Comment archive – Page 348
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CommentA day in the life: at the Mid Staffs inquiry
A patient experience seminar organised by Mid Staffs inquiry chair Robert Francis QC brought home how far the NHS needs to improve engagement with patients in order to deliver quality care. Penny Henrion tells HSJ about her day at the Mid Staffs inquiry.
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Comment'It's time to remove the barriers to telehealth'
The results of the latest and biggest telehealth trial suggest that it should undoubtedly now be taken seriously in today’s medicine. Yet there is real resistance to it in the system, and the barriers need to be removed to ensure telehealth success, say Matthew Rutter and Joe Stringer.
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CommentTwelve months of turbulence: 2011 in review
Continuing financial upheaval, industrial action taking hold and the implications of reform coming into focus: 2011 has been a tumultuous year. Here, HSJ’s writers reflect on some of the landmark events that defined the year.
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CommentCan the NHS Pay Review Body still be regarded as independent?
A “perfect storm” of issues surrounding staff terms and conditions could see all sides vying to influence the NHS Pay Review Body in the next 12 months. In such troubled times, can it realistically hope to retain its independence, asks Mike Jackson.
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CommentMedia Watch: 'postcode lottery' bingo follows Atlas of Variation launch
The formal publication of the second NHS Atlas of Variation led inevitably to a chorus of “postcode lottery” headlines this week.
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CommentMichael White: can Lansley's localism really escape postcode lottery-itis?
Confusing, isn’t it? One week an international report gives England’s still-centralised NHS a pat on the back for rapid improvements. The next week another survey concludes that the NHS is more popular than it has ever been.
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CommentSally Gainsbury: economic peace and goodwill, or Armageddon?
Perhaps it is just seasonal religiosity, but it is starting to look as though 2012 will see some significant battles between the NHS’s competing spiritual forces.
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CommentAll eyes on London's billion-pound merger after SHA sign off
By the time you read this, NHS London will almost certainly have signed off the Barts/Whipps Cross/Newham merger.
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CommentEmergency planning requires urgent attention in the Midlands and East of England
Earlier this year, HSJ tried to use the Freedom of Information Act to obtain details of exercises held in every region to test emergency planning preparations. But the request was rejected by the Department of Health in order to “safeguard national security”.
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LeaderThe mediocre will be the only losers if pay is reformed fairly
George Osborne has instructed the NHS pay review body to investigate the case for reforming the service’s national pay deal. The chancellor wants it to become more “market facing in local areas”.
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Comment'Delivering better community services requires equal relationships'
Delivering public services through equal and reciprocal relationships between providers and the communities they serve should be at the heart of commissioning community services, and achieving integrated care, says Victor Adebowale.
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Comment'There are real rewards to be reaped from recognising staff'
I recently attended Nottingham University Hospitals Trust’s annual staff awards ceremony, a few days after some of my colleagues were present at November’s HSJ Awards.
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CommentMedia Watch: pensions play second fiddle patient privacy
The NHS has been all over the front pages during the past week or so, and not all of it to do with public sector strikes.
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CommentMichael White: the eternal tension of national vs regional policy
David Cameron’s new plan to open up NHS medical records to high-tech life science researchers is a bit like chancellor George Osborne’s proposal in last week’s autumn statement to boost the regional economies in those parts of Britain that are suffering most in the downturn.
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CommentAndy McKeon: does commissioning change anything?
Commissioning has to overcome some stiff challenges if it is to enjoy many more birthdays, says Andy McKeon.
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CommentNoel Plumridge: this holiday's must-have NHS reads
For the fast approaching season of peace and goodwill, it’s customary for columnists to offer their reading recommendations for the holiday period.
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CommentHSJ100: 'The NHS can never recover if Whitehall is deciding the cure'
Nick Seddon, deputy director at think tank Reform, writes an opinion piece in today’s Times on what this year’s HSJ100 list means for the health of the NHS.
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CommentAcademic health science partnerships take shape in London
Lord Darzi’s phoenix-from-the-ashes academic health science partnership Imperial Health Partners has got off to a flying start, but one name was conspicuous by its absence on its list of potential partners.
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CommentSouth West shouts about its success as handover looms
No one could accuse NHS South West’s 133-page handover document, published last week, of being anything less than exhaustive.
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Comment'Specialised commissioning gives the NHS Commissioning Board a chance to deliver'
The NHS Commissioning Board will have control over specialised commissioning from April 2013. It is a very real opportunity to bring about dramatic improvements in clinical quality, and speed up the adoption of innovation across the NHS, says John Murray.