I have just joined the NHS Executive fast track programme. There will be 51 of us in total—36 clinicians from within the NHS and 15 application from outside the NHS. We will need to get up to speed fast on understanding the NHS in England. Here is my starter list of ten key sources of information […]
Category: NHS
Tim Rudin: Ethical Sourcing—how organisations can learn from other public sector bodies
Transport for London (TfL) has been implementing ethical sourcing into our procurement practices since the launch of the Greater London Authority (GLA) Responsible Procurement Policy in 2006. When we first started, very few other public sector bodies in the UK were looking at ethical sourcing. It had traditionally been the preserve of the private sector, […]
Tim Ballard: The wider consequences of healthcare delivery
In January we saw the launch of the NHS Sustainable Development Unit’s (SDU) strategy for the NHS. Since its inception, the SDU has tirelessly promoted the wider responsibilities that we have when providing healthcare and social care. At its heart, this strategy reminds us that we need to act if we wish to decrease the […]
Chris Ham: Wanted—an even Better Care Fund
The King’s Fund’s new analysis of serious and growing financial pressures in the NHS should serve as a wake up call to politicians of all parties. As the analysis shows, with an increasing number of providers in deficit, and the prospect of a further seven years of no growth in funding, the NHS is rapidly approaching […]
Arthy Santhakumar: Shining a torch on medical supply chains—the great paradox
Have you ever found yourself wondering where the equipment used by the NHS comes from? Maybe, maybe not. If you are in the latter category, then you may find that the answer makes for an uncomfortable truth. Healthcare is a big business, and navigating through the NHS, its organisations, and supply chains is no easy feat. […]
Jonathon Tomlinson: “Four problems”—a typical day for a GP
I had only three patients left to see at the end of my morning surgery. It was 12.30. I had started at 8am, taking urgent phone calls for an hour before starting face to face appointments. It had been a typically challenging morning. Many patients had complicated mixtures of physical, mental, and social problems which […]
Azeem Majeed: General practitioners should give up their independent contractor status and become NHS employees
General practitioners (GPs) have worked as independent contractors since the NHS was first established in 1948. However, we now need to review whether this model of general practice is what the NHS needs in the 21st century, and consider an alternative model in which general practitioners become NHS employees. In many ways, GPs are already de […]
Richard Smith: Why doesn’t the obvious happen?
It’s obvious to me that all scientific research should be available free to everybody everywhere, the polypill to prevent heart attacks and strokes should be offered to all those over 55, and patients not health institutions should control their records. Why don’t these obvious things happen? The core arguments for making all research free are […]
Kailash Chand: The survival of general practice is the survival of the NHS
General practice in England is under intense pressure at the moment from a variety of sources, including the plan to keep surgeries open from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week. These are combining to overstretch practices in an unsustainable manner. A key factor is that patient demand is constantly increasing because of an ageing […]
Vidhya Alakeson: What will personal health budgets offer the NHS?
From this month, adults and children eligible for continuing healthcare will have the right to ask for a personal health budget. Five years on from the start of the national personal health budget pilot, awareness among doctors of this new approach remains low, and scepticism at times, high. But rather than being seen as something […]