NHS
Sir David Nicholson to go: but will it change the culture at the top of the NHS?
Health Service Journal has a great scoop this afternoon that NHS boss Sir David Nicholson will retire in March 2014. The man who was in charge of the Mid-Staffordshire NHS… Continue reading
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Jeremy Hunt attacks Labour for A&E crisis
Andy Burnham summoned Jeremy Hunt to the Commons this afternoon for a shouty hour about who loves the NHS more. The Health Secretary’s answer to Labour’s urgent question on the… Continue reading
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The question Labour won’t even consider on the NHS
Labour’s new independent commission on health and social care aims to draw up plans on bringing together health services and social care so that the NHS can be financially sustainable.… Continue reading
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Nurses cannot dismiss calls for reform out of hand
It’s not unusual for a trade union representing its members to resist change, and today the Royal College of Nursing is sticking well and truly to form. Not only has… Continue reading
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The dangers of cancer screening
Within five years, we could find out how genetically predisposed we are to developing certain types of cancer. Through DNA screening, the most susceptible of us will be prompted to… Continue reading
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David Nicholson should have no future in the NHS
When T.S Eliot spoke of the folly of trying to ‘Devise systems so perfect, that nobody will need to be good’, he effectively described a distinction between the left –… Continue reading
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Could a digital and more transparent NHS prevent another Mid Staffs scandal?
Digital politics is all the rage. Take what Rachel Sylvester described in today’s Times as ‘digital Bennism’ — an online movement that is becoming increasingly influential to the Labour party’s… Continue reading
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Letter to PM: ‘Nicholson must go with all speed’
Earlier, I blogged that Tory MP Charlotte Leslie planned to raise concerns with the Prime Minister about Sir David Nicholson’s incorrect select committee evidence. She’s now written a letter, which… Continue reading
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David Cameron under fresh pressure to sack David Nicholson after select committee blunder
David Cameron is coming under fresh pressure to force out NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson this afternoon. The health boss has had to apologise to the Public Accounts Committee,… Continue reading
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Jeremy Hunt continues his quest to make the Tories the party of the NHS
Jeremy Hunt used his address to the Conservative Spring Forum this afternoon as the next step in his quest to make the Conservatives the party of the NHS, not Labour.… Continue reading
45 Comments Mid-Staffs scandal: The Tories must beware focusing solely on Andy Burnham
MPs were debating accountability in the NHS following the Mid-Staffs scandal today, and as part of that, the argument about who – if anyone – should be held responsible continues… Continue reading
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1922 Committee: Tory MPs call on Sir David Nicholson to go
Tonight’s meeting of the 1922 Committee of Tory MPs was dominated by calls for Sir David Nicholson to quit as NHS Chief Executive over the Mid Staffs scandal. Bill Cash, who… Continue reading
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Tories set Labour in their crosshairs over Mid-Staffs
After today’s slightly confusing PMQs line from the Prime Minister about unidentified ‘people’ who ‘should be thinking of their positions’ after the Mid-Staffs scandal, ministers and loyal backbenchers have gone… Continue reading
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Who should we blame for the Mid-Staffs scandal?
As the row over who knew what and when in the Mid-Staffordshire tragedy grows, it’s worth taking a close look at the data involved. When you consider the Mid-Staffs scandal… Continue reading
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Lib Dems avoid conference grief on NHS
Norman Lamb’s announcement today that the government will re-write regulations on competition in the NHS seals up one source of grief for the Lib Dems ahead of their spring conference… Continue reading
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David Nicholson’s select committee session: five key points
Sir David Nicholson didn’t deliver the most confident performance before the Health Select Committee this morning, but he didn’t leave the session looking fatally wounded. Here are the key points… Continue reading
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Why did no Tory attack Vince Cable for his opposition to the NHS budget ring fence?
This weekend David Cameron argued that the Tories are the ‘only party simultaneously committed to proper investment in the NHS and bringing down immigration’. This makes it all the odder that… Continue reading
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How to be an anti-politics party in government: make the public sector accountable
One of the lessons from last week’s Eastleigh by-election – and indeed the Italian elections – is that voters don’t like politicians at the moment. It’s easy for those like… Continue reading
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The NHS cancer surgeon who blew the whistle on foreigners scamming the NHS
Today’s Sunday Times splashes on news that David Cameron is going to crack down on health tourism – that is, foreign nationals coming to Britain primarily to claim free treatment… Continue reading
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Why David Nicholson must go
As the Mid-Staffs tragedy unfurls, it becomes more and more apparent that contrary to the insistence of former Labour Ministers and Prime Ministers, this was not an isolated case, but… Continue reading
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