All Health Service Journal articles in Blogs – Page 8
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Blogs
An apple a day
Vitality is an attribute normally associated with eating a leading brand of dog food – so End Game has long wondered what possessed a string of GP practices in Birmingham to call themselves “Vitality Partnership”.There are no dogs to be found on their website though. Overall that’s probably for the ...
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Blogs
Kick the hornet's nest
An Essex trust is looking forward to welcoming a new intake of Filipino nurses, and sees no risk in the recruitment because they’re “more highly trained” than their English counterparts.The somewhat blunt assertion appeared in a paper discussed at Basildon and Thurrock Clinical Commissioning Group’s latest board meeting and was ...
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Blogs
A gift fit for a Queen
In times of austerity, few things glisten in HSJ email inboxes as much as press releases announcing £30m donations to hospitals.This is especially true when the organisation’s chairman announces it will grow by a quarter, with additional operating theatres, wards and consulting rooms being built.So which trust would be the ...
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Blogs
Wicked whispers
So called “pace setting” leaders – who, according to convention, get results but leave underlings quivering and broken in their wake - have fallen out of favour in the NHS. Well, most of them are still in post but they’re all desperately unfashionable post-Francis.At the recent chief nursing officer’s summit, ...
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Blogs
Doctor Bruce
The NHS and Doctor Who have much in common, as long-running national institutions committed to decent moral values. Both have seen much-loved figures struggle to cope with budget cuts and wonky backdrops over the decades, and both were revived by massive injections of cash in the noughties.So End Game ...
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Blogs
'Just enough' is far from good enough
The vast majority of workers are not strivers or skivers but fall somewhere inbetween, so how can managers get the best from them?
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Blogs
The NHS's own dead parrot sketch
Some of the sketches of the reunited Monty Python bring the new NHS to mind
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Blogs
Power games
End Game has learned Sir David Nicholson has been broadening his cultural horizons as his period in charge of NHS England draws to a close.In recent weeks the big beast has apparently been absorbed in Game of Thrones, the glossy American fantasy TV series.The show has been described as “The ...
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Blogs
Long-waits soar in Scotland
Scotland is achieving its main waiting times targets. Yet long-waits are soaring.
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Blogs
Taxi for none
A patient who recently had cause to visit a West Country hospital recently regaled a tale to health chiefs about how, when told they needed to visit another trust an hour down the road, they were initially pleased to learn a taxi would be called so their records could be ...
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Blogs
Don't believe everything you read...
Thumbing through the Department of Health response to Francis, End Game was shocked to learn that the government had lost all confidence in the General Medical Council and was proposing to transfer the medical revalidation programme to NHS England.“We are now at the right point for transferring the programme to ...
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Blogs
A chicken and horse situation
Whenever there’s a big policy announcement, End Game always gets deluged with preposterous responses from PRs keen to get a mention on these pages.This week the honours go to the union Unite, for the superb mixed metaphors contained in its verdict on the government’s response to the Francis inquiry.Head of ...
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Blogs
Profound disappointment
HSJ hacks were eagerly awaiting the final version of guidance on safe staffing levels from the chief nursing officer and the National Quality Board, despite obtaining a draft almost a week before publication.You see, the leaked version ended with a tantalising question from one anonymous editor: “Do we need to ...
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Blogs
Why do so few leaders speak out about disastrous changes?
Not enough leaders stand their ground when bad changes are imposed on the NHS, but good leadership means having the courage to speak out, says Blair McPherson.
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Blogs
Lessons from Co-op Bank: how much should the chair know?
The criticism of former Co-operative Bank chair Paul Flowers overlooks the benefits of boards operating with a non-expert chair
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Blogs
Flailed hedges
It’s every NHS chief executive’s worst nightmare: becoming embroiled in a local scandal where vulnerable local residents have come to harm in an obscure bit of their organisation they probably haven’t thought about in while.Spare a thought then for the folk at Devon Partnership Trust. The Plymouth Herald reports that ...
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Blogs
Party time
Special End Game love goes to the comms firm which got in early with our first Christmas party invitation this year. In the seasonal spirit of goodwill, we won’t name it.Their bash takes place on 26 November – for those of you who are no good at maths, that’s very ...
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Blogs
Jermey Hunt has jumped the shark
A new prison sentence for wilful neglect is an unnecessary gimmick
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Blogs
Monitor-vember
End Game has little interest in charity, so don’t try it on.But we were forced admit that Monitor press officer Sonya Cullington brightened up what may otherwise have risked being a turgid morning press conference about the regulator’s review of walk-in centre closures by wearing a moustache.What japes! It was ...