A revised GP contract will put patients at the heart of NHS primary care services by ushering in a radical reform of the way practices are funded.
The proposed contract, published late last week,...
The Liberal Democrats outlined their alternative 'cash-back' Budget this week, pledging free care for the elderly and the abolition of tuition and top-up fees for students, but no increases in public...
Ofsted, the schools' inspectorate, has insisted that it will meet its March deadline to inspect and register all childminders and nurseries, despite a growing backlog of checks.
A spokeswoman told...
Councils and other public sector bodies are beefing up their risk management policies in the face of huge rises in insurance premiums.
They are also being forced to absorb larger excesses a...
A charity for the elderly has bitterly attacked a government U-turn on minimum environmental standards in care homes.
Ministers bowed to pressure from care-home owners and dropped key standards...
Labour's £6bn crusade to make the UK an e-government haven by 2005 is in danger of stalling because ministers have failed to encourage the fastest-growing section of the population older people...
GPs were this week expected to be offered inflation-busting pay rises in return for signing a new contract.
An announcement was being made on February 21 on the new general medical services...
The government will propose delaying the imposition of fines on social service departments that delay discharges from hospital, following a crucial defeat in the House of Lords.
On February 17,...
Health Secretary Alan Milburn has overturned more than a decade of NHS thinking by giving small hospitals a new lease of life.
Many local cottage hospitals have closed as the health service sought...
Social services directors this week urged the government to delay the introduction of council fines for hospital 'bed-blocking', as a critical report by the National Audit Office exposed the extent...
The controller of the Audit Commission has hit out at the government for pressurising the watchdog to penalise certain councils in the Comprehensive Performance Assessments published last December...
Visions of 200,000 new houses, millions of pounds to regenerate declining areas in the Midlands and the North, and at least £1bn for houses for key workers dominated Sustainable Communities, John...
? ??ew Foster, the outgoing controller of the Audit Commission, talks to Mike Thatcher
Vincent Square will be a much quieter place when Sir Andrew Foster finally moves on later this year. The...
New freedoms to enable patients to get speedier treatment must be backed up with extra support for elderly and vulnerable patients, according to Help the Aged.
This week Health Secretary Alan...
The reward for pharmacists in England and Wales informing on benefit fraudsters has gone up sevenfold. Under an initiative announced this week, they will now be able to claim a £70 reward, up from £...
The permanent secretary at the Lord Chancellor's Department was forced to apologise to MPs this week after admitting that he misled them over the progress of the Libra IT project.
Sir Hayden...
Prison reformers have demanded a review of the Home Office's policy of jailing minors after a damning report was issued this week on the privately run Ashfield young offenders institution in...
Vacancy rates for GPs are rising rapidly, putting pressure on family doctors and making it more difficult for patients to get appointments, the British Medical Association said this week.
Health Secretary Alan Milburn has announced a new deal for NHS consultants, which is being hailed in many quarters as a move to give senior doctors sabbaticals of up to three months.
Child protection agencies have joined forces to try to stop vulnerable children slipping through the net as Lord Laming's damning report on the Victoria Climbié case was published.
The government's foundation trust initiative could restore the divisions of the internal market by creating well-funded elite hospitals that poach the best staff, the British Medical Association...
NHS trusts will get the double boost of fewer inspections from Royal Colleges and an increase in consultant numbers under a groundbreaking deal announced this week.
Local government leaders have gone on the offensive over this year's finance settlement amid fears that increases in education funding could mean other services are starved of cash.
