The head of NHS England’s specialised commissioning taskforce has said that Clinical Commissioning Groups could be asked to co-commission “the bulk” of NHS England’s £14bn specialised services budget. Dr Paul Watson explained that such an approach could lead to better designed pathways for patients and allow CCGs to“see what is being spent on behalf of …
CCGs to co-commission the ‘bulk’ of specialised services Read More »
CQC has set out its new approach to inspecting substance misuse services with a focus on the issues that matter to service users accessing substance misuse services. The way these services are regulated will reflect national policy priorities for substance misuse. In particular it will reflect the key aim of the government’s drug strategy to …
CQC’s plans for inspecting substance misuse services Read More »
A key recommendation of the public inquiry into the Stafford Hospital scandal was promoting whistleblowing. However, campaigners say that despite the initiative to create a more open culture, whistleblowers still face problems in speaking out about the health service. Patients First warned that a “culture of fear” still existed. It has produced a dossier of …
This week Ofsted announced that 40 no-warning inspections would take place this month as part of a trial wave of two-day unannounced inspections across England. The trial is intended to address the feasibility of unannounced inspections proposed following the Trojan Horse inquiries in Birmingham schools. The decision follows concerns that some of the schools involved …
David Prior, the Chair of the CQC, has voiced criticisms over the provision of care within the NHS. In an article for the Guardian where he discusses the merits of increased transparency in care he warns that “many patients receive poor care”. Commenting on the new rating system currently being introduced for providers registered with …
Chair of CQC criticises variability of care within the NHS Read More »
The Royal College of Physicians has today published a five-point plan for the next government. The plan calls for political parties to stop reorganising the NHS, to increase funding and to commit to an NHS free at the point of delivery. Publication of the plan comes on the eve of the party conference season and …
Call for Government to focus on funding of the NHS rather than reorganisation Read More »
The Department of Health has published a public consultationthis month titled ‘Display of performance assessments’which outlines its proposal to place a legal requirement on registered providers to display the rating published by the CQC. The rationale behind the proposal is that while the new rating system is intended to provide a reliable assessment of a …
An investigation by Pulse has revealed that the a number of areas involved in the government’s £50m pilot scheme to open GP surgeries seven days a week have yet to start their schemes. The schemes are being funded by the £50m ‘Challenge Fund’ that was initially announced in 2013 at the Conservative Party conference. NHS …
The head of the government’s Troubled Families unit, Louise Casey, is to conduct an independent inspection of children’s services in Rotherham council in the wake of the child abuse scandal. Ms Casey has been asked to review the quality of the Rotherham children’s services and also draw any wider lessons for local government, including the coordination …
Independent inspection of children’s services in Rotherham Read More »
This week the government has ordered a review of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) less than three months after it told peers there was no need to rethink the legislation. The review comes as a result of the surge in DoLS cases following the Supreme Court ruling in the cases of Cheshire West and …
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