All Opinion/columnist articles – Page 28
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Comment'Specialised commissioning gives the NHS Commissioning Board a chance to deliver'
The NHS Commissioning Board will have control over specialised commissioning from April 2013. It is a very real opportunity to bring about dramatic improvements in clinical quality, and speed up the adoption of innovation across the NHS, says John Murray.
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CommentResults business? The view from the HSJ Payments by Results conference 2011
Derek Miller reports on the HSJ Payment By Results conference 2011, where a conflict emerged between the official message on PbR and what is actually happening on the ground between cash strapped PCTs and providers.
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CommentAndrew Lansley: the NHS pension scheme - for a sustainable future
Now is the time for NHS leaders to engage with staff to let them know exactly what the revised pension offer entails, and why the scheme is worth sticking with.
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Comment'Choosing the comfortable path is a route towards trouble'
NHS trust boards are more on the ball than they used to be, but there is much more to be done when risk management is preferred to risk prevention, writes Nigel Edwards.
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CommentSally Gainsbury: shifting the goalposts on NHS spending
One of the more intriguing lines in last week’s NHS operating framework is about how primary care trust recurrent allocations for 2012-13 will be reviewed in the light of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s inflation forecast.
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CommentDoes the NHS really believe information technology can improve healthcare?
I doubt that anybody within airlines, financial services, or manufacturing goes to meetings to debate whether information technology can improve what they do. It already has, and continues to. Why, then, have we in healthcare grown very sceptical about information technology, asks Richard Smith.
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CommentFrom Tokyo to Torbay, integrating services will prove to be the future
Healthcare services in Torbay, England and in Tokyo, Japan both provide valuable insight into how the health service in the UK might look in the future. In getting ready, there are some stark lessons to learn, writes Mark Britnell.
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Comment'We have not found an area where improvement has not been possible'
Transforming services is a massive undertaking for any trust, but securing the engagement, encouragement and valuable input from patients and staff is arguably the most important step if patient care is to be improved. Peter Homa outlines what has happened at his trust.
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CommentSally Gainsbury: just how much does the NHS cost?
How much does the NHS cost? It is a surprisingly philosophical question as the answer depends on whether or not you believe foundation and NHS trusts exist.
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Comment'It's time for a one year maximum wait'
Problems with waiting times are far from insurmountable - they just require the will to change, argue Rob Findlay and Anthony McKeever.
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CommentProtecting the public from public health professionals
The statutory regulation of public health specialists is a little known and rarely discussed issue, but it needs close scrutiny to improve the protection patients receive against professionals whose practice could cause loss of life, says Lindsey Davies.
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CommentDevloping new structures for improved service delivery
Now is a golden opportunity to start developing guidelines and principles to inform better healthcare delivery, says Paul Zollinger-Read
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Comment'Healing our finances needs a long term, not short term, strategy'
The financial problems of the NHS are extremely serious – but more like anaemia than haemorrhage. It is the financial equivalent of a long term medical condition, says Nick Bosanquet.
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CommentIs the GP contract a barrier to integrated care?
There is a serious need to look at how GPs operate if integrated care is to successfully make the difference the government, and the sector, is pinning its hopes on, says King’s Fund director of policy Anna Dixon.
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CommentHSJ interview: Clayton M Christensen, author of The Innovator’s Prescription
The author of the Circle Prize for Inspiring Innovation-winning book, The Innovator’s Prescription, talks to HSJ about disrupting healthcare.
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CommentSally Gainsbury: pain for providers - and the poor
It’s the time of year when minds turn to the contents of the next operating framework – currently scheduled for publication on 24 November.
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CommentLeading the charge for change? An HSJ Summit review
Each year, HSJ hosts an annual policy summit for the most influential people in health. This year, we asked NHS primary care trust staff side lead Alyson Brenchley to attend and record her impressions.
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CommentPhil Hammond: the reforms remain more question than answer
Fresh from his appearance on BBC1 two weeks ago, Dr Phil Hammond argues that the benefit of NHS reform is still no clearer to being understood, and that a change in direction is needed. It might just win over Andrew Lansley’s critics, too.
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Comment'The success of integrated care depends upon our commitment to innovation'
The importance of integration to health and social care is undoubted, but there is still some confusion over how it will work. It is up to leaders at both a national and local level to develop new approaches that will ensure integrated care is a success, says Dr Rebecca Rosen.
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CommentStephen Eames: there's no time like the present for planning
The late, great industrialist Sir John Harvey-Jones said: “Planning is an unnatural process; it is much more fun to do something. The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression.”