External contributors – Page 310
-
Comment
Michael White on politics
Halfway through the Queen's Speech debate's NHS segment, Judy Mallaber, former Unison researcher and now Labour MP for Amber Valley, shamed us all by diverting from local UK problems to those of the Democratic Republic of the Congo whose recent elections the MP had helped to monitor for fairness.
-
Comment
Media Watch: pay-offs
'Outrage at hospital trust's pay-off after spat' said The Sun, as it revealed 'debt-ridden' Eastbourne Downs primary care trust had paid off its former public health director to the tune of £250,000 after a 'spat' with a colleague.
-
Comment
Media Watch: earnings cap
So ministers have 'blundered' again, according to London's Evening Standard. This time it is because they have failed to cap doctors' earnings.
-
Comment
Noel Plumridge on the future of PbR
The original idea behind payment by results was disarmingly simple: more work, more money. But the dilemma was always how to pay for it in a closed, cash-limited system. So what can we anticipate from the consultation paper on the future of payment by results due by the end of ...
-
Comment
Michael White: change in the NHS
We were standing on the edge of my local swimming pool discussing the inevitability of change when a fellow wrinklie walked past, saying: 'Don't talk to me about change. I work for the NHS and whenever I hear that word I just switch off.'
-
Comment
Media Watch: doctor MoTs
If you'd just open the bonnet now, Dr Cameron, and we'll be through with your MoT for another five years. Before you know it, young Dr Finlay will be up for his MoT too.
-
Comment
Malcolm Lowe-Lauri on succession planning
My nine-year-old son was recruited this season to the local football league club's centre of excellence. His coaches exude knowledge, enthusiasm and a remarkable commitment to a part-time, barely rewarded, role. They spend much of their spare time watching local junior league matches. They also handle representations from ambitious parents, ...
-
Comment
Michael White on the pay round
'The tough pay round is a blatant 'clawback' and I don't think doctors can expect much sympathy'
-
Comment
Media Watch: nurses protest
Avenging angels hit the headlines and the streets this weekend as they came out in force to protest at, among other things, a below-inflation pay rise.
-
Comment
Michael White on the budget
'Brown did not say what health will get in 2008-11, though he is said to be focusing on health in his Treasury lair'
-
Comment
Media Watch: junior doctors
'How could they be so stupid?' asked the Daily Mail as it berated the government for failing to ensure junior doctors will be guaranteed jobs this summer in the Department of Health's new recruitment process.
-
Comment
Michael White: maternity woes
'For some, fertility issues are heart-breaking - not marginal NHS issues but utterly central to their lives'
-
Comment
Media watch: C difficile in Norfolk
The news on superbugs gets worse following reports that a mutant strain of Clostridium difficile has been linked to the death of 17 patients at a Norfolk hospital.
-
Comment
Media watch: hospital phone charges
Those unlucky enough to spend Easter in hospital also had the misfortune of paying a whopping 26p per minute if they wished to call their loved ones. Not unexpectedly the tabloids and broadsheets were up in arms last week as they bemoaned the 160 per cent increase in hospital call ...
-
Comment
Michael White: parliamentary deadlock
'Parliament is deadlocked on serious issues that may end up in a 'ping pong' test of wills'
-
Comment
Media Watch: drug company's promise
This week comes news that a drug firm has offered to refund the cost of one of its products to the NHS if it fails to work on patients.
-
Comment
Media Watch: NHS meddling
'We're still waiting for Mr Brown to give any indication of what he might do to the NHS. Surely he won't be able to resist some meddling'
-
Comment
Media Watch: Granger leaves
'Anger as best paid civil servant goes', The Sunday Telegraph told its readers as it emerged earlier this week that the chief executive of Connecting for Health Richard Granger would leave his £292,000-a-year post in October.
-
Comment
Noel Plumridge on the cost of a day's work
'Calculate your daily rate. Say it out loud. 'I'm a £500 a day sort of guy''
-
Comment
Data briefing: the truth behind the A&E target
A recent analysis from Les Mayhew and David Smith at City University's Cass Business School has suggested some theoretical reasons - backed by data - why achievement of the accident and emergency maximum four-hour wait by 98 per cent of hospitals was probably not all it seemed.