2010-June | Circle - Europe's Largest Healthcare Partnership

'The NHS must take its medicine too'

Simon Heffer argues, in the Telegraph, that the recovery of the UK economy will be hampered unless the NHS is forced to join other government departments and cut its budget.

Competition in the NHS is bringing positive results, say new studies

Two separate studies reveal that the introduction of patient choice and competition between hospitals in England have brought strong benefits.

Cutting NHS spending can save lives, argues think tank director

Ringfencing the NHS budget amounts to defending the indefensible, says David Green, director of the think tank, Civitas.

BMA says doctors with inadequate English must not be allowed to practice in the UK

The BMA has called for better regulation and language tests for overseas doctors, following the case of a German GP whose poor English led to the accidental death of a patient.

Doctors' leaders call for closure of Darzi's polyclinics

Polyclinics and GP-led health centres are not cost-effective and should be closed, the BMA has said.

Assura reports strong increase in revenues and trading profits

The pharmacy business has announced that it is now profitable, with only £9.5m of debt to be repaid before 2013 and a new £30m credit facility on 'improved terms' from Santander .

Personal health budgets to allow patients to choose between private or NHS care

Eight projects, in which patients receive personal budgets from the NHS to spend on the healthcare of their choice, are being trialled across the country.

BMA survey finds doctors' jobs under threat and hospitals scaling back on treatment

Thousands of doctors face being made redundant or not replaced if they leave, while many hospitals are reducing treatments, according to a survey by the BMA.

NHS trust advertises £1,000 a day management job, even though hospitals are being urged to make efficiency savings

An NHS trust in Essex is advertising for a 'Turnaround Director' to devise and implement efficiency and cost saving measures.

Government warned it faces a 'crisis' if it touches NHS pensions

The BMA has warned the Government not to meddle with the NHS pensions scheme, or risk facing 'a crisis' in the health service.

NHS providers need 'more co-operation and less competition'

Healthcare providers need to co-operate rather than compete to make the NHS more cost-effective, a group of medical bodies and unions has said.

Ex-chief executive of NHS trust in c-diff case receives £190k damages

The former chief executive at the centre of Britain's worst hospital outbreak of clostridium difficilie has won a six-figure damages claim.

Government's planned NHS shake-up hits stumbling block

The Government's white paper for health has been stalled by Treasury concerns over the amount of money being given to GPs.

Early discharge and readmission of patients costing NHS £1.6bn a year

New figures show that the readmission of patients who were discharged too early is costing the NHS £1.6bn a year.

UK has 'most efficient' health service, claims left-wing think tank

The UK has the most efficient health system, a study of seven industrialised countries has found.

'The June budget: swings and roundabouts for the NHS?'

John Appleby, of The King's Fund, argues that what the Chancellor is giving the health service with one hand is being taken away with the other.

Hospitals set to lose more than £1bn in funding

NHS hospitals could lose up to £1.5bn in funding a year under tough new Government rules on readmission.

New report warns of challenges ahead in devolving power to GPs

Six national organisations, including the Kings Fund, have outlined the challenges the Government will face in devolving power to GPs in a new report out today.

'It's not all smooth sailing for the Government's NHS plans'

The problems facing the health secretary's bold reform plans, including giving the public a say in closing hospital units, are discussed in the Guardian blog.

NHS spared budget cuts

The NHS was one of only two government departments not to have its spending slashed in yesterday's emergency budget.

£850m to be cut from NHS

The health secretary has said he will cut £850m from NHS management budgets over the next four years.

Think tank offers to show Government how to improve public services even after making cuts

A leading think tank has joined forces with the heads of 40 government agencies to offer a way forward on health and other public services once cuts have been made.

Alliance Medical has one month to find £150m

Britain’s biggest independent provider of MRI scans to the NHS is in negotiations with its lending syndicate to borrow £150m and stave off possible bankruptcy.

Government drops key NHS targets

Andrew Lansley, the health minister, has announced that many targets introduced under Labour will be scrapped or scaled back.

Prescription cannabis drug launched in Britain

A prescription drug, which will be used for treating symptoms of multiple sclerosis, was approved in Britain on Friday.

Changes planned for e-patient care records

The Government has stopped short of scrapping electronic patient care records, but is making major changes, according to Pulse magazine.

Think tank report says NHS can save £12bn without losing a single doctor

The 2020Health think tank's report outlines ways in which it says the NHS can save £12bn in a year, without cutting a single operation or doctor.

Emergency budget: commentators argue for removal of NHS ringfencing

On the eve of George Osborne's emergency budget, commentators from both the left and right of the political spectrum are arguing for the ringfencing around the NHS budget to be taken down.

GP in right-to-die controversy faces new police inquiry

A doctor who helped at least 18 patients to die, but was cleared of murder five years ago, may be brought back to court after suggesting there may have been more victims

Axe falls on super-hospital in £2bn of Treasury cuts

A new super-hospital in the north is among one of 12 projects to be axed by the Government in a bid to save £2bn.

GP appointments remain inaccessible to many, says DoH

GPs have come under renewed attack from the Department of Health over their appointments system.

GMC condemns lack of testing of European doctors as German locum is struck off

A German locum doctor has been struck off the medical register after accidentally killing a 70-year-old patient during his first shift as an out-of-hours GP in Britain.

NHS restructuring to pave the way for competition with private sector

The NHS is heading for its biggest structural upheaval in decades, according to a report in the Financial Times, which will leave it competing with the private and voluntary sectors for patients.

Limited benefits of e-patient care records must be reviewed, warns new report

Electronic patient care records - a central plank of of the £12bn upgrade of the NHS IT system - have come under severe criticism.

Stop spending on the NHS, shadow health secretary tells Government

Shadow health secretary, Andy Burnham, has called on the Government to halt its plans to increase NHS spending year on year or risk damaging other services.

Well managed, but patient services may suffer, says report into PFI hospitals

The cost of PFI contracts offer limited scope for savings, which may have to be found in patient services, says a new report for the National Audit Office.

Government orders NHS to cut the 'fat' from its management budgets

Hospital trusts will be forced to slash managment costs to 2008 budgets in a bid to cut out the 'fat' in the NHS, The Times reports.

'Incompetent GP' could be struck off medical register

A German locum GP who accidentally killed a patient during his first UK shift has been found guilty of serious misconduct.

London hospitals ration operations in bid to slash millions from budgets

NHS managers in London are attempting to save £65m by rationing basic procedures, according to the London Evening Standard.

Think tank pushes for huge cuts in health spending - and pay cut for doctors

A report published today by the inedependent think tank, Reform, urges the Government to cut health spending by £20bn as part of its programme for tackling the public deficit.

Cheap blood-clotting drug could save lives

The use of a cheap blood-clotting drug could save 100,000 lives a year, according to a report in The Times.

Smoker's lungs kill transplant patient

A cystic fibrosis sufferer has died after receiving the lungs of a smoker.

Jury remains out on mobile phones and cancer

Predictions of a 'brain tumour pandemic' caused by mobile phone use have been dismissed by British scientists involved in the study which threw up the findings.

Larger hospitals could be better for patient health

Death rates among patients admitted for planned operations are far greater at small hospitals than at larger units, an investigation by the Guardian has revealed.

Revolution in liver disease treatment on its way says Harvard team

A team at Harvard Medical School says it may soon be able to 'grow a liver in a lab' for transplation into humans, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Close the poverty gap and cut cancer rates - report out today

Tackling deprivation could lead to a sharp drop in annual cancer cases, according to a new study reported in The Independent.

Open house at GP Surgeries

Your future GP surgery may offer legal advice, gardening and a café. Writing in The Times, Hattie Garlick reports on a pioneering project.

The BBC comes to CircleBath

The ancient Greeks believed you couldn’t enjoy good health in a bad building. The BBC’s Culture Show, broadcast 3 June at 7pm, devoted a sizeable part of its slot to hospital architecture – with CircleBath the star of the show. Visit CircleBath's home page and click "Culture Show" in the video strip.