NHS reforms

Five year funding framework for community pharmacy published

22.07.19: A five-year funding framework for community pharmacy has been published by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC), Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England.  Commenting on the agreement, Malcolm Har...

Guidance aims to help NHS create environment to better support staff in safety investigations

04.07.19: NHS Resolution has stated that challenging and improving the NHS' workfplace culture is key to improving patient safety in their latest guidance. The need for the NHS to involve users of care services and staff in safety investigations...

NHS Clinical Commissioners respond to NHS Implementation Framework

28.06.19: The membership organisation for clinical commissioners, NHS Clinical Commissioners (NHSCC), have responded positively to the new NHS Long Term Plan Implementation Framework. The paper, which outlines a ten-year strategy of improvement for t...

NHS Providers call for reform of property services after NAO report

27.06.19: NHS Providers, the membership organisation for frontline NHS services, has called for an overhaul in the health service’s management of property. The association recommends handing over control of property to NHS trusts them...

NHS Property responds to NAO report on debt recovery

26.06.19: NHS Property Services (NHSPS) have responded to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) criticising their ability to collect outstanding debts, saying the current system is “not working effectively.” The report highlights th...

NHS Providers chief executive Chris Hopson gives his verdict on NHS long-term plan legislative report

24.06.19: Following the release today of the Health and Social Care Committee report, NHS long-term plan: legislative proposals, chief executive of NHS Providers, Chris Hopson, expressed his support for the published legislative proposal. Mr Hopson s...

New government proposals put forward to tackle NHS pension crisis

05.06.19: The government has put forward plans to reform the NHS pension scheme and provide top doctors with more flexibility in response to growing concerns that a “perfect storm” of tax and pension rules are forcing staff to reduce their hou...

Confed19 Preview: The challenge we face

03.06.19: Niall Dickson, chief executive of NHS Confederation, shares a preview of what to expect at this year’s Confed19 conference, which will be taking place in Manchester on 19-20 June. The NHS is always at a cross roads, is it not? There i...

Cannabis on trial

30.05.19: How will the NHS conduct accurate trials of cannabis-based medicinal products when everyone has already tried cannabis? Dr David Horn, medical director at the Centre for Medicinal Cannabis, reports. Until November 2018, cannabis was a Sched...

Delayed hospital merger at centre of Bedford mayoral election as candidates desperate to retain NHS services

30.04.19: A delayed merger between two hospital trusts that will save £10m to £14m “needs to happen,” according to a councillor and mayoral candidate ahead of an election race in Bedford. Luton and Dunstable University Hospita...

Hancock vows to ban gagging orders for NHS whistleblowers

24.04.19: Health secretary Matt Hancock has vowed to banish the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in the NHS. Hancock has said he will ban the gagging orders as he wants more staff to feel they can “put their head above the parapet,&rdquo...

Nearly 4m GP appointments could be freed up by 2022 under newly extended NHS pilot scheme

15.04.19: NHS England has extended a scheme which has freed up half a million hours for patients in the last year and could now see four million appointments saved by 2022. The Time for Care scheme encourages practices to try innovations to cut burea...

Mixed reviews for ‘full of jargon’ NHS App pilot ahead of summer rollout

12.04.19: NHS Digital has published the results of the pilot phase of the NHS App, finding that users were “enthusiastic” about using the app to order prescriptions but appointment bookings were “full of jargon.” A number of c...

Surgeons call for stronger oversight and protection for patients at private hospitals

10.04.19: The leader of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) has called for private hospitals to do more to keep patients safe and improve transparency in order to prevent another rogue surgeon like Ian Paterson. Derek Alderson, the president of the R...

Extent of NHS’s declining financial health and staffing crisis being masked, MPs warn

04.04.19: Staffing shortages represent “the biggest threat” to financial stability in the NHS and to delivering the Long-Term Plan, as MPs warn that the health service is on course to “rapidly reach crisis point.” The Public A...