Comment archive – Page 342
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CommentHandful of trusts let down South East Coast on performance checks
Two sets of national checks and balances have revealed the South East Coast’s A* performers and those that “must try harder” when it comes to issues of patient experience.
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CommentNHS estate wrangles in the North West
What do you do with a private finance initiative hospital when it becomes the subject of service reconfiguration?
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LeaderFear of failure or staff fury may drive further job cuts
During the summer our HSJ Local service has been reporting on plans to reduce hospital workforces. This week we reveal Aintree University Hospital Foundation Trust’s decision to remove 200 posts during each of the next three years.
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Comment'Real change in public health will be made more difficult if service transfers are delayed'
The positive steps in transferring public health services to local control will be marred by the delay of children’s services until 2015 under recent government proposals. Graham Burgess argues the public health strategy needs more coherence if local commissioning plans are not to be undermined.
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CommentMedia Watch: malnutrition nourishes the Mail
A mixed bag of health media coverage this week from the nationals, with the Daily Mail especially prolific.
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Comment‘Inert’ or improving: the state of medical regulation
Alan Maynard argues the GMC’s ‘feeble’ regulation of doctors does little to benefit the NHS, but chief executive Niall Dickson says a new approach will protect patients.
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CommentMichael White: avoiding the thing called IT
A new report in the Harvard Business Review suggests that big IT projects are spiralling out of control, at considerable cost to taxpayers, shareholders and customers. Naturally it made me think again of the NHS’s own national programme for IT drama, running expensively since 2003.
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CommentSally Gainsbury: PROMs prove McKinsey right - nearly
The latest crop of patient reported outcome measures confirm huge numbers of patients do not feel any better after undergoing one of four measuredprocedures, and quite a few report feeling worse.
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CommentGrounds for optimism at last over London reconfiguration
It appears the NHS in London might get its wish on downgrading two hospitals.
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CommentTransforming trust aims high in the East of England
Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust’s ambitious aim to “become one of the best local hospitals in the country” is revealed in a “transformation programme” report in its most recent board papers.
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CommentCally Bann: is the healthcare landscape a thriller, a tragedy or a farce?
So as the summer breezes blows through the ever-greying tresses of the post-pause ministerial locks, what does the landscape around us foretell ofthe autumn and winter to come?
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LeaderRival factions fight for influence in Future Forum’s second coming
Why continue with the NHS reform listening exercise? The NHS is already changing with a momentum no report is likely to affect.
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CommentCarving out a path for clinically led commissioning
The big question nervously whispered in the shadows of the corridors of power is: “what will be different about clinically led commissioning?”. Many have sought the answer - few have found it. Paul Zollinger-Read sheds some light on the direction clinically led commissioning might take.
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CommentMedia Watch: riots ensure a quiet week for the NHS
The aftermath of the riots continued to dominate the national media at the expense of everything else, including health, but then August is traditionally a quiet month for the NHS.
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Comment'The focus now for those who manage healthcare should be value'
Now that the dust has settled somewhat on the furore surrounding the Health Bill, I find myself thinking about the domestic and truly international health agenda.
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CommentMichael White: the riots could change the outlook for health priorities
As we all picked our way through the debris of what I’m tempted to call the “Foot Locker Riots” in search of deeper explanations than the urgent need for new trainers, I found myself thinking several times of Sir Michael Marmot, the man HSJ likes to call “the guru of ...
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CommentA new opportunity to protect and improve patient advocacy
The reforms present an opportunity to do more for patient advocacy, while learning how to handle complaints better, says advocacy agency POhWER chief executive Valerie Harrison.
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CommentReview of services in Yorkshire warns of system failure
A high profile review of services in North Yorkshire and York, led by eminent doctor and NHS Confederation medical director Hugo Mascie-Taylor, has come to an end, and is well worth a read*.
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CommentNoel Plumridge: changes to charitable funding risks donators' benevolence
If, when the time comes, you leave a share of your worldly wealth to your local NHS, that’s entirely up to you. After all, it’s your money.
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CommentSouth Coast trusts forecast 2011-12 performance, predict £77m overspend
Trying to predict the future for the NHS is always difficult, as there always seems to be a reorganisation or a winter crisis just round the corner. However, primary care trusts in Sussex have given it a go.