Latest news – Page 1922

  • News

    DoH compiles a hit-list of acute trusts that cannot survive under Payment by Results

    2007-04-19T00:00:00Z

    The Department of Health has drawn up a list of acute trusts that will be closed, merged or broken up because they will not survive under payment by results, HSJ has learned.

  • News

    DoH challenged over sexual health 'millions

    2007-04-19T00:00:00Z

    The Department of Health has been asked to explain where the 'missing millions' that should have been spent on sexual health have gone.

  • News

    BMA recommends GPs get PBC guarantees from primary care trusts

    2007-04-19T00:00:00Z

    Advice to GPs to demand assurances in writing from primary care trusts over possible savings from practice-based commissioning could see doctors and PCT managers reach an impasse.

  • News

    RCN launches campaign for better patient nutrition

    2007-04-18T00:00:00Z

    Nearly half of nurses say they do not have enough time to ensure patients get good nutrition, a survey from the Royal College of Nursing has revealed.The findings coincide with the RCN campaign to improve patient nutrition in hospitals and the community, launched at its annual congress in Harrogate.Read the ...

  • News

    Ambulance service close to breaking point, says union

    2007-04-18T00:00:00Z

    The ambulance service is relying heavily on the goodwill and commitment of staff to keep up with the huge increase in demand over the last decade, according to Unison, which represents 20,000 ambulance workers.The union warned that the service is suffering from staff shortages and in some areas the situation ...

  • News

    Diagnostics waiting times and activity data published

    2007-04-18T00:00:00Z

    The Department of Health has published diagnostics waiting times and activity data for February 2007 along with a census of all diagnostic tests as at 31 December 2006.This data shows the progress in waiting times for diagnostic tests like scans. The monthly data published today gives the waiting times for ...

  • News

    New support available for commissioners of children's services

    2007-04-18T00:00:00Z

    Care services minister Ivan Lewis has launched a new self-assessment tool for commissioners of children's and young people's services.A CD-Rom will allow commissioners to assess their capability to deliver high quality and accessible services.Read the press release here

  • News

    Report calls for increased local surgery

    2007-04-18T00:00:00Z

    A new report on the future of planned surgery recommends that 80 per cent of all surgery should be done locally, with the remaining 20 per cent of the more complex cases taking place at specialist centres.In his report Saws and Scalpels to Lasers and Robots - advances in surgery, ...

  • News

    Independent review for Modernising Medical Careers

    2007-04-17T00:00:00Z

    Health secretary Patricia Hewitt has launched an independent review of the Modernising Medical Careers programme.The review is intended to establish how the programme will go forward in 2008 and beyond.

  • News

    Study says government should release hold on NHS

    2007-04-17T00:00:00Z

    The NHS needs greater freedom from the government to achieve stability and success, according to a report from Birmingham University's Health Services Management Centre.The study proposes a new model with a significantly different and reduced role for government.Read the report here

  • News

    PAC slams uncertainty over IT programme costs

    2007-04-17T00:00:00Z

    A report from the Commons public accounts committee on the national IT programme says the Department of Health must show it can deliver on its promises.Among the recommendations, the report says the DoH still has much to do to win hearts and minds in the NHS, especially among clinicians.Read the ...

  • News

    Productive Ward programme launched

    2007-04-17T00:00:00Z

    The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement has launched the Releasing Time to Care: Productive Ward programme at the Royal College of Nursing congress in Harrogate.Find out more here

  • News

    Decline in services for special care baby units

    2007-04-17T00:00:00Z

    A report published today by the premature baby charity BLISS says that on average special care baby units are understaffed by a third.It claims that shortages in staffed cots mean units are sometimes forced to close and turn babies away.

  • News

    RCN: care being compromised by staffing levels

    2007-04-17T00:00:00Z

    Staffing levels are affecting patient care, according to a new survey by the Royal College of Nursing.Nearly two thirds of nurses (60 per cent) said patient care on their ward was compromised at least once or twice a week by poor staffing levels.Read the survey here

  • News

    Overtime is out of line

    2007-04-16T10:56:15Z

    It was interesting to compare your headline - 'Thousands doing unpaid overtime' with the Healthcare Commission's press release on the topic. The latter did not mention in its commentary on the survey results the huge amount of unpaid overtime done by NHS staff, only reporting details in the sector breakdown ...

  • News

    The trouble with cancer services

    2007-04-16T10:50:30Z

    I read with interest the article by Anna Donald (opinion, page 15, 12 April). I to have been diagnosed with breast cancer and totally agree with her comments. The medical treatment I received was second to none but as Ms Donald.says it is the relationships that matters.

  • News

    Patient safety: the blame game

    2007-04-16T10:40:59Z

    I find HSJ's reporting of the concept of 'no blame' in patient safety incidents.incredibly disappointing and disquieting (opinion, page 16, 12 April).

  • News

    Legal briefing: NICE rulings

    2007-04-16T10:05:33Z

    Sometimes trusts have no choice but to follow the advice of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, says legal expert David Lock.

  • News

    Eight steps to effective commissioning

    2007-04-16T10:03:19Z

    Government rhetoric about patient-centred.commissioning is loud and clear. But how will it work on the ground?

  • News

    Key points in the commissioning framework for health and well-being

    2007-04-16T10:02:00Z

    'The proposals in the document could mean the NHS paying for air-conditioning in the homes of people with chronic lung disease, or GPs prescribing anger management classes for children with behavioural problems.'.