Burnham: publish staff satisfaction data
Health secretary Andy Burnham has announced plans to publish data on staff satisfaction across the NHS. In his first major public speech since his appointment in June, Burnham said there needed to be “a better focus on staff satisfaction” and that this could be achieved by “measuring staff satisfaction more systematically.” Speaking at the King’s […]
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QoF frozen as part of swine flu deal
No changes will be made to the Quality and Outcomes Framework next year and some indicators will be dropped in 2011-12 under a deal agreed by the British Medical Association and NHS Employers on the swine flu vaccination programme. The UK-wide agreement means GP practices will be paid £10.50 for every patient given the swine flu […]
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DH launches hospital comparison site
The Department of Health has launched a new comparison element to the NHS Choices website, which allows patients to compare hospitals on indicators from car parking to mortality rates. The service provides a web-based score card to help patients choose the hospital most suited to their needs. It works in a similar way to other internet […]
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Lords question flu response
Members of the House of Lords have told the government they have “significant concerns” about the delay in the launch of the full National Pandemic Flu Service, which is not due to be ready until 1 October. In a report on pandemic flu, the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee said the government appeared […]
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Flu Pandemic Service launches
The National Pandemic Flu Service has been launched in England offering the public the chance to check their symptoms online or over the telephone and get access to anti-viral medicines.
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Interim flu line for 100,000 cases a day
The Department of Health’s interim flu line service is expected to be operational by next week, as the government predicts 100,000 swine flu cases a day by the end of August. The interim arrangements for the flu line, which has had its name changed to the National Pandemic Flu Service, have been put in place […]
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Money, money, money
The theme of this year’s NHS Confederation conference was money; or rather the coming lack of it. Lyn Whitfield reports.
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Burnham wants ‘health service fit for the digital age’
New health secretary Andy Burnham has said that despite the NHS’ coming financial problems, he still wants to see a health service fit for the digital age. Speaking at the NHS Confederation conference in Liverpool this morning, Burnham insisted that the NHS still had space to focus on reshaping its services focus on quality and […]
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Mike O’Brien new minister for NHS IT
Mike O’Brien, the MP for North Warwickshire, has become the latest minister to take responsibility for NHS Connecting for Health and NHS IT. O’Brien, a former solicitor general, was minister for pension reform at the Department of Work and Pensions before Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s reshuffle this weekend. He replaces Ben Bradshaw, who left the […]
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Andy Burnham replaces Alan Johnson
Andy Burnham Andy Burnham has been named as the new health secretary. Burnham will replace Alan Johnson who moved to become the home secretary as part of Gordon Brown’s cabinet reshuffle, earlier today. It is also believed that Ben Bradshaw will be leaving the Department of Health to take over Burnham’s former role as Secretary […]
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