The trust that built the first major Private Finance Initiative hospital lacks leadership and has failed to meet the needs of the local community, according to reports this week.
Government ministers have conceded that they will not stand in the way of attempts to make the BBC more accountable to licence-payers.
MPs rejected proposals to open the corporation up to public...
A revised GP contract will put patients at the heart of NHS primary care services by ushering in a radical reform of the way practices are funded.
The proposed contract, published late last week,...
It's been a remarkably successful few weeks for London Mayor Ken Livingstone. His £2.7bn budget for 2003/04 was passed with surprisingly little opposition, while his controversial £5 congestion...
The government has stepped up its drive to recruit more nurses, doctors and health professionals by announcing that an additional £3.4bn is to be invested in 8,000 new training places in the NHS....
The National Union of Teachers has accused Education Secretary Charles Clarke of 'bully-boy' tactics after he declined an invitation to speak at its annual conference.
Clarke said the education...
Ofsted, the schools' inspectorate, has insisted that it will meet its March deadline to inspect and register all childminders and nurseries, despite a growing backlog of checks.
A spokeswoman told...
Councils and other public sector bodies are beefing up their risk management policies in the face of huge rises in insurance premiums.
They are also being forced to absorb larger excesses a...
Council tax increases in London and the Southeast are set to soar above 25% for the first time, fuelling allegations that the government has shifted significant resources to the Midlands and the...
Paul Boateng, the chief secretary to the Treasury, has been confirmed as the closing speaker at this year's CIPFA conference.
Other high-profile contributors include Charles Kennedy, the leader of...
A charity for the elderly has bitterly attacked a government U-turn on minimum environmental standards in care homes.
Ministers bowed to pressure from care-home owners and dropped key standards...
Local government minister Nick Raynsford has promised to continue paying for an expansion of councils' workforce training programmes providing a £27m pathfinder scheme launched this week is a success...
Charles Clarke's determination to force two councils to 'passport' education funds is nothing short of a unilateral declaration of independence against the rest of Whitehall, the chief executive of...
Unions launched a campaign this week to expand local government's deal to end the two-tier workforce into defence and health.
As the CBI and the Business Services Association savaged last week's...
Local authorities are locked in talks with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister over whether they should slash the discounts on offer to council tenants under the right to buy scheme.
Lower...
Labour's £6bn crusade to make the UK an e-government haven by 2005 is in danger of stalling because ministers have failed to encourage the fastest-growing section of the population older people...
The Refugee Council has welcomed a High Court ruling on February 19 which overturned attempts by the Home Office to bar late claimants for asylum from being eligible for shelter and food.
Home...
Holloway prison in north London continues to have a 'grossly inadequate' regime, despite showing signs of a commitment to tackle its problems, according to the latest report from inspectors.
Anne...
GPs were this week expected to be offered inflation-busting pay rises in return for signing a new contract.
An announcement was being made on February 21 on the new general medical services...
The government will propose delaying the imposition of fines on social service departments that delay discharges from hospital, following a crucial defeat in the House of Lords.
On February 17,...
Health Secretary Alan Milburn has overturned more than a decade of NHS thinking by giving small hospitals a new lease of life.
Many local cottage hospitals have closed as the health service sought...
? ??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...
New freedoms to enable patients to get speedier treatment must be backed up with extra support for elderly and vulnerable patients, according to Help the Aged.
This week Health Secretary Alan...
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 £...
Teachers will leave the profession if the government imposes the 2.9% pay rise recommended by the School Teachers' Review Body last week, the National Union of Teachers has warned.
The union...
