News Archive Apr - Jul 2009
15/07/09 Darzi quits as health minister
14/07/09 Row over new Brighton city centre GP surgery
07/07/09 PCTs may employ firms to manage patient budgets
30/06/09 NHS finances 'must not be raided'
30/06/09 Taxpayers foot bill for private hospital beds
25/06/09 GP warning on private providers
22/06/09 North Wales NHS patients offered private ops to meet targets
18/06/09 PCTs must offer multi-practice contracts, says chairwoman
12/06/09 Billions locked in PFI will cost public dear, claims union
11/06/09 NHS could be challenged under EU competition law
09/06/09 Unite campaigns for end of privatisation of the NHS
28/04/09 Pilot will boost patient role in GP service plans
28/04/09 Personal health budget pilots set for summer launch
28/04/09 London trusts in chaos as NHS IT system 'loses' waiting lists
16/04/09 GP care quality 'not checked by government'
16/04/09 Midwife numbers 'to fall short'
16/04/09 One in seven GPs to retrain under revalidation plans
15/04/09 Monitor reports 'lack of appetite' for foundation trust status
13/04/09 Overworking blamed for NHS errors
10/04/09 Scots NHS inferior to England and needs radical surgery
09/04/09 NHS trust put up for takeover to break free from Whitehall
08/04/09 NHS pays for beds with no patients
07/04/09 Spend on NHS NPfIT of £5.1bn exceeds initial budget
06/04/09 Pilot sites in England to test the impact of integrating health and social care
02/04/09 Private board meeting risks spelled out
01/04/09 New regulator to stand up for powerless
01/04/09 NHS cuts beds by 10% as work moves to GPs
01/04/09 LMCs set up bidding company
Healthcare Republic (15 July 2009)
Darzi quits as health minister
Health minister Lord Ara Darzi has resigned as a government minister. He will stand down at the summer parliamentary recess on 21 July. Liberal Democrat shadow health secretary Norman Lamb questioned whether there was more to Darzi's resignation than meets the eye.
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The Brighton Argus (14 July 2009)
Row over new Brighton city centre GP surgery
The decision to give private company Care UK the management of a new GP centre in Brighton has been criticised in a report to the council. Jason Kitcat, Green Party spokesman on health issues, argued that the PCT had chosen a company with a mixed reputation and questioned the increasing privatisation of the NHS.
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Healthcare Republic (07 July 2009)
PCTs may employ firms to manage patient budgets
NHS Alliance has warned of possible conflicts of interest if PCTs employ private firms to manage patients' personal care budgets for them, with contractors taking a margin from budgets intended for vulnerable people.
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BBC Online (30 June 2009)
NHS finances 'must not be raided'
BMA chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum has warned against the £100bn NHS budget being used to plug the gaps in the nation's finances. Instead, private sector involvement via polyclinics and PFI schemes should end as they are a drain on resources and cause a fragmentation of care.
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Norfolk Eastern Daily Press (30 June 2009)
Taxpayers foot bill for private hospital beds
Private hospital beds at the Spire hospital, Norwich, paid for by the NHS, cost £392 per bed per day. The cost in an NHS hospital is £180 to £270 per day. Local MP and Lib Dem health spokesman Norman Lamb has said serious questions are raised by such a profit margin.
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Healthcare Republic (25 June 2009)
GP warning on private providers
A survey of GPs has found that 60% see GP consortia, sometimes partnerships with private firms, as a threat to traditional general practice. Private providers 'cherry pick' easy, profitable services with the NHS having to deal with the remainder.
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Daily Post (22 June 2009)
North Wales NHS patients offered private ops to meet targets
Up to 1,500 patients in North Wales are being offered operations at private hospitals in a bid to meet shorter waiting-time targets in the NHS. Patients waiting for orthopaedic surgery at Wrexham Maelor hospital could be switched to the town’s private Spire hospital and receive treatment from the same consultants employed by the NHS. Doctors leaders fear the practice is pumping money into the private sector, treating patients as units of production, rather than investing in the NHS.
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Healthcare Republic (18 June 2009)
PCTS must offer multi-practice contracts, says chairwoman
PCTs must offer larger contracts involving groups of practices to attract private sector providers, according to the chairwoman of London PCTs' commercial board. Sarah Crowther said contracts involving many practices and associated services would be less risky for potential providers. Discussing the use of private providers at the NHS Confederation conference in Liverpool, Ms Crowther encouraged PCT chief executives to have 'informal chats' with private firms about contracts before tender.
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Herald (12 June 2009)
Billions locked in PFI will cost public dear, claims union
Unison has warned that billions of pounds of public money has become "locked" into paying for expensive, privately financed school and hospital projects. The union said that PFI projects across the UK currently valued at £64bn would actually result in a bill of more than £217bn in repayments by 2033/4. It argued that new PFI schemes should be replaced with publicly funded design-and-build plans.
Health Service Journal (11 June 2009)
NHS could be challenged under EU competition law
NHS contracts with private providers could fall foul of EU competition rules if they allow excessive profits, a briefing paper from the NHS Confederation warns. EU competition law does not apply to non-profit public bodies but the confederation warns growing private sector involvement in the NHS could open up areas where the law may apply.
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Health Care Republic (09 June 2009)
Unite campaigns for end of privatisation of the NHS
Unite has launched a campaign 'Health B4 Profit' calling for the end of the privatisation of the NHS. The union has published a report titled 'The Patchwork Privatisation of Our Health Service' highlighting how private companies are taking over sections of the health service with adverse knock-on effects for patients and employment conditions. Unite’s national officer for health, Karen Reay, said: ‘The myth that private companies can provide better services than the NHS is a giant experiment based on a flawed ideology that is failing on a daily basis, while costing the taxpayer dearly.’
Health Service Journal (28 April 2009)
Pilot will boost patient role in GP service plans
The Department of Health will seek bids from private companies for a pilot scheme to introduce "very good patient centred processes". Extending opening hours, establishing extra primary care services and responsiveness to patients are the three parts of the DH programme to improve GP services.
Nursing Times (28 April 2009)
Personal health budget pilots set for summer launch
Pilot schemes for personal health bugets, due to run for three years, are to start this summer. Applications to run the pilots have been received from 70 NHS organisations. Unions are concerned that patients may have to top up services when personal budgets run out.
Guardian (28 April 2009)
London trusts in chaos as NHS IT system 'loses' waiting lists
The most serious failure so far of the troubled National Programme for IT is causing a crisis at several London trusts with 'lost' waiting lists reducing the number of patients being treated and alternative destinations for treatment being sought.
Guardian (16 April 2009)
GP care quality 'not checked by government'
The King's Fund has launched an inquiry into GP performance, saying that government plans have concentrated on hospitals rather than general practice which accounts for 90% of patient contacts with the NHS. It says there is an absence of measures for core activities such as diagnosis, referrals and prescriptions.
BBC News (16 April 2009)
Midwife numbers 'to fall short'
The Royal College of Midwives has said a full-time midwife is necessary for every 28 births per year if NHS guidelines are to be met. The government has guaranteed 3,400 extra midwives by 2012, but the RCM says 5,000 will be needed.
Pulse (16 April 2009)
One in seven GPs to retrain under revalidation plans
The procedure of revalidation of GPs could mean that one GP in seven will need up to 18 months of 'corrective training'. The NHS Revalidation Support Team has said an intial surge of GPs needing retraining should tail off after the first year or two.
Health Service Journal (15 April 2009)
Monitor reports 'lack of appetite' for foundation trust status
Foundation trust regulator Monitor has said 'lack of appetitite' is an obstacle to applications for authorisation by trusts. While the deadline for applications is the end of 2010 95 are still unauthorised.
Mirror (13 April 2009)
Overworking blamed for NHS errors
Freedom of Information requests have revealed 4,000 'avoidable' NHS errors such as the use of wrong procedures, with over half considered serious. The Royal College of Nursing said staff shortages had led to the 'deeply concerning' mistakes.
The Scotsman (10 April 2009)
Scots NHS inferior to England and needs radical surgery
'Think' tank Reform Scotland has said Scottish health services should follow England's example by introducing a purchaser provider split and competition with private healthcare providers. The group says Scotland lags behind England despite increased life expectancy, reduced mortality rates and waiting time improvements.
Guardian (9 April 2009)
NHS trust put up for takeover to break free from Whitehall
A strategic health authority has invited merger bids from other NHS organisations for a NHS mental health trust. The trust is not thought to be able to achieve foundation trust status on its own. The merger route could be followed by others of the 20 trusts also unlikely to qualify for foundation status.
Norwich Evening News (8 April 2009)
NHS pays for beds with no patients
Beds in a private hospital in Norwich have been booked and paid for by the NHS while they remain empty. The private hospital's criteria for the type of patients they will accept has been given as a reason. The cost of the beds has not been disclosed.
Computer Weekly (7 April 2009)
Spend on NHS NPfIT of £5.1bn exceeds initial budget
While it has been revealed that the total cost of the NHS's National Programme for IT (NPfIT) was planned at £5bn, spending so far has reached £5.1bn excluding capital costs and most local charges. The total cost is now forecast at £13bn.
British Medical Journal (6 April 2009)
Pilot sites in England to test the impact of integrating health and social care
A scheme intended to show how health and social care services can be improved for patients by integration is to run at 16 pilot sites over the next two years, concentrating on particular health needs at each location.
Health Service Journal (2 April 2009)
Private board meeting risks spelled out
A survey has found under 25% of foundation trusts have board meetings at least partially open to the public. Foundation trusts do not have to hold public board meetings or publish minutes. The Healthcare Commission's report into Mid Staffordshire foundation trust said private discussions should be limited to commercial confidentiality or relate to individuals.
Guardian (1 April 2009)
New regulator to stand up for powerless
Cynthia Bower, chief executive of the new Care Quality Commission, has said the CQC will focus on the standards people can expect and a willingness to speak out when there is a failure to meet those standards.
Pulse (1 April 2009)
NHS cuts beds by 10% as work moves to GPs
MPs have heard that acute beds have been cut by 10% in three years after five years of steady bed availablity. While the cuts are explained by ministers as a result of care provided closer to home, funding has not shifted commensurately from secondary to primary care.
Pulse (1 April 2009)
LMCs set up bidding company
The largest group of local medical committees, Londonwide LMCs, is to set up a not-for-profit company to offer GPs specialist services such as accountancy and marketing. Advice on tendering for contracts will help GPs compete with private providers.
