Patients need care at weekends too
Dr Foster, the health intelligence and statistics company, have released their new hospital guide. The accompanying press release says that, The Hospital Guide shows that patients are less likely to get treated promptly and more likely to die if they are admitted to hospital at the weekend. The chances of survival are better in hospitals [...]
Elderly care cuts are incredibly short-sighted
This report about cuts to elderly care has much to make you angry. There are the obvious inhumane outcomes where “elderly people with crippling disabilities are being left to fend for themselves” and “elderly people have been left in bed for 17 hours at a time, abandoned in soiled bedding and clothing, while others had [...]
Not enough incentive to treat patients
There is a bit of a tizwas about whether there are people waiting too long on waiting lists and whether this is a legacy of Labour’s policy or the fault of the coalition government. Some say waiting times are going up and others point to new measures coming in from the government that will address [...]
Indiana Lansley and the 18-week NHS target
As Indiana Lansley approaches the altar sweat pours down his face. Lansley tries to control his pounding chest and rattled nerves as he eyes his prize. To get to this precarious spot he ducked the poison darts from the opposition benches, he rolled past the whirling blades of the BMA, he outwitted the deadly collapsing [...]
When you mix healthcare and money
Bupa thinks the surgeons are doing operations to make money and the surgeons think Bupa is undermining their clinical judgement and suspect that it might be simply to save costs. The Guardian reports a spat between a health insurer and the consultant surgeons that are operating on its clients knees. We can’t know who is [...]
Like asking accountants to practise medicine
The primary job of General Practitioners is to see and treat patients. That is what they spend years at medical school learning. That is what the general public and patients expect them to be expert in and do. Of all the arguments over the government’s proposed reforms of the NHS, there is one argument that [...]
NHS information – local decisions
On the 18th May The King’s Fund published a report entitled “The future of leadership and management in the NHS – No more heroes”. It is the result of nine months of research, seminars and consultation into the state of management in the NHS. Broadly, it is supportive of NHS managers and it is against [...]
Why do NHS managers want to keep targets?
The Public Service web site reports on a survey where 59% of NHS managers say they want to keep the targets that are being dropped by the new government. Andrew Lansley has said that the 48 hour GP target, the 4 hour A&E target and the 18 week GP to treatment target are to be [...]
The alternative to ring-fencing
Age UK has called for the social care budget to be ring-fenced like the money for the NHS has been. They claim that social care has an effect on the NHS and cutting its budget will drive demand into the NHS. They are no doubt right, but they are using a classic silo-thinking trick. They [...]
Surgery targets endanger patient safety
The BBC reports that About one in five of the nearly 600 surgeons questioned by Bournemouth University reported being involved in incidents, during a two-week period, where patients were harmed. Using the figures further on in the article of 549 surgeons questioned and 19% seeing harm, that means that in two weeks, 104 surgeons saw [...]
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