All Policy articles – Page 221
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Comment
Michael White on keeping patients out of hospital
It is not often you read of a new controversy in the Sunday papers and stumble on what looks like the answer in Hansard before bedtime. It happened this week. Here goes.
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Comment
Media Watch: patient referrals
A US pilot sent to shoot down a UFO on a dark night in East Anglia some 50 years ago only to find nothing but, well, dark night, recalled in Monday's Guardian that it 'was like being a one-legged man sent into an ass-kicking contest'.
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News
Scotland moves to stop GP 'commercialisation'
The Scottish government is today launching a consultation on the eligibility criteria for providers of GP services in a bid to stop the 'commercialisation' of GP practices.
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News
Patients get right to self-refer to physiotherapists
Patients will be able to self-refer to allied health professionals such as physiotherapists, speech therapists, dieticians and podiatrists, health secretary Alan Johnson has announced.The British Medical Association warned that although the move could improve access it could lead to services being overstretched.
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News
Individual budgets improve patient care, says report
An evaluation of individual budget pilots has found individual budgets can give people more control over their personal care and improve their quality of life.
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News
Wales launches diabetes management guidelines
Welsh health minister Edwina Hart has launched guidelines for managing adults with diabetes in Wales.
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Comment
David Levy on world class commissioning's training implications
World class commissioning has already had a significant impact on primary care trusts and their development.
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News
DH announces primary angioplasty drive
Primary angioplasty should become the main treatment for heart attacks, the Department of Health has said.The final report by the national infarct angioplasty project said it was a feasible and cost-effective treatment for 97 per cent of people.
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News
Scotland sets target to cut C difficile rates
Scottish health secretary Nicola Sturgeon has set a target for health boards to reduce C difficile rates among over-65s by 30 per cent by 2011.
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News
Foundation trusts need closer scrutiny, say MPs
More information is urgently needed on the performance of foundation trusts, the House of Commons health select committee is urging.A committee inquiry has concluded that foundation trusts have some proven strengths but a full evaluation of their impact is needed.
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News
Trusts expect tight pinch from 2010
Real terms cuts expected to payment by results tariffTough road ahead for aspirant foundationsQuery over future of capital investmentStaff costs may fall in real terms
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Comment
Media Watch: binge drinking
Unlike so much else in the past seven days, the value of a drink is on the way up. The Department of Health's next attempt to reduce binge drinking will include curbs on free samples and happy hours, according to press reports.
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News
City shockwaves threaten NHS budget
Economists are warning this week's£38bn rescue plan for UK banks creates a "structural hole" in public finances that will make NHS funding cuts and claw-backs inevitable.The government has insisted the bank bail-out will not affect public finances. A senior Treasury source said there were no plans to revisit the commitments ...
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Leader
Good times set to end as health pays price for squirrelling cash
The credit crunch is heading your way. While the government has so far rejected the idea of revisiting its health spending plans up to 2011, there are numerous other ways it can get its hands on trust cash.
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Comment
Michael White on the financial crisis
The deepening financial crisis is changing how we look at everything now. For instance, aren't NHS finance directors glad they didn't have surpluses to invest unwisely during the years when Patricia Hewitt's stiletto was on their necks?
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Comment
Stephen Eames on managing by fear
Up here in the North East the community is still reeling from the collapse of Northern Rock and is now watching with horror the ongoing farcical spectacle that is Newcastle United Football Club.
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HSJ Knowledge
Healthcare funding: is there enough to go round?
As new treatments and an ageing population put ever more pressure on health systems across the world, future governments will have to rethink the way that they are funded.
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News
Treasury eyes hidden PCT surpluses
Increased demand for health services as recession bitesTwo-year timetable for service reconfiguration and investmentSurpluses vulnerable
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News
Politicians are poor persuaders
Interesting to see Simon Stevens' comments on the science of persuasion. Clearly our politicians have much to teach us about how to motivate the public - as demonstrated by the general (let alone local) election turnouts. Strange, isn't it, that people who have money, education and access to affordable leisure ...
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Comment
NHS spending - what does the future hold?
As the economic picture worsens, Carl Emmerson and Gemma Tetlow examine the possible implications for the NHS budget