Latest news – Page 1940

  • News

    Government 'did not consult' on visa restrictions for foreign doctors

    2007-02-12T00:00:00Z

    The High Court has ruled that the government did not consult with the medical profession, or follow necessary race relations procedures, before restricting employment opportunities for doctors from outside the EU.The ruling comes in response to a legal challenge to last year's decision by the government to prevent non-EU doctors ...

  • News

    Minister wants patients copied in to clinicians' letters

    2007-02-12T00:00:00Z

    Health minister Rosie Winterton has said healthcare professionals should make more effort to routinely copy letters between clinicians to their patients.Ms Winterton is to write to all professional bodies, including the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nursing, urging them to encourage members to copy patients into correspondence ...

  • News

    If not now, when? Taking action on alcohol

    2007-02-12T00:00:00Z

    The time is ripe for developing strategic steps to tackle the havoc wreaked by alcohol misuse, says Libby Ranzetta

  • News

    Use of management consultants

    2007-02-12T00:00:00Z

    I always enjoy the wit and irony of the inside back cover. How delighted I was to see that you have now carried it into the body of your journal under the headline 'SHA pays £2m for firm to size up PCT commissioning' as the independent and objective firm chosen ...

  • News

    Social care spend up 10 per cent

    2007-02-09T00:00:00Z

    Spending on public sector social care services for adults and children rose by 10 per cent over the past two years to reach £19.3bn in 2005-06, according to the Information Centre for health and social care.Spending on services for adults and older people, which accounts for 74 per cent of ...

  • News

    Scottish ambulance delays rise

    2007-02-09T00:00:00Z

    The number of ambulances across Scotland taking longer than an hour to reach an emergency incident has risen from 71 to 179 over the last six years, despite an increase of 25 per cent in the number of trained crews available, according to the Scottish National Party.www.snp.org/news

  • News

    Hewitt defends fall in bed numbers

    2007-02-09T00:00:00Z

    Health secretary Patricia Hewitt has been attacked for describing cuts to bed numbers as a sign of 'success' in a presentation to the cabinet.In a webchat this week she also highlighted how improvements in community nursing in Dudley to support those with long-term conditions had 'slashed' emergency admissions and meant ...

  • News

    Cancer reform strategy board named

    2007-02-09T00:00:00Z

    Health minister Rosie Winterton has announced the 29 members of the Department of Health's cancer reform strategy board that will build on the 2000 cancer plan.The group will be chaired by national cancer director Professor Mike Richards and will develop a new strategy through six working groups: service models; commissioning ...

  • News

    Time to break the circle of negativity

    2007-02-08T10:27:00Z

    There's no row like a family row and the NHS family is not an exception. It has long been recognised that the NHS's own staff can often be the worst ambassadors for what is happening in the service, nationally and locally.

  • News

    National Audit Office slates DoH over £12m Dr Foster deal

    2007-02-08T10:26:01Z

    The Department of Health has been savaged by the National Audit Office for the handling of its £12m deal with healthcare information analysts Dr Foster.

  • News

    GPs to face tougher tests on surgery

    2007-02-08T10:24:30Z

    The government is to publish national standards for minor surgery carried out in primary care.

  • News

    Government warns PCTs over dentistry capacity

    2007-02-08T10:23:32Z

    Patients may have to resort to emergency care, or find an alternative practice, because their dentists have fulfilled their annual contracts too soon.

  • News

    SHA pays £2m for firm to size up PCT commissioning

    2007-02-08T10:22:35Z

    South Central strategic health authority has called in turnaround specialists PricewaterhouseCoopers to assess whether its nine primary care trusts should contract out their commissioning functions to the private sector.

  • News

    Patients could be told costs of care

    2007-02-08T10:21:21Z

    Patients could be told the 'actual value' of the health services they are using in a bid to make them use the NHS more responsibly and relieve pressure on staff.

  • News

    News anlaysis: germinators look to Europe for next ideas in superbug war

    2007-02-08T10:20:10Z

    The Dutch experience shows it is possible to get on top of MRSA and other superbugs - but it will be costly. Meanwhile, some UK hospitals are pioneering simple but effective strategies that could help turn the tide of deadly infections, writes Alison Moore

  • News

    Society calls for end to unnecessary suffering

    2007-02-08T00:00:00Z

    The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has called on the government to stop the unnecessary suffering caused by accidents to 2 million children each year by backing the recommendations in a new report from the Audit Commission and Healthcare Commission.The report, Better ...

  • News

    New funding for parent support services

    2007-02-08T00:00:00Z

    Families minister Beverley Hughes has announced that £7.5m will be spent on information and support services for parents.From April 10 pilot areas will offer new mothers extra help from their midwife and health visitor. The health-led schemes are modelled on a version in the US which helps to reduce accidental ...

  • News

    Babies to be screened for metabolic disease

    2007-02-08T00:00:00Z

    The Department of Health has announced that newborn babies will be screened for medium chain acyl CoA dehydrogenase deficiency, a metabolic disease.The screening will be included as part of the standard 'heel-prick' test that screens babies for other diseases such as sickle cell disorders and congenital hypothyroidism.MCADD affects between one ...

  • News

    MHRA to consult on Cyclo-f

    2007-02-08T00:00:00Z

    The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is to carry out a consultation on whether Cyclo-f, a medicine for the treatment of heavy periods, should be available over the counter.Dr June Raine, director of vigilance and risk management of medicines at the MHRA, says that being able to buy the ...

  • News

    NICE to develop new range of guidance

    2007-02-08T00:00:00Z

    The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has been asked to develop guidance on new treatments for breast and lung cancer, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, obesity and rheumatoid arthritis.The additional topics for its forward work programme were welcomed by chief executive Andrew Dillon. He said that the treatments were ...