All articles by John Appleby – Page 2
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HSJ Knowledge
1948: creation of a new workforce
In 1948 the NHS opened its collective doors to be faced not only with an inherited waiting list of around half a million patients and a clamour for spectacles and false teeth, but also an almost immediate staff shortage.
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HSJ Knowledge
How to spend less while doing more
New national reference costs data shows that in 2006-07 the NHS in England spent less cash on inpatient, day case and emergency care than in 2005-06. Scroll down to view the charts at the end of the story.
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HSJ Knowledge
Why NHS budgets have always been a bugbear
Setting the first NHS budget in 1948 was no easy task. The Beveridge report, the 1942 blueprint for the welfare state, suggested £130m.
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HSJ Knowledge
60 years of eating and smoking
It was in the 'ninth year of austerity' - with the end of full rationing still six years away - that the NHS came into existence on 5 July 1948. The chief medical officer, reporting on the state of the public's health, declared the NHS had begun 'its colossal task' ...
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HSJ Knowledge
First wave ISTCs: what do we know?
Four years after the first wave of independent sector treatment centres, the Department of Health has provided data on their performance. Unfortunately, this is almost useless in answering questions about their impact on waiting times.
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HSJ Knowledge
Is Darzi wrong about GP access?
Everyone has a personal anecdote about their experience of the NHS, from the wonderful nurse to the obstructive receptionist or insensitive consultant delivering bad news. The problem is such stories are just one-off experiences - so how satisfied are patients overall across the millions of patient contacts in the NHS ...
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News
Is Darling's spending review a good deal for the NHS?
At first glance, the NHS appears to have done well from chancellor Alistair Darling's comprehensive spending review, but a closer look suggests it falls short of Sir Derek Wanless's recommendations and on the future costs of adult social care, argues John Appleby
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HSJ Knowledge
Recalling the offer of choice
The government revealed the results of its£11million GP access survey last month and promised ‘immediate action’ to rectify the areas of underperformance, particularly the poorer access reported by patients in poorer areas; ‘improvement teams’ are being dispatched.Another part of the access survey concerned patient choice. The survey asked patients whether ...
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HSJ Knowledge
The NICE threshold
How costly or cheap, relative to its benefits, does a healthcare technology have to be to justify its rejection or acceptance by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence?
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Comment
Data briefing: Scottish tariffs
Following publication last year of Professor David Kerr?s Building a Health Service Fit for the Future, a Wanless-style review of Scottish health services, the NHS in Scotland is now implementing Delivering for Health reforms, which includes a new system of paying hospitals.
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HSJ Knowledge
Data Briefing: Did the extra money go on new staff?
A new analysis of the reason for and distribution of NHS deficits published by the Department of Health, Explaining NHS Deficits, contains an interesting analysis of what the extra funding from 2000-04 was spent on. The answer, apparently, is that nearly 80 per cent was consumed by the costs of ...
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HSJ Knowledge
Economic growth and NHS spending
If the chancellor sticks to Derek Wanless's 'fully engaged' scenario for future NHS spending, the next few spending rounds are likely to see smaller rises for the NHS than the last two as total healthcare spending flattens out at around 10.5 per cent of GDP across the UK.