Making it better for children and mothers

Complexity science in the NHS

Leila Williams and Peter Miles...

A lean year for the NHS?

Applying lean thinking to healthcare in the UK could deliver long-term improvements and gold standards that decades of political initiatives have failed to provide, says Dr Paul Glossop...

Strategy in practice: inside the NHS

The NHS is a target for much strategising, be it from politicians, management consultants, regional health boards or individual health providers and hospital trusts. A recent and potentially highly controversial initiative is the introduction of the independent sector, specifically ‘CATS’, into the health service...

Reflections on lean in healthcare

It is still unclear whether lean thinking will turn out to be a wave or a fundamental driver for change in healthcare, not just in this country but across the world. The prognosis is positive. Lean has outlasted most of the other business improvement waves and is being taken up by industry after industry as the foundation of their improvement efforts...

How doctors could help the NHS

Many would argue that the issue of involving clinicians in management has always been on the NHS management agenda and no health service insider would claim original thought by saying their insider knowledge could be of benefit. However, it wasn’t until the Griffiths Report that any concerted attempt at creating a management agenda for health care was suggested and subsequently adopted by Guy’s and St...

Darzi will call for exceptional management skills

Members of the Institute of Healthcare Management would have welcomed more acknowledgment by Lord Darzi of the past achievements of managers in delivering on tough government targets, says Sue Hodgetts, chief executive of the IHM...

Lean on me

Lean thinking is an improvement approach originally developed by Toyota to streamline its car manufacturing processes and is being adapted through the work of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement for a healthcare setting. It ultimately aims to deliver value to customers and sustain continuous improvement to a workstream...

Seven questions to ask of an NHS non-executive director

From hesitant beginnings, the influence of non-executives in the NHS has steadily grown. Foundation trust status further reinforces their role. So how would non-executives and their colleagues know they were doing a good job? Sir Andrew Likierman, professor of management practice at the London Business School, says there are seven questions which can help individuals, and those with whom they work, think about what success means...

The Lean machine

Sarah Ellis , manager of the Lean Healthcare Academy , explains how the introduction of pioneering Lean thinking within NHS Trusts across the academy’s Yorkshire heartlands have transformed working practices and reduced patient waiting times – and why the time is now right to roll out the “Lean Machine” to other trusts across the country...

What can more productive relationships deliver?

Productive relationships between management and medicine lead to better patient outcomes according to Becky Malby & Professor Ian Kirkpatrick, two of the authors of new a report from the Centre for Innovation in Health Management

Euro MPs vote to protect front-line NHS spending

NHS European office director Elisabetta Zanon expressed delight that the European Parliament had listened to the concerns of NHS organisations and softened proposals to penalise public bodies for late payment of bills.

The European Parliament has voted to significantly soften hard-line proposals that would have required NHS organisations and other public authorities to pay out up to £600m a year in fines for late payments.

Under the original EU proposals...

Hunt begins for new director of NHS Employers 

Steve Barnett, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, has announced plans to recruit a new permanent director of NHS Employers following the resignation of Sian Thomas.

Steve Barnett, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, announced: “Sian Thomas has resigned from her role as director of NHS Employers...

Interims in the NHS – a way to save money and improve NHS patient care in the funding downturn?

New approaches to business planning and financial scrutiny will be essential in the downturn which the NHS is currently facing, saysAlison Cole

Massive government investment in the NHS over the last ten years has brought sweeping changes. But repeated demands for ways to maintain and improve patient services with the added challenge of reducing the cost of healthcare brings an inherent risk that...

Why every PCT and SHA should have at least one GP on their board

GPs have the opportunity to shape the NHS of the future – and we have a responsibility to ensure that they step up to the plate and seize that opportunity, says Professor Steve Field

As leader of the Royal College of General Practitioners, I know that my colleagues across the country are already seen as clinical leaders in their practices and in their...

NHS Direct appoints Public Health director

Dr Brian Gaffney has been appointed as NHS Direct’s first Director of Public Health. Amongst his responsibilities, he will build on and develop the Trust’s relationships with the medical profession including GPs, hospital doctors and those working in public health.

Brian joined NHS Direct as National Public Health Advisor in October 2009 before being appointed to this newly established role. He will be working part-time for NHS Direct so that he can continue to work in General Practice in Northern Ireland. Brian has worked as an NHS doctor for 25 years....

NHS faces ‘greatest ever’ challenge, warns NHS Confederation 

Launching the NHS Confederation's breifing 'dealing with the downturn' using the evidence, NHS Confederation acting chief executive Nigel Edwards said there was no silver bullet to allow the NHS to make all the savings it needed.

The NHS Confederation has warned that the NHS needs to rise to its greatest ever challenge if it is to navigate the current financial crisis.

Speaking ahead of the launch...

RCP President recognised in Queen’s birthday honours list

Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, has been recognised by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, for his service to medicine in her birthday honours list, with the award of a knighthood.

During his time as president of the RCP, Professor Gilmore has championed medical leadership and the greater integration of clinical teams, as well as working to ensure the future workforce of the NHS will reflect needs...

New President for the BMA: Sir Michael Marmot

Sir Michael Marmot has been appointed as the new President of the British Medical Association at the BMA’s annual conference in Brighton. His term will run from June 2010 to June 2011.

Sir Michael Marmot is a world expert in health inequalities and the social determinants of health and has led a research group on this issue for the past 30 years. He chaired the WHO Commission which produced its report in 2008 entitled...

NHS Employers signs contract with Department of Health

NHS Employers is pleased to announce that it has signed a new contract with the Department of Health to ensure we continue our core work, including supporting employers to meet the challenges of the difficult financial period that lies ahead.

Nigel Edwards, NHS Confederation acting chief executive said: “Signing a new contract with the Department of Health is excellent news and demonstrates...