NHS Matters

It’s Certainly an Accident That Requires Urgent Attention – but A&E?

admin — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 04:06:53 +0000

Stepping in dog poo isn’t what Aneurin Bevan had in mind when he established the NHS but that’s exactly the “emergency” that a North West woman expected her local A&E department to tackle.

It’s just one of a catalogue of misuses revealed in Click Manchester. Dr Mike Cheshire, medical director at NHS North West is reported as saying: “Something needs to be done quickly about the growing number of preventable emergency services abuses.”

Scotland Relies on London For Sperm

admin — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 06:38:40 +0000

According to the daily Record, there are just 26 sperm donors left in Scotland five years after the right to remain anonymous was removed.

“NHS boards are being forced to bring in supplies from London to meet demand here.

“Now there are calls for a review of the system to help encourage more men to register.”

Millions Could be Saved by Better Procurement in the NHS

admin — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 09:21:06 +0000

Procurement jobs in the NHS could be merged as part of massive restructuring that will save £600 million, a new report has said.

Commissioned by the Department of Health and published by the Foundation Trust Network (FTN), the review of back office efficiency points to a range of ways in which all facets of the NHS can collaborate to make savings.

The report suggests that streamlining procurement, finance, human resources, information management and technology, estates management, governance and risk, and payroll could be achieved through sharing services.

RCN: Care Will Suffer as a Result of the Job Losses

admin — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 05:25:50 +0000

The Royal College of Nursing says care will suffer as a result of the job losses, despite the government’s diktat that the cuts must not jeopardise these standards. Even trusts with the keenest management skills, which manage to hang onto their nurses, midwives and other healthcare workers, will find it hard to lose this number of staff without stretching nurses beyond their traditional roles.

Hollow Claims That The NHS Is Safe

admin — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 05:16:00 +0000

Dr Kailash Chand writing in the Indepenent: “The assertion that the NHS spending will grow in real terms is hollow: a commitment to a 0.1 per cent real-terms rise in annual spending is neither here nor there. With inflation in health-care running at more than 4 per cent, the NHS’s purchasing power for drugs and equipment will suffer significantly; much money will also be used to pay PFI debts.”