Next month's decision on seven planned NHS independent sector treatment centres will show whether the government is committed to reforming the service, the CBI said this week.
The centre of government has been given a make-over, with new policy advisers and even a permanent secretary at Number 10. But they're no nearer to finding Brown's big idea, says Tony Travers
A single Regional Health and Social Care Board is to be established in Northern Ireland, replacing four existing boards, Health Minister Michael McGimpsey has announced.
The Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health has urged the government to speed up the introduction of alternatives to prison for women in the criminal justice system.
The new Department for Children, Schools and Families, headed by secretary of state Ed Balls, is nothing if not ambitious, with a ten-year plan that encompasses all aspects of children's lives. But...
Britain must end its 'addiction' to the idea that choice and diversity in public services inevitably lead to inequalities, new Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has warned.
Scotland's groundbreaking policy of providing free personal and nursing care for elderly people was introduced without sufficient clarity about whether it was a universal entitlement or one dependent...
The government will find itself under pressure to top up public sector spending if it is to meet its policy commitments, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has predicted in its annual 'green budget'.
The public and NHS staff must adopt a 'zero tolerance' approach to infection if the recent reductions in MRSA and C difficile rates are to continue, the NHS Confederation said this week.
As Peter Hain reflects on the end of his ministerial career, he can at least console himself that he oversaw the re-establishment of devolved government in Northern Ireland.
NHS productivity is still falling by an average of 2% a year, despite the extra billions of pounds that have been pumped into the health service in recent years, official statistics have revealed.
Staff in Northern Ireland councils are 50% more likely to take sick leave than those who work for English local authorities, the Northern Ireland Audit Office has found.
Extra money for health, housing and higher education was announced by the Northern Ireland finance minister, the Democratic Unionists' Peter Robinson, as he finalises his Budget for 2008/09.
Public sector agencies are bearing the brunt of 'round-the-clock drinking and gambling'. But Gordon Brown seems to have lost his earlier resolve to reverse the newly liberalised laws. Peter...
Local authorities' health overview and scrutiny committees' powers should be strengthened but councillors and MPs should not decide which treatments are funded by the health service, the NHS...
Senior MPs have called for dementia to be afforded the same status in the NHS as cancer and coronary heart disease, to improve the poor rates of diagnosis, treatment and care.
A Department of Health survey has revealed widespread doubts among GPs that the government's flagship practice-based commissioning policy is making any difference to the way they work.
The government might offer money or other financial rewards to individuals to lead healthier lifestyles, under the £372m obesity strategy outlined this week.
Millions of pounds raised in council rents are set to be snatched from the housing subsidy system by the Treasury and used for general public expenditure.
