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Rate your doctor on-line? – another Whitehall-centric initiative
Even when the Government claims to be ‘empowering patients’ it manages to do it in a Whitehall-centric way. The only ‘new’ initiative to make it into the media in yesterday’s white paper on public...
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Damned Targets?
“On Tuesday, the Healthcare Commission report revealed that between 2005 and 2008 there were 400 excess deaths at [Stafford] hospital – although it was impossible to say whether these had all been...
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Quality Performance Data – for the NHS and everyone else too?
A new Audit Commission report published today assesses progress in improving data quality – especially performance data – in the NHS. It reports on-going problems with embedding a culture of good data...
View ArticleLearning to live with the Frankenstein’s Monster that is modern nursing
Today’s nurses have been accused of being “too posh to wash” and lacking compassion, writes Stuart Butler. But unless policymakers are willing to free up their time through further recruitment, or...
View ArticleA ‘National’ Health Service? It would be a good idea
The NHS is seen as a fundamentally British institution and even a symbol of national identity. But, writes Dr Julian Simpson, it might make more sense to call it an ‘International’ Health Service. And...
View ArticlePublic health: is the glass half full or half empty?
Dr Julia Segar was one of those out in force during Manchester Policy Week to hear Durham University’s Professor David Hunter and Manchester’s own Professor Steve Harrison ponder whether optimism or...
View ArticlePower, money, but little accountability; the rise of the New Corporate State
Contracting out has become the ‘new normal’, writes Professor Stephen Wilks, with around half of all UK government spending now ending up in the pockets of private sector companies. But while public...
View ArticleReality check-up: Care.data is good for our health
Amid the furore over the delayed Care.data scheme, the reality is that the storage of pseudoanonymised patient data is already common practice, writes Dr David Springate. He argues that a national...
View ArticleMiddle managers hold key public health role
Ignore middle managers at your peril. They may be central to development and implementation of policy, explains Dr Kathryn Oliver Middle managers are more important than people often think – and that...
View ArticleChallenging the cult of competition in the NHS
Evidence is short that competition leads to improved healthcare performance, says Prof Kieran Walshe. Collaboration and service integration is a better policy goal. For some time – under both this...
View ArticleOpen up on costs to improve NHS care
Sharing information on the cost of treatment could help achieve better patient outcomes at a lower cost, says Professor Sue Llewellyn. But, given the current tensions between collaboration and...
View ArticleTo save lives we must rethink our assumptions about good healthcare
A new report in the British Medical Journal on centralising acute stroke services in Greater Manchester and London reveals the revolution in stroke care and treatment over the last twenty years – and...
View ArticleTime for better treatment of people with learning disabilities
There is more evidence than needed to prove that many people with learning disabilities are treated badly and without respect in NHS-provided facilities, argues Barbara Perry. A campaign is seeking to...
View ArticleNew approach needed to tackle ‘lifestyle diseases’
The Change4Life campaign just launched by NHS England is the latest attempt to persuade people to adopt healthier lifestyles. But, says Dr Stanley Blue, this type of public health campaign is not...
View ArticleChanging the ties that bind
Clinical Commissioning Groups were introduced by the 2012 Health and Social Care Act. The role of GPs within the NHS and their relationships with NHS managers are changing as a result, explains Julia...
View ArticleAn unhealthy partnership?
MPs have just had a bitterly divided debate on what the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership will mean for the NHS. Neil Perkins and Jonathan Hammond consider the evidence. The Transatlantic...
View ArticlePaying for retirement – the phrase politicians are afraid to say
The starting gun for the General Election has been fired, with less than 100 days to go before we vote. But, asks John Read, will the parties have the courage to discuss how future governments will pay...
View ArticleDevoManc: does the future of health and social care start here?
Devolving health and social care in Greater Manchester is an attractive idea. But will the practical challenges undo it ask Kath Checkland, Julia Segar and Anna Coleman. Devolution has been coming to...
View ArticleCan performance pay in primary care reduce mortality?
Government policy assumed that incentives for general practice through performance-related-pay would improve mortality rates and other outcomes. Its scheme for doing this appears not to have worked as...
View ArticleReorganising the NHS: Never again?
As we approach the election, the prospect of yet more organisational restructuring for the NHS fills Kieran Walshe with dismay. The next government needs to focus more on changes which make a...
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