Latest news – Page 1918

  • News

    NHS chief warned over 'damning' contract report

    2007-05-03T00:00:00Z

    MPs are preparing a scathing indictment of the consultant contract, NHS chief executive David Nicholson was warned this week.

  • News

    Blair warns against independence

    2007-05-03T00:00:00Z

    Prime minister Tony Blair has warned against creating an independent NHS. He said it would slow down decision-making and be in danger of becoming distracted by special interest groups.

  • News

    Health Protection Agency to develop guidance as C difficile rates rise by 8pc

    2007-05-03T00:00:00Z

    The Health Protection Agency has been charged by the Department of Health with producing new guidance on Clostridium difficile, as it emerged that cases have risen by 8 per cent.

  • News

    Briefing document aims to tackle 'misunderstanding and misinformation' management 'myths'

    2007-05-03T00:00:00Z

    A 'myth buster' defending NHS management is to be sent to MPs, influential media figures and other key opinion leaders, the NHS Confederation has announced.

  • News

    DoH launches national special interest framework

    2007-05-03T00:00:00Z

    A national accreditation framework for GPs and pharmacists with special interests has been launched by the Department of Health. It aims to ensure standards of care in the community are equivalent to those in the acute sector.

  • News

    Director general defends IT plan and blasts critics of the electronic patient record

    2007-05-03T00:00:00Z

    Critics of the electronic patient record have been branded 'privacy fascists' by the Department of Health director general of IT.

  • News

    Cash-strapped contraceptive services plead for a target

    2007-05-03T00:00:00Z

    Contraceptive services are struggling as PCTs direct budgets to the GUM target. Family planning needs a target of its own, reports Helen Mooney

  • News

    Tories and Lib Dems criticise Blair legacy

    2007-05-03T00:00:00Z

    The three main political parties have come out fighting over what 10 years under a Labour government has meant for the NHS.

  • News

    Respect patients' right to die at home, says report

    2007-05-03T00:00:00Z

    Patients nearing the end of their lives who choose to die at home should have their preferences respected, according to a paper published in the May issue of the Journal of the RoyalSociety of Medicine.Leading palliative care experts say that despite most people saying that they would prefer to die ...

  • News

    Sir George in call for service closures

    2007-05-03T00:00:00Z

    National emergency care director Sir George Alberti is expected to call today for the closure of accident and emergency and maternity services at Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield, north London. This is despite a campaign by junior Home Office minister Joan Ryan to retain services at the hospital, which ...

  • News

    Doctors barring staff access to IT

    2007-05-03T00:00:00Z

    Doctors move computers away from shared areas and add protected passwords to prevent nurses and junior staff using them, a study from York University's e-society research programme has found.

  • News

    It was a difficult journey, but under Blair the NHS was saved

    2007-05-03T00:00:00Z

    Ten years ago this week, Tony Blair told the country that it had 24 hours to save the NHS. Now that the remainder of his premiership can be measured in days, what can be concluded on whether he delivered on that bold claim?

  • News

    National Patient Safety Agency appoints new medical director

    2007-05-02T00:00:00Z

    The National Patient Safety Agency has announced the appointment of Dr Kevin Cleary as its new medical director.Dr Cleary will join the NPSA from West London Mental Health trust, where he is currently clinical director of adolescent forensic services and consultant child and adolescent forensic psychiatrist. He will take up ...

  • News

    Trial starts to find cure for childhood blindness

    2007-05-02T00:00:00Z

    A Department of Health-funded team have begun a clinical gene therapy trial to test a revolutionary treatment for blindness in children.The trial, which was given £1m by the DoH, is the first of its kind and could have a significant impact on future treatments for eye disease.Find out more here

  • News

    Health visitor posts being lost daily, says Amicus

    2007-05-02T00:00:00Z

    At least one health visitor job is being lost every day according to Amicus and the Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association.The latest workforce statistics show a 4.5 per cent drop in the number of full-time equivalent health visitors in the year to September 2006. The union says the figures ...

  • News

    BMA demands assurances over website security breaches

    2007-05-02T00:00:00Z

    The British Medical Association has hit out at health secretary Patricia Hewitt's Commons statement on security breaches on the medical training application service website.BMA medical students committee chair Emily Rigby demanded 'absolute assurance' from Ms Hewitt and 'a promise that it can never happen again'.Read the press release here

  • News

    New head of commercial relations at NHS Confederation

    2007-05-02T00:00:00Z

    Andrew Escott will join the NHS Confederation as head of commercial relations. He will head up a six-strong commercial relations team with a remit of building links between the NHS, the commercial sector and government.Mr Escott joins the confederation after nearly six years at public relations firm APCO Worldwide, where ...

  • News

    Pressure group raises infection alarm

    2007-05-01T00:00:00Z

    Pressure group Health Emergency has claimed that a new healthcare-acquired infection is spreading through hospitals in the South, Wales and East Anglia.According to the organisation in the past two weeks the norovirus has caused 10 hospitals to close wards and restrict admissions and visitors.

  • News

    NHS dentists down since new contract introduced

    2007-05-01T00:00:00Z

    According to the British Dental Association there are approximately 1,200 fewer dentists providing NHS services than before the new dental contract was implemented in April 2006.In a letter to prime minister Tony Blair, BDA chief executive Peter Ward has called for the creation of circumstances that would make NHS care ...

  • News

    Call for evidence into maternity service safety

    2007-05-01T00:00:00Z

    The King's Fund has called for evidence to an independent inquiry into the safety of maternity services in England.The investigation invites professionals across maternity services to help identify obstacles to the delivery of safety improvements.For more information click here