In the last week, I have managed to catch up with two old friends who are the sort of GPs who I would be delighted to look after me or my family. As I listened to them both, I empathised with the pressures general practitioners face. On top of the burden of more and more […]
Category: NHS
Martin McShane: 80:20
We are working through trying to understand exactly how commissioning support (CSS) will work with Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). At a recent time out the lead manager for the CSS presented on the progress being made with Greater East Midlands CSS (GEM). They highlighted the scale of work that is required with the 277 tasks […]
Vinice Thomas: The push for improvement in maternity care
Substandard care within maternity services remains a high profile issue. It seems that every month there is news coverage about failing hospitals, avoidable maternal deaths, and below optimum care provided to mothers. Last month the Care Quality Commission (CQC) issued a formal warning to a hospital outside Greater London following three visits in February 2012. […]
Martin McShane: Large scale change
Over the last few weeks my reading and listening has made me consider whether we are at a crossroads in understanding and agreeing the purpose and nature of healthcare. Let me start with this quote from the evaluation of the 16 integrated care pilots that were supported by the Department of Health: “Over the past […]
Lord Ashcroft: Anti-NHS Bill candidates would boost the Conservative Party
A group of doctors is threatening to stand candidates at the next general election in revenge for the Health and Social Care Bill. The anti-reform medics plan to target at least 50 senior Liberal Democrats and Conservatives with small majorities, running on what Clive Peedell, co-chair of the NHS Consultants’ Association, describes as “the non-party, […]
Martin McShane: A new dynamic?
The political ambiguity is, mostly, resolved. Very shortly, appointments will be made to Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). At the same time appointments will be made to the local arm of the NHS Commissioning Board (now to be known as the “Area”), the NHS Commissioning Board Sectors (formally known as SHA Clusters), and Commissioning Support services. […]
Ken Taylor: Why the NHS Health and Social Care Bill is bad for patients
The prime reason that this legislation will prove a disaster for patients is obvious. If you are relying on the NHS for care it is your GP who will be the sole arbiter of the care you receive, and most importantly will control the funding for any referral to secondary care. GPs will not be […]
Michael Dixon: Carpe diem—the politicians have had their day, now it’s time for doctors to seize the initiative
It is all over now. The Health and Social Care Bill has been passed. The politicians have moved on, content to leave professionals and managers to pick up the pieces. Whichever side of this exhausting, divisive, and passionate argument you favoured, we are in a different place now. It is no longer a question of […]
Martin McShane: NHS MOT
Monday to Friday, for weeks now, there has been a teleconference bringing together the leads from all the major organisations across Lincolnshire involved in health and social care. The ambulance and community services, acute and mental health plus adult social care, are all regularly represented. The meeting is chaired by a commissioner. The purpose is […]
Sarah Walpole: The NHS sustainability day audit is “a very good place to start”
“The very beginning” has famously been advocated as “a very good place to start,” but when it comes to sustainability, this doesn’t seem to be such an easy mantra to follow. For one thing, it’s not altogether clear where “the very beginning” is, and for a second, we in the NHS are so busy trying […]