committee's report criticised the role of ITCs and said their performance had been variable.In its response the Department of Health has promised to provide more information to patients on which to base their ...

  • News

    Conservatives launch initiative on patient involvement

    2006-10-26T01:00:00Z

    The Conservatives have launched a consultation on the future of public and patient involvement in health.The concept of HealthWatch was outlined by Conservative leader David Cameron and shadow health minister Andrew Lansley in a speech to the King's Fund earlier this month.At a summit today Mr Lansley will highlight the ...

  • News

    Action plan for audiology services

    2006-10-26T01:00:00Z

    An action plan is being developed to improve access to audiology services including those outside the 18-week waiting time, a Department of Health minister has announced.Social care minister Ivan Lewis said in a parliamentary written answer that ministers were aware of long waits for audiology services.

  • News

    Hewitt warns: patients will vote with feet

    2006-10-26T00:00:00Z

    Patients will 'vote with their feet' and refuse to be treated at poorly performing hospitals, health secretary Patricia Hewitt has said.

  • News

    Fall in Welsh waiting times

    2006-10-25T00:00:00Z

    The number of people waiting for over eight months for inpatient or day-case treatment in Wales has fallen by 737 over the last quarter - a 10.5 per cent reduction. In outpatients, the number of people waiting over eight months for a first appointment has ...

  • Comment

    Efficiency indicators do not tell the story behind the numbers

    2006-10-25T00:00:00Z

    The comprehensive spending review is no longer the distant event it once seemed - the coming financial squeeze makes a numbers game out of the next 18 months or so.

  • Comment

    An online service tailored to your needs

    2006-10-25T00:00:00Z

    This week, HSJgets personal. Today we have launched a new online service free to registered users of the website, designed to bring you the most relevant content direct to your desktop.

  • News

    New pay-off packages to reflect length of service

    2006-10-25T00:00:00Z

    New redundancy and retirement packages based on length of service rather than age have been agreed by the Department of Health.