A small number of trusts have decided to give board-level directors no pay rise so that less senior managers can enjoy increases above the 2.7 per cent limit set by the Department of Health. A Pay and Workforce Research survey found three out of 50 trusts interpreting the pay ceiling as a limit on the overall management pay bill rather than on individual rises.

Pay Update Report, vol 2 issue 5. From PWR 01423-842637.

Health authorities are failing to consult community health councils, says a report today by the Association of CHCs for England and Wales. Its survey of 95 CHCs found that only 52 routinely received information about proposed service changes despite a legal duty to consult them on 'substantial changes'.

Welsh health minister Win Griffiths has awarded more than pounds 1m to 43 primary care development projects in Wales. The successful bids were selected from 130 applications.

There is little evidence that clinical risk management reduces negligence claims or improves patient care, an NHS Confederation report by Kieran Walshe and Maria Dineen of Birmingham University's health services management centre has concluded.

Clinical Risk Management: making a difference? Fax: 0121-414 1120. pounds 25.

The government is to extend VAT relief to resuscitation training models used by NHS trusts and charities, Treasury financial secretary Dawn Primarolo has announced. Customs & Excise will consult on a precise definition for the extra-statutory concession.

Health secretary Frank Dobson used a pile-driver to start building work at the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Greenwich. Contracts for the 571- bed, pounds 93m hospital were signed by Greenwich Healthcare trust and private finance initiative consortium leaders Kvaerner at the weekend.