External contributors – Page 229
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CommentCally Bann: GPs are the masters of our destiny
Now we know. GPs are the masters of our destiny, but not until they are ready, which is sometime between lunchtime tomorrow and 2017. So, best not let the grass grow. Time to get the GP preparedness plan out the drawer.
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CommentMedia Watch: obesity and public health
Obesity and poor diets were eating many journalists as the government relaxed its attempts to control people’s lifestyles.
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CommentMichael White: no aspect of the NHS will be untouched
It is a handy principle that any health secretary who falls foul of the British Medical Association and other NHS trade unions can’t be all bad, not least because the BMA’s response to Andrew Lansley’s mid-summer gift to GPs looks a touch ungrateful.
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CommentPete Mason on how the government can achieve its goals for the NHS
The government’s health policy can broadly be judged as logical and appropriate to the challenges ahead, but several areas need to be addressed for the strategy to achieve its goals - and it will take some time to bed down.
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CommentShould the irresponsible have a right to NHS care?
It is time to ask whether people who do not look after themselves should pay or wait longer for treatment
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CommentPaul Corrigan on how the third sector will save the NHS
The NHS, like all other healthcare systems in developed countries, will soon run out of money.
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CommentMichael White: libertarians and public health
We know he has had a tough week, but do go easy on Andrew Lansley.
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CommentMedia Watch: Lansley's plans for wholesale change
As rumour and speculation over cuts continues, the Financial Times reported that health secretary Andrew Lansley’s proposals for wholesale structural change within the NHS had hit a snag when seen by the committee that resolves intra-coalition government disagreements.
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CommentYour Humble Servant: Handy Andy
‘It’s been a few months now, and we’ve had no new strategy, plan or output. I can only assume you’ve been stocking up on additional inadequates so that you can get rid of them easily as cost savings to show off to the new ministers’
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CommentMichael White on the NHS budget
Good news of a sort for Andrew Lansley as he faces twin pressures: wholly predictable pressure from the Tory right (plus that nudge from Andy Burnham) to include the NHS in George Osborne’s Budget strategy for public spending cuts, and pressure from the chancellor himself not to let feckless GPs ...
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CommentThe bones of a PCT recovery plan
PCTs’ plans for the tough times ahead need both the right ‘anatomy’ and ‘physiology’
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CommentStephen Eames on GPs in the hotseat
At a recent dinner party, a fellow guest, who happened to be a GP, said: “If I was to invite my colleagues to a meeting about practice based commissioning, I would be there on my own with the sandwiches” (well, actually these days it would be without the sandwiches.).
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CommentKen Jarrold on the winners and losers of NHS reform
I started reading policy documents on the NHS in 1969. The first was the Green Paper published two years earlier, which launched the discussion about the first major re-organisation.
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CommentJon Restell on NHS executive pay
Good employment practice does not make good politics in the bear-pit arena of public sector executive pay, fashioned in the recession, the expenses scandal and “fisca-geddon”.
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Comment
Why the NHS should devote 5 per cent of its budget to public health
It may seem crazy talk, but the NHS should devote 5 per cent of its budget to public health. We can’t afford not to, says John Middleton
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Comment
Cally Bann: 'Remember it’s not over until the fat vuvuzela’s blown'
Yes, I want to win the bid to run the community health services. I know there are a few more stages to go. And I know we looked good on paper, and thought that we’d taken our best team to the pitch. And yes, I know the one about the ...
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CommentMedia Watch: public sector pensions
In the build-up to Tuesday’s Budget, it was open season on public sector pensions.
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CommentMichael White on hospital reconfigurations
“Oh joy, oh bliss. Now we will get some answers,” I told myself as we were waiting for George Osborne’s emergency cuts budget - (we are still waiting for details of Andrew Lansley’s Brave New NHS World).
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CommentSheila Williams on coping with change in the NHS
Change is a constant, whether we want it or not. So when change arrives on our doorstep, as it most certainly is about to do, we need to bring all our emotional intelligence to bear on the situation, so we can adjust and help others to adjust accordingly.
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Comment'Don't doubt the government’s commitment to radical NHS reform'
It would be wise not to underestimate the government’s commitment to radical NHS reform.