England’s Department of Health plans to review hospital pharmacy and medicines optimisation services as part of a wider examination of how to cut waste in NHS procurement. The project will review the hospital’s drug expenditure, medicine usage, patient outcomes and will include benchmarking of all aspects of pharmacy services. The results will be used to … [Read more…]
CQC gives service the thumbs up Care Quality Commission inspectors reveal that GO out of hours care across England is improving, although weaknesses are still apparent in some areas. The review of 30 services, which covers a third of the population, highlighted problems with recruitment processes and medicines management, although generally concluding that services were … [Read more…]
68% of workers favour a strike Two thirds of NHS workers under the Unison healthcare union have voted in favour of strike action over pay. 68% of the nurses, healthcare assistants, porters and doctors said they were prepared to strike, whilst 88% voted for industrial action short of a strike. Three other unions – the … [Read more…]
The tides are changing within the NHS and the seasonal ebb and flow is in full swing right now, as the unending winter pressures begin to escalate further in the run up to the approaching festivities at Christmas. With senior management tightening purse strings relentlessly, savings are high on the NHS agenda, so it is … [Read more…]
‘Foundation groups’ could be the norm in five years time Sir David Dalton, head of a government review, has revealed that the NHS could be developing ‘hospital groups’ within the next five years. Studying potential organisation forms for health services, the half completed review believes that chains could help create new positions for management among … [Read more…]
Managing and running a business day to day is not only extremely rewarding and satisfying, but it also presents challenges to be dealt with. One such issue would be when you have an under performer among your team – any aspect of poor performance has to be addressed immediately, however instead of ruthlessly culling employees … [Read more…]
Cutting costs linked to better training, reveals review chair More resources should be put towards in-work training schemes for nurses and healthcare assistants, according to latest review results. Lord Willis, the Liberal Democrat peer who is chair of the ‘Shape of Caring’ review, has told the Health Service Journal that continuing professional development needs to … [Read more…]
One fifth of hospitals could be covering up their mistakes A government review has suggested that one fifth of NHS hospital trusts in England may be covering up mistakes, threatening patient safety. The review worryingly indicated a “poor” safety culture, as analysis of reporting incidents revealed that 29 out of 141 trusts were not registering the expected … [Read more…]