Police and health authority investigations have been launched in Greater Manchester following allegations that a finance manager at a GP practice has been giving medical advice to patients.
Employment minister Margaret Hodge has revealed that the government is to set up four pilot schemes to examine ways of getting ill and disabled people off sickness benefits and back into work.
The government this week stepped up its hard-hitting approach to fraud detection and prevention across the public sector, launching an anti-fraud forum and exhorting managers to commit themselves to...
The Audit Commission this week exposed 'unacceptable variations' in councils' charging policies for home care, and called on the government to produce formal guidance to ensure a more consistent...
The government should stop 'tinkering' with the funding of long-term care for the elderly and implement fundamental reforms that clearly state what levels of care pensioners can expect from public...
Guidance from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence that a range of anti-cancer drugs should be available across England and Wales must be backed with hard cash, pharmaceutical manufacturers...
A landmark pay victory for speech and language therapists is a reminder of the importance of establishing a modern health service salary structure, according to the NHS Confederation.
Most Whitehall departments have delivered on the myriad targets set out in the Public Service Agreements, despite the fact that Treasury Chief secretary Andrew Smith believed them to be too...
Knowsley Borough Council is facing legal action for compensation from the family of a boy killed by a mentally ill man who four days earlier had been deemed not to need social services support or...
Generic drugs manufacturers this week hit back at government allegations that they were 'ripping off' the NHS. Prices rose by a third between April and December last year while the number of generics...
The government is aiming to bring about up to 1,000 extra adoptions a year, with Prime Minister Tony Blair weighing in with a plea for a national register.
The government must introduce legislation to help improve adoption services and deliver a joined-up approach, the Local Government Association said this week.
The NHS should become a public corporation at arm's length from government, with its own board and operational freedom, according to a new commission of independent experts.
The NHS could save up to £53m a year by becoming more efficient at hip replacement operations, the National Audit Office said this week in a report which slams the huge variations in the standards...
Junior doctors have backed away from taking industrial action over pay and hours of work after a conference in Birmingham reluctantly endorsed a Department of Health package that could cost the NHS...
Just as the NHS is becoming accustomed to the government's burgeoning reform demands, the National Audit Office decides to roll up its sleeves and join the modernisation melee.
The Department of Health came under fire from the British Medical Association this week following claims that doctors had been misled over the distribution of cash designed to ease the burden on GPs...
Labour reaffirmed its faith in the Private Finance Initiative this week when local government minister Hilary Armstrong unveiled 14 new schemes, totalling £300m.
Auditor general Bob Black used last week's CIPFA Scottish branch conference to defend his controversial policy of not naming councils and NHS trusts that have performed badly in audit reports.
The NHS is struggling to cope with demand for diabetes services and faces a rising number of patients as the population ages, the Audit Commission warned this week.
Health Secretary Alan Milburn launched a countrywide consultation programme with NHS staff and patients this week and said it should lead to a new Beveridge report that will shape the health service...
The government launched a stinging attack on the quality of adoption services this week in what could be the first move to loosen local authorities' grip on social services.
The government has reacted strongly to an Audit Commission report which says disabled people are facing long waits for equipment that is often sub-standard or even useless.
