All articles by Thelma Agnew – Page 2

  • News

    Extra £154m for NI health fails to dispel winter pressure fears

    2000-10-26T00:00:00Z

    Northern Ireland health minister Bairbre de Brun has secured an extra £154m for next year's health and social services budget. But she says the 7.2 per cent increase is not enough - and the chief executive of the province's biggest acute trust has warned that there is still 'a mountain ...

  • News

    Delayed discharges rise as winter looms

    2000-10-19T00:00:00Z

    The latest social service performance indicators have exposed an increase in the delayed discharge of elderly patients from acute hospitals, a trend which could lead to more blocked beds this winter.

  • News

    Knock knock

    2000-10-05T00:00:00Z

    Healthcare assistants may be making headway in their battle against the 'second-class'stigma - and that could mean them finally winning RCN membership. Thelma Agnew reports

  • News

    Anti-poverty policies may save 10,000 lives

    2000-09-28T00:00:00Z

    More than 10,000 premature deaths per year will be saved if the government persists with policies to combat poverty and reduce health inequalities, according to a report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

  • News

    Get some in

    2000-09-21T00:00:00Z

    Alan Milburn says he wants a new drive to boost bed numbers - but how easy will it be to achieve this at grassroots level, asks Thelma Agnew

  • News

    Deficit inflames row on use of 'extortionate' private sector

    2000-07-06T00:00:00Z

    The NHS's use of the 'extortionate' private sector has come under the spotlight following the revelation that a south London mental health trust ran up a deficit of almost £1m in two months, largely because of reliance on private beds.

  • News

    Speedy end for NI fundholding

    2000-06-29T00:00:00Z

    Northern Ireland has begun the process of dismantling GP fundholding, prompting hopes that its new system will be superior to England's primary care groups.

  • News

    Women offenders 'victims of shambolic special hospitals'

    2000-05-25T00:00:00Z

    Most women in high-security hospitals should not be there. They are the victims of a 'shambolic' system that has failed to provide them with more appropriate care, the Commons health select committee has heard.

  • News

    Troubleshooter blasts HA for failure to tackle £20m deficit

    2000-05-25T00:00:00Z

    A damning report on West Sussex health authority says it has failed to provide strategic leadership or implement the government's modernisation agenda.

  • News

    Breathe easy

    2000-05-04T00:00:00Z

    As the four key confidential enquiries into patient deaths come under the wing of NICE, Thelma Agnew wonders whether they will take on a new spirit of openness

  • News

    Down equality street

    2000-04-06T00:00:00Z

    The NHS may have good intentions on race relations, but it has a long way to go before it achieves equality. Thelma Agnew reports on an HSJ survey

  • News

    Senior manager equality targets set out to smash NHS glass ceiling

    2000-04-06T00:00:00Z

    Health minister John Denham has announced tough new targets to break the 'glass ceiling' in NHS management and ensure that women and ethnic minorities secure more of the top posts.

  • News

    PCTs' mental health role doubted by MPs

    2000-03-30T00:00:00Z

    Primary care trusts lack the 'depth of expertise'needed to take responsibility for mental health services, according to Commons health select committee members.

  • News

    On the slide?

    2000-03-23T00:00:00Z

    Whatever their feelings on the government's approach to cancer services, the experts agree more cash and manpower are needed - fast. Thelma Agnew reports

  • News

    £10m renal cash follows expose

    2000-03-16T00:00:00Z

    London regional director Nigel Crisp is to enter emergency talks with the capital's top renal specialists, following a public exposure of the 'worsening crisis' facing their units by senior clinicians.

  • News

    Blair line on beds is 'contradictory'

    2000-03-09T00:00:00Z

    The prime minister's 'U-turn' on NHS spending in the private sector has pitched the health service into confusion, it has been claimed.

  • News

    Winning hearts and minds

    2000-02-24T00:00:00Z

    Work pressures make life difficult for managers and clinicians - and dangerous for patients. Thelma Agnew hears frank talk at a seminar on work culture

  • News

    'Failure to win funding' behind LAS chief's shock resignation

    2000-02-17T00:00:00Z

    The shock resignation of London Ambulance Service trust chief executive Michael Honey has sparked speculation that he was forced out for failing to win adequate funding for the service.

  • News

    Anti-smoking battle 'will be led by Europe'

    2000-02-17T00:00:00Z

    The battle against the tobacco industry will be spearheaded by European directives, not homegrown legislation or court actions, health secretary Alan Milburn has told MPs.