All Opinion/columnist articles – Page 29
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CommentSally Gainsbury: councils face a rude awakening
I spent a day and a half last week listening to council executives talking about their hopes and fears for the new roles due to be bestowed on them by the Health Bill.
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CommentManagers need to face pensions dilemma with the service in mind
Public sector pension reform is clearly on the agenda: the Department of Health’s consultation on proposed increases to contribution rates closes tomorrow, and unions are balloting members on a “coordinated day” of strike action scheduled for 30 November. It is going to be a tough time.
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CommentMedia Watch: Lansley faces the flack after Question Time attack
Monday’s Daily Mail treated readers not only to “Cliff [Richard]: ‘why I’d consider euthanasia’” but a bumper column from Melanie Phillips on nursing.
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'We all want integrated care - who will stand up and be accountable for it?'
We all want to see more joined-up care: patients, carers, other service users, government and professionals are all signed up to it. But who is responsible for sorting out integration, and who will be accountable, asks National Voices director of engagement Jules Acton.
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Comment'After destructive debate, the case for reform needs to be rebuilt'
The government needs to find a way to make the ingredients of reform seem like opportunities for positive change rather than threats, writes Asthma UK chief executive Neil Churchill.
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CommentCourage, leadership and public support are needed to avoid nightmare scenarios
We all know that the financial situation facing the NHS is the greatest challenge the health service has faced. Courage and public support are vital if the NHS is to survive, says Mike Farrar.
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CommentCompete or collaborate? The policy dysphoria facing NHS organisations
The buzzword in the NHS is collaboration, but with the Health Bill steeped in competition, despite significant amendments, realising integrated care still seems a long way away. It’s time to focus, says Professor Bob Hudson.
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CommentThe system needs fixing if we're to find the financiers
The NHS’s flawed payments system must be mended and evolved into something more robust and attractive in order to secure the as-yet-undecided new financiers, warn James Barlow, Colin Gray and Steve Wright.
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CommentSally Gainsbury: in theory, the reality could be even worse
Let us start, as we hacks are so fond of doing, with the bad news. The Department of Health’s first quarterly report for 2011-12 reveals primary care trusts are planning to take savings worth £3.1bn out of acute care this financial year alone.
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Comment'We cannot tolerate incompetence in the search for sustainability'
The turnaround of one factory into an efficient, clean, collaborative and effective faciility should shame healthcare organisations into doing more to make sure sustainability in the NHS becomes less an ideal and more a way of working, writes Sir John Oldham.
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Comment'Social enterprise is a real alternative to the big, bland offer'
City Health Care Partnership CIC chief executive Andrew Burnell reports from the social enterprise’s first AGM how it is aiming to utilise its flexibility to deliver quality local services by making its offering bigger, and more sustainable.
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Comment'Healthcare without competition is financially unsustainable'
Despite increased competition raising fears, in some quarters, for the future of the NHS, now is not the time to play it safe - but to harness its power to do great things, says Sir Stephen Bubb.
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What the realities of competition mean for organisations' sustainability
While the theory of competition in healthcare drives up quality, the pragmatics mean commissioners should keep a close eye on whether their services remain sustainable in the long term, warns NHS Tameside and Glossop chief executive Tim Riley.
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CommentIntegrated care needs the clinical-managerial marriage to work
Integrated care is the new Holy Grail but it won’t happen without some bold new relationships, says Mark Britnell.
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Comment'The NHS needs to avoid the wrong kind of integration'
Now that the government accepts that integrated care has a major role to play in the NHS, we must avoid the pitfalls that could prevent it delivering proper benefits to patients, argues King’s Fund chief executive Chris Ham.
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CommentSally Gainsbury: as if by magic... How the government conjured up a saving
The great news revealed in the recent NHS 2010-11 accounts is that commissioners spent significantly less on administration that year than was previously assumed.
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CommentMaking clinicians effective leaders: guidance from success in the US
Physician leadership has a long history in the US, and its success could have implications for the NHS to learn from when putting power into the hands of clinicians.
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CommentCan US models of care delivery inform how CCGs should work?
Thomas Cawston’s latest blog from the Fundació Josep Laporte European Health Policy Innovation Seminar in Harvard, MA, looks at two initiatives hoping to transform how healthcare is delivered in the US - which could have key lessons for CCGs in the NHS.
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CommentTransparency is central to the new NHS, and foundation trusts should not be exempt
There are few things that most foundation trust governors vehemently agree on but holding open board meetings is one of them. Sharon Carr-Brown explains why.
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Comment'We need to build the proper foundations for clinically led commissioning'
Clinicians will only be able to bring real added value to the commissioning process if CCGs have the appropriate infrastructure to both support clinical leadership and provide the expertise to harness its potential, argues Ben Gowland.