Comment archive – Page 332
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CommentSouth East trusts fall short on information practises
The importance of providing accurate information has come home to roost at one acute trust in the South East.
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CommentIndependent assessment could reduce long-term sickness absence
Creating an independent assessment service to advise on employee absence is our chance to create a fair system, say Carol Black and David Frost.
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LeaderThe complexity of competition rules creates confusion and risk
Those who worry about the commercialisation of services for NHS patients often point to problems created by privatised utilities or the unholy mess that is the West’s banking sector.
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CommentA perfect opportunity to reform the education and training system
Last week’s publication of the further policy statement on the future NHS education and training system provides a great opportunity for providers to ensure they have the workforce they need to deliver the world class health services the public wants, says Martin Barkley.
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Comment'Start planning the execution, instead of dreaming about the ambition'
In 2012, the Year of the Dragon, will commissioning plans be all smoke and no fire? Paul Zollinger-Read says it is vital that they aren’t.
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CommentJeremy Taylor: the Future Forum's work is about changing culture
It’s not about the money; it’s not about the technology; it’s not about the data. It’s about the culture. That could be a summary of the NHS Future Forum’s work on information last autumn, writes information worksteam co-chair Jeremy Taylor.
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CommentNoel Plumridge: has the sparkle gone from social enterprise?
Social enterprises are starting to find that the odds are not in their favour in a cut-throat market, which could make for a bleak picture in a decade’s time, says Noel Plumridge.
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Comment'Deal with productivity variation, or risk the long term future of the NHS'
Only by swiftly adressing the issue of clinical practice variation and developing better evidence based practice can we stop the quality of NHS care eroding, writes Professor Alan Maynard.
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CommentMedia Watch: government facing breast implants scandal backlash
The breast implants scandal continued to dominate the news agenda as health secretary Andrew Lansley said it was the “moral duty” of cosmetic surgery companies to offer free care to remove implants made by the French firm PIP.
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CommentMichael White: a deal must be cut to restore certainty to the NHS
It’s surely good news that health ministers are to encourage medical staff to ask patients about their lifestyle choices, as ProfessorSteve Field’s NHS Future Forum has been suggesting - though in my experience they have been doing it for ages.
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CommentSally Gainsbury: private sector sweats on essential sensibility
Back when the white paper was first published, we had our first flurry of excitement that the new Monitor would get to tinker under the bonnet of private sector providers – all in the interests of fair regulation and ensuring continuity of services.
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CommentNorth West savings progress still leaves room for trusts to improve
Christmas may seem like a distant memory, but it’s worth recalling that the North of England went home for the break with a big gold star on its Department of Health report card.
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CommentSuspicion surrounds service reorganisation in the South West
Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust chief executive Lezli Boswell has become a regular at the local county council’s overview and scrutiny committee in recent months in the face of local uproar at a decision to postpone the reopening of a ward.
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LeaderMinisters must slow down to avoid another Mid Staffs
What did the newly minted coalition government describe in May 2010 as “a champion for patients”? The answer, of course, was primary care trusts.
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LeaderCameron is tending self-inflicted wounds
One thing is clear from the government response to the NHS Future Forum. Contrary to press reports, no “order” has been given to deliver “integration of health and social care”.
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Comment'Integrated care should be this decade's number one priority'
Achieving proper integrated care must be taken as seriously in the next 10 years as waiting times have been in the last 10, say King’s Fund chief executive Chris Ham and Nuffield Trust director Jennifer Dixon.
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CommentMichael White: the mess in the cosmetic Wild West
Public authorities like the NHS often take a beating from energetic health journalists during the annual Christmas news doldrums. Why? Large, complex organisations always have problems, but are less likely to fire off menacing lawyers’ letters than dodgy banks.
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Comment'Patients and organisations still need an information revolution'
Reorganisations might be familiar at Richmond House, but revolutions are rarer. With the information strategy officially paused, has the promised NHS spring turned to winter, asks Asthma UK chief executive Neil Churchill.
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CommentNoel Plumridge: is local pay a fair deal everywhere?
George Osborne’s stated purpose in opening up the issue of local pay rates is to ensure “public sector pay does not distort local labour markets”.
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CommentSigns of change emerging in the North East
Commissioners and future commissioners in the North East, like everywhere else, have much to do in the next 16 months, but there are signs of change.