May 1 was to have been the date when elections occurred in each of the three devolved nations of the United Kingdom Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Except, as is so often the case in the...
Foundation trusts will not be able to opt out of the NHS's Agenda for Change pay deal, Health Secretary Alan Milburn confirmed this week as he launched a concerted campaign to quash opposition to the...
Failure to cut the number of injuries to staff is costing the NHS millions of pounds a year, the National Audit Office said this week.
The government set national improvement targets in 1999 for...
Registered social landlords are generating increasing funds from activities other than social housing.
New figures show that income from non-core activities rose by 22% in 2001/02 from £662m to £...
The government has failed to think through the impact of its plans to build hundreds of thousands of extra homes in the Southeast, according to the Commons committee scrutinising Deputy Prime...
Non-profit-distributing public interest companies have a 'potentially important role' to play in public service delivery, says a new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research. But it warns...
Primary care t rusts must prepare for an exodus of clinical managers over the next two years, according to a survey by the NHS Alliance.
The body, which represents PCTs, said that half the doctors...
NHS consultants this week threatened industrial action over their contracts despite the government's abandonment of plans to make them work over weekends and in the evenings.
Last year, consultants...
Work will begin in the autumn on a groundbreaking public-private partnership that will revolutionise health services in Greater Manchester, it has been announced.
The £100m Manchester, Salford and...
Action must be taken to tackle staff shortages in mental health services, two leading think-tanks said this week.
In separate publications, the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (SCMH) and the...
Plans to create an all-powerful health service inspectorate were in chaos this week following the shock resignation of its chief executive elect.
Peter Homa, who was appointed chief inspector of...
Members of the royal colleges of nursing and midwifery have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a new pay system that will raise their salaries by an average of 12.5% over three years.
An attempt by some Unison activists to block the government's overhaul of the NHS pay system failed this week, although rank-and-file members will have the final say on whether the initiative goes...
Senior civil servants have warned ministers they will be 'extremely concerned' if the government does not accept the main findings of a Parliamentary report slamming the use of spin doctors across...
Hopes have been raised for a resolution of the dispute over the proposed GP contract after a deal guaranteeing minimum incomes was struck this week.
A ballot of the UK's family doctors was...
Thirty finalists have been selected by the judges of the Public Servants of the Year Awards to go forward to the final ceremony in London next month.
The finalists come from all parts of the public...
A West Country health authority faces a £59m deficit as a result of incompetent financial management, inspectors have found.
A report from district auditor Stephen Malyn shows that the deficit...
The billions of pounds of taxpayers' money being pumped into the NHS is improving the service, Health Secretary Alan Milburn insisted this week.
In a pre-emptive strike aimed at critics of the 1%...
Private lenders are being offered fewer opportunities to fund new social housing because of uncertainty over stock transfers.
With many councils keen to set up arm's-length management organisations...
Unison leaders said they were confident that members would support the government's Agenda for Change programme on pay and conditions in the NHS, despite rumblings of a major revolt at next week's...
Patients who are not satisfied with NHS trusts' handling of complaints will be able to ask the new Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (Chai) to undertake an independent review, health...
The Comprehensive Performance Assessment system is to undergo major reform before the next round of full local government inspections in three years' time.
Education Secretary Charles Clarke has launched a £435m programme to provide children's centres in the most deprived parts of England.
The centres will offer childcare, nursery education, parenting...
Town hall leaders are to mount a campaign against government plans for foundation hospitals, claiming they could dilute their own democratic mandate.
As Public Finance went to press, the...
