Latest news – Page 1911
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Letter sets out ophthalmics' loss of earnings arrangements
The Department of Health has sent out a letter detailing payments for loss of earnings for optometrists and ophthalmic medical practitioners who have attended training.It also gives the 2006 level of payment, which is due to be handed out this year.Click here to read the letter
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Staff cuts in social care 'not affecting patients'
The overall number social services staff has dropped in England but care has not suffered, according to figures from researchers at the Information Centre for health and social care.However, the number of social workers employed by local councils increased in 2006, compared with 2005.
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Anti-smoking drug gains NICE backing
A drug that helps smokers quit their habit has been approved in draft guidelines by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence.Champix is recommended for people who have expressed a desire to quit smoking and should normally be prescribed alongside behavioural support.Click here for more details
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New details on one-stop-shop for health data
The Department of Health has issued more information on a new one-stop-shop for health data to professional executive committees.The letter to PEC chairs describes the new service, NHS Choices, as 'a dynamic web-based service using the latest technology'.It will be launched this summer and accessed via a website.Click here to ...
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PFI contracts: losing bidders could win back costs under EU law
Trusts will have to compensate unsuccessful bidders for private finance initiative contracts under new EU regulations, the Department of Health has confirmed.
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Quit-smoking figures reveal social divide
The number of people using NHS services to quit smoking fell by 10 per cent last year.
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SHAs' £117m training raid attacked
Strategic health authorities are raiding over £117m from this year's training budgets, HSJ has learned.
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Deficit crisis: ground won for training must be held in face of cash battles
'The government's service-level agreement - a response to criticism of the 10 per cent cut in training by SHAs last year - looks to be a dead letter within days of being published'
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Primary care trusts charged with rewriting £300m script
The National Audit Office has urged primary care trusts.to use generic medicines to save money. Oliver Evans hears from the leaders who will be expected to drive the savings in the milieu of restructuring and inform GP prescribing behaviour right down the line
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Guy's denies pathology plans go against guidance
Guy's and St Thomas' foundation trust has denied claims by the union Unite that it is attempting to privatise its pathology services against Department of Health guidance.
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Health secretary should not interfere in redesign decisions, report finds
The secretary of state for health should be removed from decisions about hospital reconfigurations, the Institute for Public Policy Research has said.
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Joint working is key to cash fight, says social care boss
Health and social care must work more closely together to provide a health service fit for the future, according to the president of the newly formed Association of Directors of Adult Social Services.
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Monitor takes tougher line to prepare for wave of FT plans
Applying for foundation trust status is to become tougher as regulator Monitor responds to an expected rise in acquisitions and mergers and deters 'overly ambitious applications'.
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Partnership working needs financial conviction
'Anxious to move on from rows over cost-shunting, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services has pledged to champion partnership working, pooled budgets and joint commissioning'
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DoH publishes guidance on expanding patient choice
The Department of Health has issued best practice guidance on how free choice in elective care should operate in the current financial year.The guidance recommends that more providers should be added to the menu offered to patients, with payment for services adhering to the national tariff.Click here to read the ...
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Welsh ambulance times off target
Ambulance response times in Wales are continuing to slide, according to figures from the Welsh Assembly published today. Just 79.1 per cent of responses to all emergency calls were within target times between January and March this year, the fourth successive quarterly decline.For more information on the latest Welsh ...
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NHS Alliance names new commissioning director
Former South Leicestershire primary care trust chief executive Julie Wood has joined the NHS Alliance as director for practice-based commissioning and its chief executive transformation network. Ms Wood will also continue to work as a consultant.Click here to read the NHS Alliance announcement
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PCT Network appoints new chair
The NHS Confederation's Primary Care Trust Network has elected Dr Lise Llewellyn as its chair and Paul Sabapathy as vice chair.Dr Llewellyn is chief executive of Berkshire East primary care trust and Mr Sabapathy is chair of Birmingham East and North PCT.
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Scientists isolate breast cancer genes
Cancer Research UK says its scientists have isolated five regions of the genome containing genes that can increase a woman's risk of developing breast cancer.The Cambridge-based scientists led an international team in a large-scale whole genome search. The team studied DNA from nearly 50,000 women.
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Mental health charity calls for new approach to commissioning
A new approach to commissioning is needed to promote better mental health, according to the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health.In its response to the government's commissioning framework for health and well-being, SCMH has called for a new strategy that sets out how to promote good mental health and the skills ...