Govt in the dock on NHS reform
By politics.co.uk staff The high court will be asked to brand Andrew Lansley’s NHS reforms illegal today when the government is taken to court by Unison. The union says the health secretary failed to offer a consultation on any aspect of the reforms apart from their implementation. “The NHS does not belong to the government, […]
Hospital discharged get cash boost
By Alex Stevenson People leaving hospital will be able to receive help and support as they settle back into their new homes, Andrew Lansley has announced. The health secretary told delegates at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham he had found £70 million to assist around 35,000 people in the next seven months. The packages […]
Lansley’s reforms ‘a risk to NHS future’
By Peter Wozniak The government’s plans for NHS reform are untried, untested and pose a risk to the future of the NHS, a union has warned. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) gave a lukewarm response to proposals spearheaded by health secretary Andrew Lansley in the white paper published this summer. In a statement it […]
NHS reforms ‘potentially damaging’
By Alex Stevenson Doctors have warned plans to shake up the NHS could create waste, bureaucracy and inefficiency. The influential British Medical Association’s (BMA) response to the white paper on NHS reform launched this summer doubts whether efforts to boost competition will lead to improvements. Health secretary Andrew Lansley has argued encouraging competition in the […]
Burnham: Ignore the media
By Ian Dunt Labour should pay less attention to the media if it wants to get back in power, Andy Burnham has argued. The former labour leadership candidate, who came fourth in the poll, told conference he was happy a new generation had risen in the Labour party. “Let’s worry a bit less about what […]
1,700 DoH staff ‘face the axe’
by Peter Wozniak As many as 1,700 outsourced staff working at the Department of Health (DoH), including medical professionals, are to be made redundant, according to media reports. The staff, employed by the DoH to work in a variety of programmes include health professionals, dentists and psychiatrists, are apparently to be sacked as a result […]
Union starts legal action against Lansley’s NHS reforms
By Ian Dunt The UK’s largest public service union has started legal action against the health secretary in a bid to derail plans to reform the NHS. Unison is challenging Andrew Lansley’s white paper proposals, which it brands “the most fundamental changes to the way the NHS operates since it was created”. The union claims […]
NHS consultants face bonus crackdown
By politics.co.uk staff A review of bonuses paid to NHS consultants across Britain has been tasked with ensuring they are “affordable”. Around £200 million is spent each year on clinical excellence and distinction awards, which have remained unchanged for six decades since first being introduced to reward hardworking consultants in 1948. They will now be […]
Lansley to ‘end’ mixed-sex wards
By politics.co.uk staff The coalition government will attempt to end mixed-sex wards in NHS hospitals in an attempt to recover patients’ ‘dignity’. Health secretary Andrew Lansley is expected to ask chief nursing officer Dame Christine Beasley to inspect hospitals with mixed-sex wards and oversee the transition from existing arrangements. Labour manifestos for their twin election […]
NHS patient safety concerns raised
By politics.co.uk staff Only a third of NHS trusts are fully complying with patient safety alerts, campaigners has claimed. Pressure group Action Against Medical Accidents (Avma) said a freedom of information request had shown only 37% had completed all patient safety alerts issued by the National Patient Safety Agency. Sixty-three per cent had failed to […]
