All articles by Jo Stephenson – Page 8
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News
Climate change: heatwaves could put 6,000 lives at risk
The NHS in the South East should be ready for a heatwave that could claim more than 6,000 lives, a Department of Health report has warned.
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News
New target regime should give trusts local freedom
The Department of Health has released delayed guidance on new 'vital signs' performance indicators which aim to give trusts more freedom to set local goals with less interference from the top.Under the new operating framework, trusts will be judged on three tiers of 'vital signs' - and can set local ...
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News
Focus on targets instead of patients led to health scandals
NHS managers implicated in serious care failings are too often focused on targets and mergers instead of patients, the Healthcare Commission has warned.
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News
Bromley Hospitals trust fails cleanliness spot check
Bromley Hospitals trust has been rapped for breaching the hygiene code after a Healthcare Commission spot check.
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Comment
Media Watch: agency nurses
Agency nurses are raking it in with some hospitals paying them more than £120 an hour, according to figures obtained by the Conservatives.
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News
nurse nib
Barts and the London trust says a policy that allows nurses to discharge patients without the need to wait for a doctor has already saved the trust thousands of pounds and helped free up hospital beds. Under the scheme senior nurses can discharge patients using clear criteria agreed with medical ...
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News
Scottish plan to fight fraud
NHS bodies in Scotland will be encouraged to appoint 'counter-fraud champions' in a bid to stop money being illegally siphoned from the health service.
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Comment
Media Watch: donations row
Health secretary Alan Johnson was big news this week, as a row over a donation to his campaign to become Labour deputy leader spread across front pages faster than a hospital superbug.
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News
Auditors sceptical about cull of arm's-length bodies
Finance experts have questioned the value for money of a major Department of Health review aimed at cutting spending on arm's-length bodies.
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Comment
Media Watch: compensation claims
While Leslie Ash celebrated, columnists seethed, indignant at the £5m in compensation the actor received after contracting an infection in hospital.
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News
Most PCTs want to keep existing accountability systems
Most primary care trusts do not want new structures for improving accountability to patients, NHS Confederation research suggests.
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Comment
Media Watch: super-surgeries
Is it a GP practice, is it a shop? No it's a super-surgery - the answer to patients' prayers (possibly) but not necessarily good news for doctors.
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News
Trusts told to gather data on clinical outcomes
Trusts will be expected to collect information on the success of treatments in a move that could pave the way for more public information about individual clinicians' performance.
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News
Confed rejects LGA call for new 'hire and fire' powers
NHS organisations have rebuffed a call for councils to hold the power to hire and fire trust chief executives.
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News
GPs back call to vet leaflets
There is mounting pressure to introduce a system for vetting information leaflets in GP surgeries after it emerged many are sponsored by big brands or contain large amounts of advertising.
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News
11 foundation trusts face probe for missing targets
Eleven foundation trusts are being scrutinised for failing to hit performance targets they claimed they would meet.
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News
3rd sector
More voluntary organisations would work alongside the NHS as 'strategic partners' under government plans to modernise the health service's investment in the third sector. The Department of Health has launched a consultation in a bid to create a fairer and more streamlined funding system.
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News
floods nib
An interim report into the way public services responded to the summer floods has highlighted confusion over the roles of health organisations in providing health protection advice. The review, led by Sir Michael Pitt, chairman of the South West Strategic Health Authority, calls for urgent clarification from the Department of ...
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News
Mental health dismissal was 'outrageous' says tribunal
A mental health trust has been slammed for the way it handled the unlawful sacking of a psychiatrist with mental health problems.
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News
GPs told to get specialist commissioning help
Practice-based commissioning should be changed to let mixed teams of hospital specialists and GPs decide how budgets are spent, according to a report by a leading health policy analyst.