Comment archive – Page 397

  • Comment

    Mike Cooke on sizzling NHS leadership

    2009-01-19T09:00:00Z

    Leadership and management remain big themes in 2009. This column is about the ‘sizzle’ and the ‘sausages’.

  • Comment

    Ken Jarrold on NHS positive thinking

    2009-01-19T09:00:00Z

    2009 does not look like the most promising of years. The impact of the recession on the NHS will be real: the years of plenty are behind us. In these circumstances, it is important to hold on to the positives and not be overwhelmed by gloom.

  • Comment

    Angela Greatley on racism and the NHS

    2009-01-16T01:00:00Z

    Next month marks the 10th anniversary of the publication of the Macpherson report into the death of Stephen Lawrence. The report was the first to bring the concept of 'institutional racism' to the attention of the public.

  • Leader

    NHS history tells us we've been in this tough spot before

    2009-01-15T09:00:00Z

    The NHS is reliving its own history. Government papers released to the National Archives reveal that 30 years ago ministers were facing eerily familiar pressures: a recession, plunging support, rising unemployment and demand, the need to improve the NHS with little or no new cash, and a big idea about ...

  • Leader

    Darzi review: MPs' shallow analysis sheds no light

    2009-01-15T09:00:00Z

    The Commons health committee has delivered a devastating critique of primary care trusts.

  • Comment

    Media Watch: DH salaries

    2009-01-15T01:00:00Z

    Since everything is about money at the moment, it is perhaps no surprise that enterprising politicians have been totting up what the NHS and government spend on everything from celebrities to Department of Health officials.

  • Comment

    Michael White on public health nudges

    2009-01-15T01:00:00Z

    I was relaxing on the South Island of New Zealand and just about to throw away what had been a very nice bottle of local sauvignon blanc when I noticed a detail on the label.

  • Comment

    Simon Stevens on an NHS game plan for 2009

    2009-01-15T01:00:00Z

    Happy New Year. Or is it? With so much talk of recession and economic gloom, it's easy to forget the NHS's benign position, compared with - say - the car industry, retail, or financial services.

  • Comment

    Patient choice: Apple's way will bear most fruit

    2009-01-15T01:00:00Z

    Patient choice means NHS organisations must act more like businesses to win customers. The best will look to companies like Apple, which build their services from the 'outside in'

  • Comment

    Robina Shah on another day in another NHS year

    2009-01-14T09:00:00Z

    A very belated happy new year to all my colleagues. If your January 2009 has been anything like mine, it will have presented time to reflect on the past while managing the present and identifying aspirations for the future.

  • Comment

    Mark Goldman on shifting healthcare into the community

    2009-01-13T01:00:00Z

    In spite of every policy and every effort, it is not happening, not so far at least in Birmingham. The endeavours of primary care to shift healthcare into the community are yet to make a significant dent in hospital activity.

  • Comment

    Julia Tybura on NHS career survival

    2009-01-12T01:00:00Z

    What would you do if 90 per cent of the world's population died from a flu virus and you were one of only a handful of survivors?

  • Comment

    Stephen Ramden on keeping failure in mind

    2009-01-12T01:00:00Z

    'It could never happen here…' These are five words that sent a chill up chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson's spine.

  • Comment

    David Peat on quality life years

    2009-01-12T01:00:00Z

    It might seem odd at first glance to think we are doing 'old Joe' a favour by getting him fit and happy enough to pop down to his local for a pint or two with his pals.

  • Comment

    Nicholas Hunt on specialised healthcare commissioning

    2009-01-08T01:00:00Z

    Since the first statement of intent from the Department of Health back in December 2007, world class commissioning has grown rapidly from concept to, some might say, mantra.

  • Comment

    Naomi Chambers on NHS lessons from the private sector

    2008-12-19T09:00:00Z

    Public sector organisations are frequently exhorted to raise their game by borrowing from approaches used in the business world.How can non-executive directors on NHS boards make sense of their role in today's uncertain climate?

  • Leader

    Taxpayers deserve a say over NHS, but there is a less disruptive way

    2008-12-18T09:00:00Z

    Disputes at opposite ends of the UK highlight the complexities of introducing democracy into the health service.

  • Leader

    NHS Confederation: stop dithering or start shedding members

    2008-12-18T09:00:00Z

    More than 10 months after Gill Morgan quit as NHS Confederation chief executive, it has failed to appoint a successor.

  • Comment

    Media Watch: NHS Blackpool

    2008-12-18T09:00:00Z

    Anyone still planning their Christmas celebrations may wish to take heed of the recent experience of NHS Blackpool.

  • Comment

    Michael White on NHS politics

    2008-12-18T09:00:00Z

    In these times of global recession and rising unemployment we should seek cheerful news. I offer these crumbs of comfort from the thinly attended fag end of the Queen's Speech debate, where health and education were bundled up as one.