News – Page 1179

  • News

    Northwick Park Hospital cleared over maternity deaths

    2008-09-18T09:00:00Z

    An investigation into maternal deaths at Northwick Park Hospital has found the trust innocent of any wrongdoing.

  • News

    NHS managers lack faith in all three parties

    2008-09-18T09:00:00Z

    An exclusive poll for HSJ reveals the extent of dissatisfaction in the health service with the three main parties' policies.

  • News

    Mental health takes wrong approach

    2008-09-18T09:00:00Z

    The improvements to community mental health services found by the Healthcare Commission are to be commended, but not without a word of caution regarding the 350,000 service users who are shortly to be removed from the care programme approach in the coming months, as they receive only 'standard' rather than ...

  • News

    No problems accessing HPV vaccine

    2008-09-18T09:00:00Z

    I would like to clarify that Luton teaching primary care trust does not anticipate problems in providing the HPV (cervical cancer) vaccination to Muslim girls in Luton, despite the programme starting during Ramadan. We have arranged a rolling programme of immunisation that will run throughout the year, and are happy ...

  • News

    Winning formula for resource allocation

    2008-09-18T09:00:00Z

    The research cited in your article on resource allocation understates the extent to which the existing formula adjusts for age and wealth relative to deprivation. The hospital and community health services formula, for example, allocates more than 10 times as much for people aged 85-plus as it does for those ...

  • News

    Top-up payments are a lottery

    2008-09-18T09:00:00Z

    I would like to thank HSJ for its coverage on top-up payments. The final decision will have huge implications for the health service. If top-ups were allowed, this would enable patients who can afford it to get rapid access to interventions that would not be normally available to all in ...

  • News

    Data quality requires careful analysis

    2008-09-18T09:00:00Z

    Your article on the King's Fund's report into variations in primary care trust spending raises several issues. Although the data we used does allow an insight into spending, we warned that a degree of caution should be exercised with the figures. Data quality is an issue and so too is ...

  • News

    Sophia Christie on management lessons from literature

    2008-09-18T09:00:00Z

    While the 1980s saw an explosion of books promising 'the management secrets of...', War and Peace seems to have been sadly neglected. But Tolstoy's commentary is instructive in the context of current discussions about the next stage review.

  • News

    Charities warn on information prescriptions scheme

    2008-09-18T09:00:00Z

    Charities in information prescription pilots have warned the scheme risks failure unless it is mandatory and supported by incentives.

  • News

    Lord Carter to head up NHS competition panel

    2008-09-18T09:00:00Z

    Lord Carter of Coles is to be the first chair and director of the NHS Co-operation and Competition Panel.

  • News

    Stroke services improving - Royal College of Physicians

    2008-09-18T09:00:00Z

    Stroke services have shown marked improvement in the last two years, an audit by the Royal College of Physicians has shown. The audit of 224 hospitals in all areas of the UK except Scotland found near universal provision of specialist stroke beds.

  • News

    Mental health lacks national vision

    2008-09-18T09:00:00Z

    Mental health plans arising from the next stage review lack ambition and risk being 'lost' as the service focuses on other sectors, managers are warning.

  • News

    Lib Dems unveil plan to slash NHS managers' pay

    2008-09-18T09:00:00Z

    Senior health managers should be forced to reapply for jobs and take pay cuts as part of a public sector cost-cutting drive, the Liberal Democrats proposed at their annual conference in Bournemouth this week.

  • News

    NHS failure regime: up to 92 trusts may be culled

    2008-09-18T09:00:00Z

    The Department of Health expects to cull up to six hospital trusts a year under its new failure regime, figures in its impact assessment reveal.The document shows the DH expects to save £200m a year under the plans, which are out for consultation. It focuses on six trusts affected by ...

  • News

    NHS Direct relieves pressure on A&E and GPs

    2008-09-18T09:00:00Z

    I refer to your feature on NHS Direct and referrals to accident and emergency. Independent research published in June shows that NHS Direct is helping take the pressure off A&E and GP surgeries as it increasingly continues to advise callers to treat themselves at home. In fact, our most recent ...

  • News

    Integrated care warning

    2008-09-18T09:00:00Z

    Integration is in vogue. This is fine, but different enthusiasts interpret 'integration' differently. Confused enthusiasm is never a good thing on which to base health policy. At its best, such confusion could waste money; at its worst, it could cost lives.

  • News

    Cases of legionnaires' to rise

    2008-09-17T11:37:48Z

    More cases of legionnaires' disease are likely as a result of climate change, researchers predict.

  • News

    Patient information consultation begins

    2008-09-17T11:35:24Z

    Connecting for Health has launched a consultation on the use of patient information. It wants the public and health professionals to give their views on the use of patient information for purposes such as health research and managing and planning care.

  • News

    Health Professions Council president re-elected

    2008-09-17T11:32:49Z

    The Health Professions Council has re-elected Anna Van der Gaag as council president.

  • News

    Shortfall in care home funding

    2008-09-17T11:28:21Z

    An extra £540m is needed to pay for residential care for older people, research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation predicts.