All Primary care articles – Page 238

  • News

    Frustration over advance GP appointments

    2008-05-01T09:00:00Z

    Nearly three quarters of England's GP practices have left at least one in 10 patients dissatisfied because of the difficulties of making appointments more than two days in advance.

  • News

    Scottish GPs discuss industrial action

    2008-05-01T09:00:00Z

    The NHS risks losing family doctors' goodwill, a Scottish GPs' leader has warned.

  • News

    GPs paid £20m for sickness and maternity cover

    2008-05-01T09:00:00Z

    GP practices in England were paid more than £20m last year for locums to cover sickness and maternity leave in their practices, HSJ has learnt.

  • Comment

    Preparing for a pandemic in the NHS

    2008-04-30T09:00:00Z

    We live in a climate where the threat of bio-terrorism is significant enough to warrant serious preparation for a biological attack.This, together with the possibility of global outbreaks of infectious disease, such as avian influenza or SARS, increases the need to prepare for a pandemic.

  • News

    PCTs plan to recruit public members to shape reform

    2008-04-24T09:00:00Z

    Primary care trusts could link up with foundations by sharing public membership bodies that drive local health priorities. PCTs are considering recruiting public members to counter perceptions they are undemocratic and overly centralised.

  • News

    London must focus on prevention

    2008-04-24T09:00:00Z

    Service reform in the capital must go beyond Healthcare for London proposals and focus on prevention if fatal strokes are to be avoided, the London health observatory has warned.

  • News

    Scottish doctors to vote on no-confidence motion

    2008-04-24T09:00:00Z

    Scottish GPs are set to consider a vote of no confidence in the UK government's stewardship of the NHS.

  • News

    Darzi reforms under threat in London

    2008-04-24T09:00:00Z

    Poor leadership in NHS organisations is threatening to jeopardise Lord Darzi's vision to transform the capital's healthcare.NHS London board papers state it is 'likely' there will be 'insufficient leadership capacity and capability in primary care trusts and allied NHS organisations' to deliver the now junior health minister's plans.

  • News

    Conservatives to let GPs pick their own hours

    2008-04-24T09:00:00Z

    The Conservatives have backed GPs' calls to be allowed to determine their own opening hours.

  • News

    Commissioner-provider split is inefficient, study claims

    2008-04-24T09:00:00Z

    Separating commissioner and provider functions, as advocated in world class commissioning, may damage the efficiency of the health service, a leading academic has claimed.

  • News

    Vascular checks could mean insurance hikes

    2008-04-24T09:00:00Z

    Thousands of people face higher health insurance premiums and may unwittingly invalidate their policies if government plans for vascular checks get the green light.

  • HSJ Knowledge

    Joint working: passing the partnership test

    2008-04-21T09:00:00Z

    PCTs and local authorities are now working even more closely on understanding the needs of local people in a leap forward in partnership working. By Renu Bindra

  • Comment

    Andrew Jones on the next big shift in healthcare

    2008-04-21T09:00:00Z

    I often wonder what will drive the next quantum shift in healthcare. If we ran a poll today, world class commissioning or the Darzi review would probably top the list. These ideas are fine, but it seems to me that they represent an incremental nudge rather than a quantum shift.

  • News

    Doctors' leaders challenge GP pay deal

    2008-04-18T13:51:00Z

    British Medical Association chair Hamish Meldrum has written to health secretary Alan Johnson challenging the proposed pay deal for GPs.

  • News

    NHS funds exclusive GP practices

    2008-04-17T09:00:00Z

    HSJ has uncovered further evidence of NHS-funded GP practices in prestigious institutions which are not accessible to ordinary members of the public.

  • HSJ Knowledge

    Improving the detection of COPD

    2008-04-17T09:00:00Z

    There are over 15 million people in England with long-term conditions. Lord Darzi's interim report last October highlighted how less than 50 per cent of patients with long-term conditions receive optimal treatment, and that care does not always meet recommended guidelines.

  • Comment

    Sophia Christie on tackling the digital divide

    2008-04-17T09:00:00Z

    Economic growth is increasingly driven by the skill of the local workforce and more specifically confidence and competence in using digital technologies.

  • News

    PCTs warned not to fail on choice

    2008-04-17T09:00:00Z

    Health minister Ben Bradshaw has told primary care trusts to 'get their act together' to promote and deliver choice of treatment for patients.

  • News

    IT a challenge for polyclinics

    2008-04-17T09:00:00Z

    The patient record and information systems created by NHS Connecting for Health will be a 'significant challenge' to the realisation of the vision for polyclinics.

  • News

    Bradshaw warns PCTs: make the right choice

    2008-04-17T09:00:00Z

    As ‘free choice’ is extended to all patients, minister Ben Bradshaw tells primary care trusts they must undergo a cultural change to make it work - with consequences if they fail. Rebecca Evans met him