NHS

Market mania in the NHS

30 September 2011 | Anna Dixon

Is the coalition focusing too much on market reforms in its health plans? The real problems facing the NHS – improving care for people with chronic conditions, the elderly and those at the end of life – are not going to be solved by hospital competition Read more

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Health and efficiency: from PCT to CCG

15 September 2011 | Judith Smith

Research from the Nuffield Trust suggests that the new NHS clinical commissioning groups will have to perform much better than primary care trusts in determining their spending priorities and achieving cost savings Read more

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Health reforms: a lawyers’ heaven

3 June 2011 | Colin Talbot

We learnt last week that National Rail employs 600 lawyers. But this will look paltry compared to the numbers the NHS will need to employ in ten years’ time if the current plans are implemented Read more

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Who will hold the NHS to account?

1 June 2011 | Jo Maybin

If the government cuts the NHS loose from central managerial control, what kind of assurances will patients, carers and taxpayers have that commissioners and providers act in their best interests? Read more

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Waiting times: how long is a political argument? by John Appleby

16 May 2011 | John Appleby

NHS waiting times were once again the subject of heated exchanges in the Commons at last week’s Prime Minister Questions. So is Ed Miliband correct to charge the coalition government with presiding over longer waiting times and how plausible is the prime minister’s denial? As the King’s Fund shows in its updated tracker the answer depends on how you measure it. Read more...

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Auditors will still tell it like it is, by Martin Evans

11 February 2011 | Martin Evans

As public services grapple with the financial squeeze, auditors will continue to focus on what matters both to audited bodies and to citizens Read more...

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Frontline first? By Mike Thatcher

31 January 2011 | Mike Thatcher

Just before David Cameron moved into Number Ten, he was asked what would happen if his ministers proposed cuts that involved frontline reductions. ‘They’ll be sent straight back to their departments to think again,’ he claimed. Read more...

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Entente frugal, by Judy Hirst

4 November 2010 | Judy Hirst

Necessity is the mother of invention. So, with revenue funding for local government cut by 26%, all sorts of things that were once unimaginable suddenly look eminently doable. Read more...

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The state we’re in, by Judy Hirst

12 August 2010 | Judy Hirst

We’re all in this together, the PM and his chancellor repeatedly proclaim. How right they are. Read more...

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Ten testing questions for the health secretary, by Chris Ham

8 July 2010 | Chris Ham

The coalition government’s white paper on the NHS is expected to be published shortly. This will contain far-reaching proposals to increase choice and competition, strengthen the commissioning of health care, give NHS providers more autonomy, and establish an independent commissioning board. But the white paper will need to answer ten difficult questions if it is to offer a credible plan for the future. Read more...

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