Local government is still plagued with 'severe' recruitment and retention problems that are placing unmanageable burdens on staff, forcing councils to privatise services because they cannot afford to...
Gordon Brown has the reputation of a chancellor who likes to spring surprises when he steps up to the dispatch box to deliver his Budget statement.
But this year the surprise came at the expense...
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...
The Welsh Assembly has said it will 'consider in depth' a National Audit Office recommendation to restructure the way its NHS directorate procures medicines, after auditors said it could save £50m a...
The British Medical Association and the NHS Confederation have been forced to revisit the funding formula for GP practices in the proposed new contract amid fears that family doctors could reject the...
Authorities rated 'excellent' will not have their council tax increases capped, despite rises of up to 45%, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister confirmed this week, with ministers apparently...
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 £...
? ??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...
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.
The government's use of public sector targets often referred to as 'targetitis' should reflect 'meaningful outcomes for those using and providing services', the chair of the Local Government...
The reorganisation of health services in Wales will improve co-operation between the NHS and councils, the Welsh Assembly's minister for health and social services claimed this week.
The NHS is facing a 'worrying' shortage of GPs following an increase in the number of vacancies over the last year, a doctors' leader warned this week.
Incentive payments for consultants who spend most of their time working for the NHS and a scheme to elevate junior doctors to consultant level earlier in their careers could form pillars of the...
Six cities have been named by Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell as contenders to be European Capital of Culture 2008, the year in which Britain is guaranteed the title.
Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff,...
The Office for National Statistics this week mounted a staunch defence of the way it compiled the 2001 census after fears about the data grew.
Members of the London Assembly are urging its budget...
The Local Government Association has condemned the government's plans to fine councils that delay patients' discharge from hospital as a 'spectacular own goal' that could cost some social services...
Both young and old British citizens have little interest in local politics, with more than half failing to vote in this year's council elections, a survey published to coincide with Local Democracy...