Comment archive – Page 351
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CommentProtecting the public from public health professionals
The statutory regulation of public health specialists is a little known and rarely discussed issue, but it needs close scrutiny to improve the protection patients receive against professionals whose practice could cause loss of life, says Lindsey Davies.
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CommentMichael White: private sector concerns going round in circles
Days before the conclusion of Circle Health’s long negotiation to take over the running of Hinchingbrooke Health Care Trust I encountered some research about the private sector’s parallel march through Britain’s prison management system. It struck me forcefully.
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CommentEast of England pays close attention to QIPP plans
The East of England is often cited as a vanguard region in the NHS, with its strategic health authority providing the bulk of the leadership - seven of the 11 executives - of the new NHS Midlands and East behemoth.
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CommentPatchy progress on reducing acute activty in the South West
Progress towards achieving the holy grail of acute activity reduction is patchy across the South West, with varying effects on trust finances.
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LeaderMaximum waits matter as much as minimum ones
Reading between the lines of the blustering, disingenuous and politically motivated government announcement banning “minimum waiting times”, a more interesting theme emerges.
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LeaderWinners demonstrate the power of unity
The HSJ Awards – the largest celebration of health service excellence in the UK – is always a cause for cheer. However, this year, its arrival feels particularly positive.
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CommentDevloping new structures for improved service delivery
Now is a golden opportunity to start developing guidelines and principles to inform better healthcare delivery, says Paul Zollinger-Read
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CommentMichael White: let's back the public sector plan B
At the weekend I rang an old trade union friend, a veteran of countless public sector negotiations, disputes and occasional strikes, to hear him contradict my own excessively rational view (“don’t do it, comrades”) of the pensions dispute which threatens NHS services this month.
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LeaderLegal challenges threaten service redesign
Royal Brompton and Harefield Foundation Trust’s successful judicial review of the national consultation into the reconfiguration of paediatric cardiac services will send a shiver down the backbones of those charged with reshaping the English NHS.
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Comment'A new procurement model could fall foul of inertia'
Despite talk of opening up NHS procurement, the same old system looks unlikely to be phased out just yet, writes Noel Plumridge.
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CommentReview of London trusts reveals fears for safety
By now everyone in London’s heard of the SaFE review. NHS London commissioned consultants McKinsey to put together the Safe and Financially Effective paper and it has sat on desks for a few weeks at Southside. It’s explosive.
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CommentMedia Watch: fighting over the financials
Sunday’s Observer once again turned its eye to McKinsey and Company, claiming its consultants had been drawn into a “conflict of interest row”.
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CommentCally Bann: putting the record straight
It is only fair that a victim of misinterpretation and misrepresentation gets to clarify their comments.
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Comment'Healing our finances needs a long term, not short term, strategy'
The financial problems of the NHS are extremely serious – but more like anaemia than haemorrhage. It is the financial equivalent of a long term medical condition, says Nick Bosanquet.
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CommentMassive Midlands cluster faces a big foundation status challenge
The giant Midlands and East strategic health authority cluster held its first full board meeting as a monolith last week.
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CommentNoel Plumridge: PbR is becoming increasingly irrelevant
The strategic direction of tariff funding used to be steady expansion of scope and steady growth in sophistication. In time, it was understood, payment by results would cover virtually the entire English NHS.
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CommentIs the GP contract a barrier to integrated care?
There is a serious need to look at how GPs operate if integrated care is to successfully make the difference the government, and the sector, is pinning its hopes on, says King’s Fund director of policy Anna Dixon.
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CommentHSJ interview: Clayton M Christensen, author of The Innovator’s Prescription
The author of the Circle Prize for Inspiring Innovation-winning book, The Innovator’s Prescription, talks to HSJ about disrupting healthcare.
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CommentMedia Watch: NHS commissioning board makes a quiet start
The establishment of the NHS Commissioning Board could prove to be one of the more momentous events in the service’s history, but the occasion went all but unmarked by the national papers.
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CommentMichael White: don't bank on blaming Brussels for the NHS's ills
I was nursing a cold and watching the Commons EU debate on the telly at home when I was startled to hear David Nuttall, the Tory MP leading the anti-European charge, blame those wily foreigners for the imminent closure of the maternity ward and special care baby unit in his ...