Welsh hospital services must be reconfigured or face ‘collapse’

The collapse of some hospital services in Wales is “likely”, according to a new report, due to the pressure on the availability of key medical staff in some specialities. The NHS Confederation document, The Case for Change, by Professor Marcus...<<Read More>>

Agenda for Change to avoid huge redundancy bill

The Department of Health is preparing to tie clinical commissioning groups to a pre-existing agreement with trade unions to ensure PCT staff who lose their jobs and are offered new contracts...<<Read More>>

Better use of suspension and exclusion within the NHS

A new publication produced by the National Clinical Assessment Service (NCAS) shows that periods of suspension and exclusion of GP and hospital and community practitioners are getting shorter across the NHS...<<Read More>>

HealthWatch England gears up for launch

The recruitment of the Chair of HealthWatch England will begin next month as a major step in the establishment of the service, which has been branded a “consumer champion” for patients rather than a regulator. HealthWatch...<<Read More>>

Labour will block private firms – Healey

Shadow Health Secretary John Healey told the Labour party conference that they would block private firms from running hospitals. He told delegates: “Hospitals are at the heart of our NHS; they should be in public not private hands; dedicated totally to patients, not profits. So we will oppose any...<<Read More>>

Royal Brompton hospital urged to withdraw judicial review

An independent panel of experts has rejected the Royal Brompton’s allegations that children’s respiratory services will not be able to continue when the paediatric unit is removed. The ‘Safe and Sustainable’ proposals call for the on-site Paediatric Intensive Care Unit to be...<<Read More>>

NHS must specialise, or find an extra £5bn

The NHS needs an extra £5bn to save up to 40 hospitals before 2013, according to Paul Corrigan, the former health advisor to Tony Blair. This includes at least 30 failing trusts that are unlikely to become Foundation Trusts (FTs), and ten FTs that are set to face a cash crisis...<<Read More>>

Private company could take over Epsom hospital

Circle Health, which has a rapidly growing role in operating hospitals and NHS treatment centres, could now be set to take over a failing hospital in Epsom. It is already due to take over operations at Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Cambridgeshire in November. The company is partly owned by its staff...<<Read More>>

Hospital closure decisions should not be made by ministers – King’s Fund

Closing hospital services would improve safety and treatment, according to a briefing paper by think tank the King’s Fund that echoes arguments made by senior health professionals in recent months. But it recommends removing ministers from...<<Read More>>

Lord Crisp calls for hospital closures and reconfiguration

More hospitals need to close in order to free up funds for dealing with long-term conditions through community care and new services, according to ex-NHS chief executive Lord Crisp, who has written a book about his tenure in charge of the health...<<Read More>>

Warning over bleak future for many hospitals

Hospitals face a difficult future, according to the chief executive of the NHS – and many face closure if they cannot adapt in time. Sir David Nicholson told the BBC that the different financial circumstances of 0.1% rises above... <<Read More>>

New Director endorses strong and independent voice for NHS Employers to take White Paper reforms forward

The need for a strong and independent employers’ voice in the NHS has never been greater,as the service prepares to implement the Government’s White Paper reforms, NHS Employers’... <<Read more>>

Professor John Harrison appointed Director, NHS Plus

NHS Plus has announced the appointment of Professor John Harrison as Director designate. Professor Harrison will take over the helm of NHS Plus when Dr Kit Harling retires in January 2011. Professor Harrison is a... <<Read more>>

NHS looks to interim to deliver against a backdrop of change