It was all going so well for Estelle Morris. The education secretary had spent the first nine months of her job basking in the warm glow of good relations with the teaching unions, her relaxed...
Guidelines that could add significantly to the demand for and cost of diabetes services in England and Wales were issued this week by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence.
The government's drive for greater public involvement in the NHS is being hampered by primary care reorganisation and lack of funding, the King's Fund said this week.
The Local Government Association and ministers are to agree a set of shared priorities for service delivery that will act as a 'coherent framework' governing councils' activities.
The Greater London Authority's Labour-led transport operations scrutiny committee has castigated Mayor Ken Livingstone for spending too much time opposing the part-privatisation of the Tube, while...
Local government representatives have urged the government to tackle the 'grim' state of social care and fill the struggling service's £200m funding gap.
The row between Downing Street and the Whitehall establishment took a new turn this week when government sources claimed 'resentful' civil servants were trying to undermine the government.
Leader of the Commons Robin Cook has backed what he called the most fundamental overhaul ever of select committees. The modernisation committee, which Cook chairs, recommends limiting party...
The NHS must become a 'world-class employer' if it is to deliver the high levels of care demanded by patients, Prime Minister Tony Blair said this week.
The government has given nurses renewed hope of higher wages and more flexible working hours after it revealed that the NHS had reached its target of recruiting an extra 20,000 nurses three years...
The government is considering a radical change to the structure of the Local Government Pension Scheme as it seeks to reduce the rising cost of contributions from the public purse.
The Local Government Association has vowed to 'fight on' in its battle to win more resources after the government published its 'disappointing' final finance settlement for local government.
Health Secretary Alan Milburn this week hammered home the prime minister's backing for NHS workers, claiming that staff, patients and the government were on the same side.
The NHS Counter Fraud Service expects to have recovered £12m paid out in fake claims by the end of the financial year, the Department of Health has said.
The postal services regulator must ensure that opening the industry to competition does not spell the end of a universal post service, the National Audit Office has warned.
A housing association that paid £1,000 to a man who unsuccessfully applied to work as a sheltered housing manager has warned that the case could lead to tenants having less say over the management of...
Politicians should hand over the day-to-day running of the NHS to an arm's length corporation, according to a report from the health think-tank, the King's Fund.
The 24-hour health service helpline NHS Direct has 'saved' up to £50m a year by reducing the pressure on GPs and casualty departments, the National Audit Office said this week.
NHS managers gave a qualified welcome to this week's announcement giving greater independence to the best trusts but remained sceptical over Alan Milburn's masterplan for a brave new world in the...
