Commissioning – Page 232
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NewsGP contract: 'clunky’ deal holds back quality
Primary care trusts blame the “weak and clunky” GP contract for slow progress on improving quality in primary care and unacceptable variations in cost.
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NewsChoice of male or female GP still unequal
Variations between primary care trusts in the quality of their GP services and how easily patients can access them remain stark.
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NewsMost PCTs meet only ‘minimum requirements’ on resources use
The majority of primary care trusts are meeting only “minimum requirements” in their use of resources, the results of the Audit Commission’s annual test have shown.
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LeaderSHAs face an uncertain destiny as political friends desert them
Are strategic health authorities staring into the abyss?
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CommentStephen Eames on defending district general hospitals
Reconfiguration of acute and community services is bound to be on the cards again, once the dust has settled on the autumn QIPP and Monitor downside submissions.
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NewsCornwall PCT looks for leader as another chief goes
Cornwall’s primary care trust and hospital trust are both looking for new chief executives.
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HSJ Knowledge
Mental health roadmap
The primary aim of world class commissioning is to improve the skills of primary care trusts to make them more effective commissioners. The 11 WCC competencies focus on the key areas required of PCTs, but some areas are inevitably more developed than others.
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HSJ Knowledge
Staff engagement
Ricardo Semler is a well-known businessman in Brazil. Back in the 1990s, when the Brazilian economy took a nosedive, he had to think about how his company, Semco, could survive.
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NewsAlan Milburn attacks Andy Burnham for making NHS the preferred provider
Former health secretary Alan Milburn has attacked Andy Burnham’s decision to move away from competition and make the NHS the “preferred provider” of services.
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NewsAndy Burnham promises to protect primary care budgets
Health secretary Andy Burnham has promised to do “everything he can” to protect primary care budgets from public sector spending cuts.
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NewsMike O'Brien tells SHAs to 'justify their existence'
Health minister Mike O’Brien has called on strategic health authorities to “justify their existence”, saying more of their budgets should be devolved to commissioners.
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LeaderAndy Burnham speech delivers body blow to NHS competition and choice
The government’s commitment to choice and competition is unravelling.
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NewsAndy Burnham’s preferred bidder pledge questioned
Questions have been raised over the implications for competition and world class commissioning of health secretary Andy Burnham’s statement that the NHS is the “preferred provider” of services.
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NewsCall to link up mental health and substance misuse services for dual diagnosis
Forging stronger partnerships between mental health and substance misuse services could improve services and cut costs, the NHS Confederation has claimed.
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NewsPatient satisfaction guaranteed: the future of payment by results?
The health secretary’s promise of a greater focus on patient experience has the approval of NHS leaders - as long as it is done properly, reports Rebecca Evans
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CommentGary Belfield on world class commissioning
World class commissioning is not a status to be achieved and retained but an ongoing process of improvement which has patients’ changing needs at its heart
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NewsWorld class commissioning: efficiency made a core competency
Assessing how effectively NHS commissioners spend their funding receives greater importance in the latest government guidance on world class commissioning.
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NewsPatient reported outcome measures may be public next year
Information comparing how much patients’ health improves with the care received at different hospitals will appear early next year, the Department of Health is hoping.
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NewsIncrease work placement support, urges mental health charity
Getting people with mental health problems into work should be an NHS priority, according to the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health.
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LeaderA shot in the arm for GPs as they eye swine flu profits
Why is the government shovelling yet more money to GPs?