All Government/DH policy articles – Page 141
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CommentAn austere Christmas for the public sector
There was little Christmas cheer in the approach to the festive season as the media focused on cuts and austerity in the public sector.
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NewsNumber of A&E consultants must double to cope with new indicators
The new accident and emergency indicators will require some departments to double their A&E consultants while others will struggle to record the data without upgrading their IT, the HSJ has been told.
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NewsValue based pricing could cost the NHS more
The planned new value based pricing system for approving drugs to be funded by the NHS could end up costing the NHS more, the Department of Health’s own impact assessment states.
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NewsNICE work on public health guidance put on hold
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has been ordered to stop developing guidance on some public health topics and put others on hold.
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NewsLansley confirms Maidstone to close maternity unit
Controversial plans to centralise maternity and children’s services in West Kent have been given the go-ahead by health secretary Andrew Lansley.
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NewsRise in intensive care beds occupied by flu patients
The number of flu cases being treated in critical care beds has increased by 66 per cent in the last week, according to figures released by the Department of Health.
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NewsNHS 'wasting' millions on expensive insulin
Prescribing an expensive form of insulin against NICE guidance is causing the NHS to waste tens of millions of pounds every year, it has been revealed.
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NewsFlu jab uptake 'shockingly low'
The NHS risks being inundated with flu victims because of a “shockingly low” vaccine uptake, a senior doctor has warned.
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NewsGovernment sets out who will commission public health services
Immunisation, screening and public health for the under fives will in future be commissioned by the NHS Commissioning Board, under latest government proposals.
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NewsNicholson's appointment to NCB sparked by concern over reforms
The “surprising” appointment of David Nicholson to head up the new NHS commissioning board may have been prompted by growing government concern about the NHS reforms, HSJ has been told.
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NewsFirst NHS outcomes framework published
The first NHS outcomes framework has been unveiled, identifying 51 indicators to be used to judge the service.
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NewsFlu outbreak 'no worse than usual'
There is “no evidence as yet” that the winter flu outbreak is worse than usual, England’s interim chief medical officer has said after senior GPs warned that they feared a crisis was looming.
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NewsGovernment unveils proposals for value based drug pricing
A new pricing system for pharmaceutical drugs used in the NHS has been proposed by the government, which it claims will increase patient access to effective medicines.
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NewsEmergency targets scrapped in favour of performance measures
The four-hour accident and emergency target and the 19 minute category B response time for ambulances are to be scrapped, the government announced today.
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NewsHospital productivity has fallen over last decade
Hospital productivity has fallen by an average of 1.4 per cent a year since the publication of the NHS Plan ten years ago, the National Audit Office has said.
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NewsSocial care directors back statutory wellbeing boards
Social services directors have welcomed the government’s decision that there will be a statutory duty on local authorities to create health and wellbeing boards.
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NewsDH calls for volunteers to pilot NHS 111
The Department of Health is planning a rapid expansion of the NHS 111 service next year in order to achieve universal coverage by April 2013.
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NewsMental health contracts 'seriously vulnerable' to tariff changes
Changes to the tariff “discriminate” against mental health trusts, the Mental Health Network has warned.
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Comment'People are skeptical of welfare spending'
As coalition ministers plough on with radical reforms of health and other public services, they should not take much comfort from this week’s social attitude survey suggesting Britain is now more right wing than in the Thatcherite 80s.
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NewsPlans for 'at risk' NHS staff revealed
NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson has revealed the latest plans for the 90,000 staff whose jobs are at risk due to management cuts.