Government Health Policy/Sources

[ Home ] [ Up ] [ The Campaign ] [ Petitions ] [ Events index ] [ Health Policy ] [ Democracy ] [ The NHS ] [ Talks Letters & Articles ] [ Contacts and Further Reading ]
 

Valuing People. A New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century published March 2001.

• DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 97/371 Tuesday 2nd December 1997.  NHS SECRECY TO BE SWEPT ASIDE - ALAN MILBURN
• Marianne Rigge and Graham Lister lament the failure of the Government to come up with a workable Patient's Charter and point to a system in the Netherlands which we would do well to copy. Guardian Tuesday January 19, 1999
• NHS reforms will be accelerated, Milburn tells GPs. Colin Brown, The Independent, 14 October 1999.
• Milburn in NHS strategy U-turn. Andrew Grice, The Independent, 18 October 1999.
• Lives not lists are new NHS target. . The Times, 18 October 1999.
• New setback for Government over hospital waiting times. Colin Brown, The Independent, 19 October 1999.
• Cancer 'tsar' is given powers to shake up NHS. Colin Brown, The Independent, 25 October 1999.
• Senior doctors face annual checks. Colin Brown, The Independent, 12 November 1999.
• 1. Failing doctors face the sack. 2. One in 10 doctors fails to hit waiting list goal.. The Times, 12 November 1999.
• Cure for your ills at NHS online .. The Observer, 5 December 1999
• The health secretary, Alan Milburn, will insist that private nursing homes do far more than they now do to help elderly patients get better before he allows NHS managers to use the private sector to ease the hospital beds crisis. . Guardian, 2 May 2000
• Summary of reports in The Guardian, March 2000 about extra resources and need to change working practices in the NHS.
• Hospitals to receive cash rewards for cutting waiting lists. . Observer, 14 May 2000
• Hospital waiting lists have finally fallen by more than 100,000 since the last election, in accordance with Labour's most intractable election pledge, the health secretary, Alan Milburn, will announce today. . Guardian, 17 May 2000
• An end to waiting - that's a promise to the health service. Labour's revolutionary plan mustn't be dismissed as too good to be true. Guardian, 31 May 2000.
• Blair acts to abolish NHS waiting lists. Guardian, 31 May 2000
• Labour "insults and assaults" outrage doctors. Daily Mail, 6 June, 2000.
• Labour party members were told yesterday to support ministers' plans for radical reform of the National Health Service or watch its popularity sink beyond redemption. Guardian 7 June 2000
• Facing up to consultants The risk is it could endanger real reforms. Guardian leader 6 June 2000
• PM returns with call for change in NHS culture . Guardian 7 June 2000
• Early warning scheme to catch bad doctors . Guardian 12 June 2000
• Tony Blair is preparing to bring in private firms to run failing hospitals in a bid to end the postcode lottery of care.
• The Department of Health last week published what it called a "milestone report" on cancer nursing. Its first principle is that every patient should be attended by nurses who are "caring and competent". The ordeal of a close friend of mine suggests this is not always the case. Guardian 21 June 2000
• Ambitious targets for a drastic shrinking of hospital waiting times have been drawn up by government action teams preparing for the radical review of the NHS to be announced by Tony Blair next month. Guardian 23 June 2000
• The government's NHS review is considering selling cheap nicotine patches through supermarkets and newsagents as part of a drive to prevent avoidable illness in poor areas. Guardian 23 June 2000
• Tony Blair has said that by the end of next year, "Everyone who wants access to NHS dentistry can have it." This promise was made on May 17 in response to a parliamentary question. Can this target be met? Guardian 26 June 2000
• The government is preparing an attempt to depoliticise the National Health Service by passing key decisions about hospital mergers and bed places to an independent panel of doctors, nurses, managers and patient representatives. Guardian 30 June 2000
• The National Health Service (NHS) is heading towards its biggest restructuring since it was founded in 1948. Stand by for nervous pre-emptive strikes by medics, managers and ministers. The past few days have produced a flood of health-related stories. Time for some context. Guardian Leader 3 July 2000
• The government is preparing to unleash patient power in the NHS by giving patients' representatives a central role in a "modernisation board" to oversee radical reform of the service. Alan Milburn, the health secretary, will announce plans for the board tomorrow at a final meeting of the advisory teams that are preparing strategy for the national plan for health, due for publication this month. He is expected to promise patients' representatives a third of the seats on the board, to be known as the national council for the NHS. It will monitor implementation of the national plan and blow the whistle if it is being subverted by forces of conservatism in the health service. It would be the first time patients have had any direct power over delivery of services in hospitals and primary care providers. Guardian 4 July 2000
• Nurses will be offered express training to qualify as doctors under a plan to break down professional boundaries in the NHS that is due to be agreed today by the action teams preparing the government's overhaul of the health service. According to the confidential final report of the team investigating reform of the professions, the NHS will have to scrap traditional demarcation lines if it is to correct a serious skills shortage. In the long term, it recommends a single regulatory body for all the health professions, merging the powers of the General Medical Council and parallel bodies for nurses, therapists and social care workers. In the short term it wants to give greater responsibility for nurses, midwives and therapists to take decisions about patient care. Guardian 5 July 2000
• An outright ban on NHS consultants increasing their income through private work was proposed yesterday by the Commons health select committee as the long-term answer to unfairness in the health service. Guardian 7 July 2000
• A shake-up of social care services in England will be announced towards the end of this month by Alan Milburn, the health secretary. Although the final shape of the new regime is still under discussion in Whitehall, it seems certain that the outcome will involve an unequal trading of powers between the NHS and local authorities. Elected councillors will be allowed to commission a wider range of services for children, in return for abandoning their monopoly of control over the much larger and more costly range of social care services for mentally ill and elderly people. Guardian 12 July 2000
• The government is planning to offer a "health MoT" - a medical check-up free on the NHS - to everyone who retires, as part of its strategy to identify potential illnesses before they become serious. Guardian 12 July 2000
• Minister promises to tackle uneven quality of patient care around country, and to provide more doctors, nurses and beds. Guardian 14 July 2000
• Our remedies for health. Guardian Letters 25 July 2000.
• Tomorrow a new plan for the health service is laid before us. Charles Webster, official historian of the NHS, fears it may be just another botch job. Guardian 26 July 2000.
• Caring for the NHS. Guardian Letters 27 July 2000.
• In 1948, every dropped bedpan was to reverberate around Whitehall, according to Nye Bevan, the then health secretary. Yesterday, the NHS plan shifted that central accountability away from the government's corridors of power and out into hospital wards, GPs' surgeries, local authorities' chambers and even the patient's home.Guardian 28 July 2000.
• Labour stakes credibility on 5-year NHS revolution.Guardian 28 July 2000.
• Labour will today launch its summer campaign to turn back the tide of cynicism about the government with a health campaign designed to show how a cash boost of billions is improving health across the country.Guardian 1 August 2000.
• Plans for progressive merger of NHS and local authority responsibilities for social care were unveiled by Tony Blair last week in the national plan for the health service in England. But the outcome was not the "NHS takeover" that some in local government had feared. Ministers appear to be taking an evolutionary approach to strengthening partnerships between the NHS and social services departments, without downgrading the status of either. Even so, the evolution could be rapid: the first of a new generation of "care trusts" is intended to be in place by next year.Guardian 2 August 2000.
• The final NHS reforms. Consultants and care must be tackled.Guardian 28 August 2000.
• Milburn speech targets cancer and elderly patients Guardian 27 September 2000.
• One of the Government's most eminent advisers on the health service has admitted that patients will not have an NHS they can be proud of for another decade. Barry Jackson, president of the Royal College of Surgeons and a member of the Government's Modernisation Board, said change was so slow it would be 2010 before the public could be happy with the service they were getting. Observer 15 October 2000.
• A government initiative to smooth the path for thousands of medically qualified refugees to fill jobs in the NHS was announced yesterday. Guardian 3 November 2000.
• The government is to use £300 million of Lottery money to fund National Health Service projects to tackle heart disease, cancer and strokes. Observer 5 November 2000.
• The government is about to set up a nursing supply agency inside the NHS to provide tens of thousands of staff with opportunities for overtime or part time working to suit their family responsibilities. Tony Blair will today announce the founding of NHS Professionals to compete with private agencies that cost the health service £361m last year. Guardian 10 November 2000.
• A £3bn NHS hospital building programme announced yesterday will include 26 "fast-track" centres to speed up the treatment of non-urgent patients who often have their appointments cancelled. Guardian 16 February 2001.
• Alan Milburn, the health secretary, will today widen the gap between Labour and the Tories over the future of the health service when he unveils plans to ban newly qualified NHS consultants from working in the private sector. Guardian 21 February 2001.
• A golden handcuff scheme for hospital consultants was unveiled by ministers yesterday in an attempt to persuade the profession to commit more time to the NHS and less to private practice. Guardian 22 February 2001.
• NHS disputes need quick solution. Guardian Leader 24 February 2001.
• You say culturally sensitive mental health care is an issue that does not easily get on the NHS agenda (Society, February 21). In fact it is a top priority. The mental health task force, set up after publication of the NHS plan, is developing a strategy for services for ethnic minorities, drawing on the experiences of service users, voluntary organisations, clinicians and research. Guardian Letters 2 March 2001.
• Alan Milburn, the health secretary, said patients in nine areas would benefit from a guarantee of treatment within 28 days if their operation was cancelled on the appointed day for surgery. If the local NHS trust could not do the operation within that time, it would have to pay for treatment at the time and hospital of the patients' choice. The patients would be free to choose a private hospital and the NHS would have to pay. The nine pilot schemes will include three NHS trusts having problems with cancelled operations: Isle of Wight healthcare, North Middlesex University hospital and University of Coventry and Warwick Guardian 6 March 2001.
• Doctors and nurses face random testing for drink and drugs under radical plans being drawn up by the National Health Service. Observer 11 March 2001.
• Health and social care bill: the issue explained Guardian 12 March 2001.
• A golden handcuff scheme to keep GPs working until 65 and more generous bursaries to attract student nurses will be announced by the government today to address the staffing crisis in the NHS. Alan Milburn, the health secretary, will promise to spend £56m each year on a range of incentives to ensure that the NHS expansion plan is not derailed by labour shortages. Newly qualified GPs will get £5,000 golden hellos to work in "under doctored" areas in England where there are less than 52 GPs per 100,000 patients. Guardian 13 March 2001.
• Mental health NSF: the basics Guardian 13 March 2001.
• The mental health national service framework (NSF) sets out for the first time how services are expected to develop across the NHS, social care and independent sectors. Linda Steele and Sophie Petit-Zeman explain the main targets and milestones Guardian 13 March 2001.
• Doctors' and nurses' leaders yesterday welcomed government plans to spend £168m over the next three years on a package of golden hellos and loyalty bonuses to attract more staff to the health service. Guardian 14 March 2001.
• The Department of Health is struggling to come up with a workable methodology to establish how trusts will access its £250m performance fund this summer.
  Women managers are leaving the health service because they are hitting a careers "glass ceiling", a former NHS trust chief executive has claimed. Deputy health ombudsman Hilary Scott said that women still hold only 10% of senior clinical and managerial roles.
  The Modernisation Agency, the body tasked with overseeing the implementation of the NHS plan, is likely to adopt a "developmental" approach, distancing health service performance management from the "hit squad" approach. Health Service Journal Roundup 15 March 2001, Guardian 16 March 2001.
• Blair unveils £100m package for GPs David Batty The prime minister today pushed ahead with his ambitious primary care reforms, announcing plans to boost GP numbers and giving them more money and power in a bid to avert a damaging doctors' revolt in the run up to the general election. Tony Blair unveiled a £100m package of incentive bonuses for family doctors in England and Wales who meet locally agreed performance targets - an average of £10,000 per GP practice. He also promised 550 more GP training places - and a hint of more to come later this year - and an extension to the role of primary care trusts (PCTs) which will commission care on behalf of practices. Guardian Society Monday March 19, 2001
• NHS quality and performance: the issue explained Patrick Butler Guardian Society Tuesday March 20, 2001
• Analysis: the matron Guardian Society Wednesday April 4, 2001
• Millions of patients should get specialist treatment from GPs, nurses, therapists and pharmacists rather than face long waits to see hospital consultants in often chaotic outpatient departments, according to the NHS Confederation. Indeed, the body representing health authorities and trusts is urging "an end" to traditional outpatient services. The call comes with the launch this week in England of more than 100 primary care trusts with the power both to commission and provide health services. The confederation says this is an ideal opportunity to re-examine the way care is organised and delivered. Guardian 4 April 2001
• Health organisations, including the NHS confederation, are to be consulted on an "internal review" of the DoH. The review promises to look at finding "more creative ways of working" but says structural reform "is not the main emphasis". The Patient's Association called it "another navel gazing exercise." Health service journal round-up Publication date: April 19, Guardian Society Thursday April 19, 2001
• NHS to provide more genetic tests Guardian Society Thursday April 19, 2001
• Labour's NHS power shift John Carvel Guardian Society Wednesday April 25, 2001
• Milburn unveils NHS overhaul Patrick Butler Guardian Society Wednesday April 25, 2001
• How the new NHS will look Patrick Butler Guardian Society Wednesday April 25, 2001
• NHS abandons Stalinism Mr Milburn must prove his conversion Leader Guardian Unlimited Thursday April 26, 2001
• Today the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health launches its community and citizenship programme, jointly sponsored with the Department of Health. Working with many other organisations, we aim to focus on the way in which mental health design and organisation can more actively promote social inclusion at an individual and community level and fulfil a fresh vision of citizenship for people with mental health problems. Matt Muijen in Guardian Society Thursday April 26, 2001
• Shake-up in the surgery Richard Lewis on health service pioneers who are changing the public face of primary care - and the balance of power between doctors and nurses Guardian Wednesday May 9, 2001
• Computerised patient data is a vital part of healthcare and medical research. But as of last week, the health secretary can release records in the 'public interest' to any organisation without patients consenting or even knowing that this electronic information is being used. S A Mathieson reports. Guardian Society Thursday May 17, 2001
• A £100 million cash injection for maternity services to ensure every woman has one-to-one, continuous care with a midwife during labour was announced by health secretary Alan Milburn today. Guardian Society Wednesday May 2, 2001
• The clock is ticking for the government's NHS plans Five years is a relatively short time for Labour to successfully implement its myriad of reforms Guardian Society Friday June 8, 2001
• An influential Labour adviser admits that the hospitals are rotten, the schools patchy, the roads jammed, the tube a horror. The answer? We must start to pay through the nose Chris Powell Guardian Saturday June 9, 2001
• The health secretary, Alan Milburn, has formally killed off the government's much-criticised waiting list initiative, responding to criticisms from patients and doctors. Guardian Society Wednesday June 13, 2001
• Milburn shreds waiting list targets Guardian Thursday June 14, 2001
• NHS patients waiting more than a year for an operation will soon be given the right to demand immediate treatment in another hospital, under plans being prepared by Alan Milburn, the health secretary, to increase choice in the health service.  Guardian Society Friday November 16, 2001
• Pledge to end to postcode lottery for drugs. Sarah Boseley  Guardian Thursday December 6, 2001
• Minister plans to end outdated outpatient wait.   Guardian Society Monday December 31, 2001
• Milburn unveils hospital franchise plan.  Guardian Unlimited Tuesday January 15, 2002
• Highlights of Alan Milburn's speech on NHS reform. Guardian Unlimited Tuesday January 15, 2002
• Full text of Alan Milburn's speech to New Health Network.  Guardian Unlimited Tuesday January 15, 2002
• Visionary indeed, but where's the detail?  Guardian Wednesday January 16, 2002
• Tony Blair and his political opponents both raised the stakes in the controversy over Britain's public services yesterday after the prime minister accepted that his government may stand - or fall - on reform of the NHS.  Guardian Society Monday January 28, 2002
• Cancer patients are to be offered a list of essential questions they can ask their doctors and nurses to ensure they get the best treatment the NHS can offer.  Guardian Society Monday January 28, 2002
• Subtle significance of 'comprehensive' care.  Labour has admitted an historic truth: not all healthcare is free. But don't expect a radical policy overhaul on NHS charges yet, writes David Walker.  Guardian Society Friday February 8, 2002
• Ministers pave way for tobacco ads ban.  Deal on private member's bill means action is likely by this summer.  Guardian Society Friday February 15, 2002
• Cannabis derivative drugs may be made available to MS sufferers. Guardian Society Monday February 18, 2002
• Overseas staff plan for new fast track surgery.  Guardian Society Thursday February 21, 2002
• NHS to hire German surgeons.  Teams to perform 'conveyor belt' operations. Guardian  Society Friday February 22, 2002
•  The government performed a u-turn yesterday when it announced that sick pensioners will no longer have their benefits cut after the first six weeks of a hospital stay. Bowing to pressure from pensioner groups and MPs on all sides of the Commons, the pensions minister, Ian McCartney, said that patients would be able to claim benefits for the first 13 weeks of a hospital stay. Guardian Tuesday February 26, 2002
• Alcohol problem inflicts £3bn bill on NHS.  GPs urged to identify and help more excessive drinkers to cut down before they become ill.  Sarah Boseley, health editor Guardian Friday March 1, 2002
• NHS is best, insists Brown.  Health US, French and German funding rejected in ringing defence of UK system.  Michael White, political editor Guardian Thursday March 21, 2002
• Patient power deal for NHS.  Low-key arrival for 'watershed' reorganisation.  James Meikle, health correspondent Guardian Monday April 1, 2002
• Health matters. Why the Tories would wreck the NHS.  Leader Guardian Tuesday April 2, 2002
• Primary concerns.  Malcolm Dean Guardian Wednesday April 3, 2002
• David Brindle on the unheralded launch of four pioneer care trusts designed to integrate health and social care.  Guardian Wednesday April 10, 2002
• Nicotine drug could be free on NHS.  Government watchdog believes move may double the number who quit smoking, which kills 300 a day.  James Meikle, health correspondent Guardian Friday April 12, 2002
• 'Why is the government obsessed with hospitals?' Graham Peck, a manager of community nursing services in south London, has seen no sign of promised new grassroots funding.  Guardian Society Friday April 12, 2002
• Labour's five year health check.  Anna Coote of the King's Fund assesses Labour's health record after five years of hyperactive change. Will the politicians realise that saving the NHS will mean learning to let go?  Observer.co.uk Sunday April 14, 2002
• The Wanless NHS has a moral heart.  Who is going to push through Derek Wanless' rather optimistic vision of the NHS, asks David Walker, certainly not the callow Alan Milburn or the uninspiring Nigel Crisp.  David Walker Society Wednesday April 17, 2002
• Can the NHS deliver?  Labour has learned from Europe.  Leader Guardian Friday April 19, 2002
• Millions more will be spent on the NHS in the next few years. But what will the money buy? In the second part of the Guardian's long-term investigation into the state of public services, we look at the vast array of targets the government has set the health service in exchange for more money - and ask if, and how, they will be met in Enfield.  David Walker Guardian Tuesday April 23, 2002
• Patients who miss appointments at surgeries and hospital outpatient clinics might face fines within three years, the government confirmed.  James Meikle, health correspondent Guardian Thursday May 2, 2002
• More medicines to be sold over counter.  James Meikle Guardian Thursday May 2, 2002
• Full text of Alan Milburn's speech to the NHS Confederation.  The health secretary addresses the 2002 annual conference in Harrogate.  Society Friday May 24, 2002
• What's in this big issue? Society Thursday June 6, 2002
• 'Non-spin' mental health bill expected.  David Batty Guardian Monday June 24, 2002
• Green light for schizophrenia drugs.  James Meikle, health correspondent Guardian Friday June 7, 2002
• The case for compulsion.  Letters Friday June 28, 2002 The Guardian
• Chickenpox vaccine available for first time.  James Meikle, health correspondent Guardian Wednesday July 31, 2002
• Mental health on the psychiatrists' couch.  Guardian letters Thursday August 1, 2002
• Why NHS reforms are hard for Labour.  Guardian Friday August 9, 2002
• Hunt for 200,000 hepatitis C carriers.  Stealthy killer targeted in health action.  James Meikle, health correspondent Thursday August 15, 2002 The Guardian
• Britain to import US blood plasma.  James Meikle, health correspondent Friday August 16, 2002 The Guardian
• Milburn retreats on care home standards.  John Carvel, social affairs editor Tuesday August 20, 2002 The Guardian
• What next for public services reform?  SocietyGuardian.co.uk staff Tuesday October 1, 2002
• Milburn pledges more ambitious reforms.  Simon Parker in Blackpool Wednesday October 2, 2002
• An official blueprint for the introduction of radical changes to the NHS and social services over the next three years, including the establishment of self-governing foundation hospital trusts and an expansion in the number of private health providers, emerged today.  Patrick Butler Wednesday October 2, 2002
•  The NHS is to promise patients that they will be able to veto having their medical details passed on to researchers, but only when the system has been fully computerised.  James Meikle, health correspondent Tuesday October 8, 2002 The Guardian
• Social services departments will be broken up into separate units for children and older people, under a plan for local government reform announced yesterday by Alan Milburn, the health secretary. John Carvel, social affairs editor Thursday October 17, 2002 The Guardian
• Milburn plans complete social services overhaul.  David Batty Wednesday October 16, 2002
• Listening to patients must be the priority.  Professor Mike Richards, the Government's 'Cancer Tsar', outlines plans for tackling the disease.  Sunday November 17, 2002 The Observer
• Attempts to update the "paternalistic" and "monolithic" 1945 welfare state with "modern", consumer-orientated and devolved public services is perhaps New Labour's toughest second term political challenge. Monday November 18, 2002
• Modernising mental health services has become one of the government's top three priorities for the NHS. Monday November 18, 2002
• Integrating health and social services lies at the heart of the government's plans to modernise the management and delivery of social care. Monday November 18, 2002
• Prime minister insists that genuine equality can only be brought about by offering the poor greater diversity.  Michael White, Martin Kettle, Polly Toynbee and Patrick Wintour Friday December 20, 2002 The Guardian
• National diabetes plan launched.  Patrick Butler Thursday January 9, 2003
• Delivering on delivery. Labour's NHS pledges are in danger Leader Monday January 13, 2003 The Guardian
• Two health initiatives were reported yesterday - the first, a restructured GP contract, could revitalise primary care; the second, an expansion of foundation hospitals, is an unwanted diversion.  Leader Saturday February 22, 2003 The Guardian
• NHS hospitals forced to compete for patients.  John Carvel, social affairs editor Thursday March 6, 2003 The Guardian
• Over 300 new primary care trusts have been created to target healthy living by directing medical resources to the front line. Peter Hetherington talks to health secretary Alan Milburn. Wednesday March 26, 2003 The Guardian
• All hospitals will have to provide dedicated units for children admitted to casualty under a new national strategy unveiled today by the health secretary, Alan Milburn, to improve the quality of care for young people. David Batty Thursday April 10, 2003
• Thousands of people with chronic illnesses are taking part in an NHS programme designed to make them experts in their own condition. Donald Hiscock Wednesday April 30, 2003 The Guardian
• Smokers and overweight people will be asked to sign contracts with their doctors to agree a programme to quit smoking and lose weight under radical plans being drawn up by the government. Nicholas Watt, political correspondent Tuesday June 3, 2003 The Guardian
• Plans for patients to sign up to healthier lifestyles in return for NHS care were today branded as patronising and humiliating by patient organisations and public health experts. David Batty Tuesday June 3, 2003
• Reform will bring equality to public services - Blair. Matthew Tempest and agencies Tuesday June 17, 2003
• Full text: Blair's Fabian speech (part 1)  (part 2).  Speech by the prime minister, Tony Blair, to a Fabian Society conference, the Old Vic theatre, London Tuesday June 17, 2003
• Tony Blair launched a powerful defence of his programme for public service reform yesterday, against what he dismissed as the twin threats of reactionary cynicism on the right and hostility to pragmatic reform among critics on the political left. Michael White, political editor Wednesday June 18, 2003 The Guardian
• Labour's own five tests of success. Wednesday June 18, 2003 The Guardian
• The government's little-debated plans to extend patient choice will have a much greater impact on the future of the health service in England than will the proposal for foundation hospitals that triggered a full-scale Labour revolt in the Commons, according to a Mori poll today on the views of NHS chief executives. Wednesday June 25, 2003 The Guardian
• Reid ready to continue battle over NHS modernisation. Patrick Butler in Glasgow Thursday June 26, 2003
• The health secretary's speech to the NHS Confederation's annual conference in Glasgow today. Thursday June 26, 2003
• Eradicating waiting lists 'could transform NHS'. Tash Shifrin in Glasgow Friday June 27, 2003
• Dr Reid's diagnosis. Now he must talk to NHS consultants. Leader Friday June 27, 2003 The Guardian
• The head of the NHS, Sir Nigel Crisp, has ordered a crackdown on unnecessary bureaucracy in the health service as latest figures revealed that the percentage growth in the number of managers had outstripped that of nurses and doctors within a year. Patrick Butler and Tash Shifrin in Glasgow Friday June 27, 2003
• On Friday Bill Clinton, Gerhard Schröder, Thabo Mbeki and 300 other 'Third Way' politicians and thinkers will be welcomed by Tony Blair to a 'progressive governance' conference at the London School of Economics. Those of us who tried to follow the Third Way's meanderings in the last century will feel a weary nostalgia, and an astonishment that the old humbug can be spouted with straight faces after all these years. Nick Cohen Sunday July 6, 2003 The Observer
• Rebels without a cause. Hospitals are not the big issue in the NHS. Leader Tuesday July 8, 2003 The Guardian
• Drug addicts are to receive sterile utensils on the NHS to minimise the risk of infection from dirty needles, ministers said today. Wednesday July 9, 2003
• Despite the success of a pilot project that sent prescriptions to pharmacies electronically, the government has no plans to move to a national system. SA Mathieson reports. Thursday July 10, 2003 The Guardian
• The first official NHS guidance requiring doctors to advise patients to change their lifestyles was published yesterday. James Meikle, health correspondent Thursday July 24, 2003 The Guardian
• The NHS is about to standardise its computer systems for the first time. Michael Cross reports. Thursday July 31, 2003 The Guardian
• A shakeup of NHS dentistry aimed at ending the politically embarrassing shortages of state services in parts of England and Wales were unveiled by the government yesterday. James Meikle, health correspondent Wednesday August 13, 2003 The Guardian
• All couples who have unsuccessfully tried for a baby for two years should have a right to three complete cycles of fertility treatment on the NHS, according to draft guidelines published today, potentially ending heartbreak for many - but at huge financial cost. Sarah Boseley, health editor Tuesday August 26, 2003 The Guardian
• John Reid, the health secretary, has embarked on the biggest ever programme of ministerial visits to NHS hospitals to persuade staff to accept fundamental changes in working practices to improve the service to patients. John Carvel, social affairs editor Friday August 29, 2003 The Guardian
• In this week's email exchange, Dr Simon Fishel and Catherine Bennett discuss proposals to make fertility treatment available on the NHS. Saturday August 30, 2003
• No, it's not privatisation. John Reid Friday September 12, 2003 The Guardian
• The health secretary, John Reid, will today hit back at leading Labour thinktanks which have claimed that the party has lost its way, and will insist the government is bent on a radical extension of equity by offering greater choice in the public services. Patrick Wintour, chief political correspondent Wednesday September 17, 2003 The Guardian
• John Reid, the health secretary, will today give his seal of approval to plans for the NHS to import methods used by private healthcare corporations in the US to reduce patients' stays in hospital by as much as two-thirds. John Carvel, social affairs editor Thursday October 23, 2003 The Guardian
• US prescription is wrong. Letters Monday October 27, 2003 The Guardian
• The health secretary, John Reid, yesterday urged NHS consultants to stop sending "doctor to doctor" letters about their patients' diagnoses and treatments and to write explanatory letters to the patient first. Michael White, political editor Saturday November 8, 2003 The Guardian
• The role of complementary therapies such as fish oils, reflexology and t'ai chi in treating disease are recognised for the first time in official NHS guidance published today. James Meikle, health correspondent Tuesday November 25, 2003 The Guardian
• Health minister Rosie Winterton today launched a government campaign to encourage the public to consider going further afield than their local casualty department for treatment.  Tash Shifrin Friday January 16, 2004
• New services to support people with chronic fatigue syndrome will be set up across the country, the health minister, Stephen Ladyman, announced today.  Tash Shifrin Tuesday January 20, 2004
• The government yesterday began the first concerted attempt to provide NHS treatment and support for an estimated 240,000 patients suffering from ME and chronic fatigue syndrome, the debilitating condition that used to be dismissed as "yuppie flu". John Carvel Wednesday January 21, 2004 The Guardian
• The government has given itself five years to relinquish the bulk of decision making in the NHS to its frontline staff, the NHS's chief executive, Nigel Crisp, said yesterday. Helene Mulholland Thursday January 29, 2004 The Guardian
• Rule one of reforming the NHS: don't load more work on to doctors. Rule two: especially GPs. Rule three: never forget rules one and two. And there lies the single biggest obstacle to the government's multi-billion-pound NHS IT upgrade.  Michael Cross Thursday February 12, 2004 The Guardian
• John Reid is so determined to combine the "fundamental principle of collective provision of healthcare" with a personalised service that addresses each patient's need that he wants to see personal advisers working in GPs' surgeries to explain various NHS treatments. Patrick Wintour and Michael White Monday February 16, 2004 The Guardian
• NHS accident and emergency staff are being given a phrasebook to help them communicate with the increasing number of patients who speak little or no English.  James Meikle, health correspondent Thursday February 19, 2004 The Guardian
• A £1.5m pilot scheme to provide people with a family history of cancer with genetic tests to gauge their risk of developing the disease was launched by the government today.  Friday February 20, 2004
• Acupuncturists and herbalists are to be regulated by the government and barred from practising if they fail to meet professional standards, under plans announced yesterday by John Hutton, the health minister. John Carvel Wednesday March 3, 2004 The Guardian
• John Reid, the health secretary, will promise a new deal today for 17.5 million people with chronic diseases, such as diabetes and asthma, to cut the cost and distress of emergency admissions to hospital.  John Carvel, social affairs editor Thursday March 11, 2004 The Guardian
• Caring and curing.  Leader Thursday March 11, 2004 The Guardian
• Plans to cut the number of emergency hospital admissions by enabling people with chronic diseases, such as diabetes and asthma, to better manage their own care were announced by the health secretary, John Reid, today. The government will set up a network of specialist primary care teams to provide a more personal and joined up approach to managing chronic conditions, the minister told the Guardian conference in Birmingham. David Batty Thursday March 11, 2004
• The health secretary, John Reid, has decided to scrap the flagship agency responsible for improving the NHS, the Department of Health announced today. The decision to axe the Modernisation Agency (MA), three years after it was first set up, follows a wholesale review of staffing levels within the mammoth department last year by Mr Reid. Helene Mulholland Thursday March 11, 2004
• The health secretary, John Reid, said today that the extra money for medical research unveiled in the budget would be used to improve treatments for Alzheimer's disease, strokes, diabetes and mental illness, as well as new medicines for children. New national research networks that will coordinate research into treatments and cures for Alzheimer's, strokes and diabetes, and developing drugs for children, will be established across England by the Department of Health.  David Batty Monday March 22, 2004
• An extra £100m in government spending on medical research is to be channelled towards Alzheimer's disease, stroke, diabetes and mental health, John Reid, the health secretary, said yesterday. John Carvel Tuesday March 23, 2004 The Guardian
• Use of the NHS patient identity number is set to become compulsory - nearly a decade after the 10-digit number was first introduced. Michael Cross Wednesday March 24, 2004 The Guardian
• NHS patients may become the first in the world to benefit from a new 24-hour heart disease treatment service, the health secretary, John Reid, said today. Mr Reid said that he plans to invest £1m in examining the possibility of hospitals offering to heart patients round the clock angioplasty, a procedure to clear blocked arteries.  Debbie Andalo and agencies Wednesday March 24, 2004
• Women who want to give birth by caesarean section rather than undergoing labour will no longer automatically get their wish, under guidelines produced yesterday for the NHS. Those who are frightened of the pain of childbirth or are "too posh to push" will be offered counselling and detailed information on caesarean births. The risks involved in the procedure are no less and in some respects are greater than those involved in a natural delivery. Sarah Boseley, health editor Wednesday April 28, 2004 The Guardian
• New medical techniques that could save thousands of women the pain and misery of a hysterectomy were recommended today by health watchdogs. Women suffering from heavy periods should be offered the option of microwave endometrial ablation - sometimes referred to as the three-minute hysterectomy - according to guidance from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice). Another technique - fluid-filled thermal balloon endometrial ablation - was also recommended for use in the NHS in England and Wales after both methods were judged to be effective on both clinical and cost grounds by the watchdog last year. Wednesday April 28, 2004
• Patients who suffer unpleasant or unexpected side-effects from a medicine are for the first time to be allowed to report it themselves directly to the body which licenses and regulates pharmaceutical drugs in the UK. Sarah Boseley, health editor Wednesday May 5, 2004 The Guardian
• The government has told NHS hospitals to return to the values of Florence Nightingale by introducing strict mealtime discipline on the wards to ensure that patients eat their food. Health ministers want nurses to adopt procedures trialled at King's College hospital in London where doctors and visitors are kept out of the wards during meals to let patients eat without interruption. John Carvel, social affairs editor Thursday May 13, 2004 The Guardian
• The routine six-monthly dental check-up urged on NHS patients is finally on the way out after years in which its value has been questioned. Adults will instead be asked to return in between three months and two years, depending on dentists' assessment of their oral health. Children will have a maximum of a year between appointments. James Meikle, health correspondent Friday May 21, 2004 The Guardian
• Labour scrapped GP fundholding. Now it is set for a comeback, says Malcolm Dean. Wednesday June 2, 2004 The Guardian
• The government is to join forces with the Disability Rights Commission in a new initiative to ensure disabled people are given fair treatment by the NHS. David Callaghan Thursday June 10, 2004
• What they are offering: health. Patrick Wintour Thursday June 24, 2004 The Guardian
• John Reid, the health secretary, will today unveil a five-year NHS improvement plan extending patient choice and giving more weight to the treatment of chronic conditions such as diabetes and asthma. His rhetoric will be about choice - or, as he prefers to call it, patient empowerment. John Carvel, social affairs editor Thursday June 24, 2004 The Guardian
• The health secretay, John Reid, today told health service leaders he was "pressing a foot on the accelerator" of reform with the launch of his NHS improvement plan. Tash Shifrin in Birmingham Thursday June 24, 2004
• NHS leaders have welcomed the NHS improvement plan announced by the health secretary, John Reid, but warned that it largely ignored mental health. David Callaghan Thursday June 24, 2004
• Government anxiety that the public remains unconvinced the NHS is improving permeates its new health plan - it contains far less than meets the eye, says Peter Davies. Friday June 25, 2004
• A shift to set health service targets locally will "separate the minister from the bedpan", the NHS chief executive, Sir Nigel Crisp, told health service leaders today. Tash Shifrin in Birmingham Friday June 25, 2004
• Health ministers have persuaded David Blunkett, the home secretary, to water down proposals in the mental health bill that would have allowed the compulsory treatment of potentially dangerous people who had committed no crime. John Carvel, social affairs editor Thursday August 19, 2004 The Guardian
• The government is to announce an overhaul of the regulation of dentists tomorrow in an effort to tackle poor performance and improve protection for patients. The health minister, Rosie Winterton, is expected to formally launch a consultation on a series of measures that will also require private dentists to make clear how much treatment will cost, and give patients written treatment plans and itemised bills. The proposals will modernise the General Dental Council (GDC), which regulates dentists, and give it powers to tackle poor performance by dental professionals. Tash Shifrin Thursday August 19, 2004
• Patients with non-urgent conditions who dial 999 will no longer automatically be sent an ambulance, health minister Rosie Winterton announced today. The national target response times for "category C" 999 calls, which cover conditions that are not immediately life threatening or serious, will be axed. Tash Shifrin Thursday August 19, 2004
• People with minor ailments will no longer have the right to call an ambulance by dialling 999, the government yesterday in an attempt to curb the missuse of the emergency service. Local NHS organisations in England will be given the freedom to work out alternative responses for patients calling in with non-urgent medical problems such as a cut finger or earache. John Carvel, social affairs editor Friday August 20, 2004 The Guardian
• Dentists welcome regulation reform. Tash Shifrin Friday August 20, 2004
• Pregnant women will have the right to a Caesarean birth on the NHS even if there is no medical reason for it, say government experts who have backtracked from plans to restrict the operations. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) has issued a clarification of a recommendation it sent out earlier this year, which was aimed at curbing the soaring rates of Caesareans. It told patients' groups that a woman's decision should be respected, even if two doctors disagree with her request for a Caesarean.  Jo Revill, health editor Sunday August 22, 2004 The Observer.
• Millions more people with hypertension will be put on tablets to reduce their blood pressure, in an effort to cut deaths from strokes and heart disease. New guidance for treatment on the NHS in England and Wales should mean far more patients being routinely tested and monitored, as well as an increase in the number of drugs each patient takes to control the condition. James Meikle, health correspondent Wednesday August 25, 2004 The Guardian
• The NHS has been sitting on a pool of ideas. Now, writes Juliet Rix, it is realising the potential of staff, from porters to consultants, to improve healthcare and bring in commercial gains. Thursday September 9, 2004 The Guardian
• Q&A Draft mental health bill. A second draft of the controversial mental health bill was published yesterday. David Batty explains. Thursday September 9, 2004
• The government must clarify what it aims to achieve with such broad definitions in the revised draft mental health bill, write Rowena Daw and Tony Zigmond. Friday September 10, 2004
• Risk factor. Letters  Saturday September 11, 2004 The Guardian
• A network of walk-in health centres for commuters who find it difficult to consult their home GP during working hours was announced by the health secretary, John Reid, yesterday. He said the more customer-friendly NHS that Labour will promise at the next election will include walk-in centres in London, Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester where busy working people will be able to get immediate access to the full range of GP services. John Carvel, social affairs editor Thursday September 30, 2004 The Guardian
• New era for NHS dentistry. James Meikle Wednesday October 27, 2004 The Guardian
• Commuters will be able to get free medical attention on their way to and from work at a chain of NHS walk-in centres to be built near city-centre stations, the government announced yesterday. John Hutton, the health minister, said the first seven centres would open in the spring in London, Newcastle, Manchester and Leeds at a cost of £25m over the first three years. John Carvel, social affairs editor Thursday November 4, 2004
• Independent researchers cast doubt today on government plans to put NHS resources into a US company's scheme to keep older people out of hospital, which is being promoted by a former adviser to Tony Blair. John Reid, the health secretary, has promised to appoint 3,000 community matrons in England to help older people with chronic conditions such as diabetes and asthma. The aim is to reduce emergency hospital admissions by 5% next year. John Carvel, social affairs editor Tuesday November 30, 2004 The Guardian
• The government today announced the locations of seven new NHS walk-in centres which will be based near busy railway stations in an effort to serve commuters. Debbie Andalo and agencies Thursday January 6, 2005
• The biggest dentistry changes in NHS history have been delayed for six months because local managers are not ready for the shakeup, the government conceded yesterday. John Reid, the health secretary, said more time was needed to ensure the effectiveness of the reforms, designed to help end the dearth of state-funded dentists in some parts of England. Ministers are negotiating new arrangements with the profession which would replace the "drill and fill" system of payments for treatment by dentists, who are not NHS employees, with one that rewards practices for seeing more patients and giving more disease prevention advice. James Meikle, health correspondent Tuesday January 11, 2005 The Guardian
• NHS patients are to be asked whether they want intimate details of their personal medical history to be included in a new national electronic database that can be accessed by GPs, paramedics and hospital staff throughout England. Those worried the information could be abused will be entitled to have it removed from the system or placed in an electronic "sealed envelope", to be opened only in a dire emergency, John Hutton, the health minister, said yesterday. However, patients restricting access to their records in this way ran the risk of clinical staff making mistakes in an emergency through lack of relevant information about previous medical conditions or allergic reactions. John Carvel, social affairs editor Friday January 14, 2005 The Guardian
• Choice is key for the NHS.  Letter from John Reid Thursday February 3, 2005 The Guardian
• Family doctors must take steps to identify everyone at high risk of developing chronic kidney disease and ensure they maintain good health, under a strategy to overhaul NHS renal care published today. David Batty Thursday February 3, 2005
• Doubt cast on health scheme for the elderly. John Carvel, social affairs editor Friday February 4, 2005 The Guardian
• Funding for local health services in England is going up by at least 8.1% from next year, the health secretary, John Reid, announced today. But the increases will be even higher in 88 deprived areas where cases of heart disease and lung cancer are high and life expectancy is low, he said. Wednesday February 9, 2005
• Ministers today pledged faster diagnosis and treatment for millions of people with long-term conditions such as multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. The 10-year national service framework (NSF) for long-term conditions promises patients with neurological conditions - such as Parkinson's disease, motor neurone disease, epilepsy and MS - personal care plans and better care and support in the community. David Batty Thursday March 10, 2005
• The health minister Stephen Ladyman has intervened in the growing row over plans by NHS advisers to stop the routine prescription of four drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease. James Meikle, health correspondent Monday March 14, 2005 The Guardian
• Improper pronouncements by ministers are threatening one of Labour's most important reforms of the health system. Ironically, they are also going to make life considerably more difficult for themselves. What is at stake is the independence of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice). Leader Tuesday March 15, 2005 The Guardian
• The government today faced renewed calls to scrap its proposed reforms of mental health law after they were condemned as draconian by MPs and peers. The joint committee on the draft mental health bill warned that the proposed legislation would erode civil liberties by imposing compulsory treatment on people who had done no wrong and would not benefit from it.  David Batty and agencies Wednesday March 23, 2005
• The government made a U-turn yesterday to avoid a crisis in its £6.2bn IT programme for the NHS by changing rules that limit the choice of computer systems available to GPs. John Hutton, the health minister, was threatened with a mutiny of family doctors, who were told last year to prepare to abandon the Emis computer system, which most use. John Carvel, social affairs editor Thursday March 24, 2005 The Guardian
• GPs will provide a wider range of services, taking in areas which were once the preserve of traditional hospital care under government plans unveiled today. The health secretary, John Reid, outlined government plans to shift routine care traditionally delivered in secondary care settings, such as medical tests, and treatment for diabetes, asthma and arthritis, to the primary care frontline under new GP contracting arrangements. Hélène Mulholland Tuesday March 29, 2005
• The second draft of the controversial mental health bill has been condemned by a parliamentary committee. David Batty fills in the background.  Tuesday March 29, 2005
• By September it will be seven years since the government began attempts to reform mental health law to introduce compulsory treatment in the community. Following the report last week of a pre-legislative scrutiny committee of MPs and peers, who evidently did not think very much of the latest draft bill, things seem scarcely any further forward. Where do we go from here? The coming general election offers an opportunity for reflection and, in the event of another Labour victory, quiet burial of the big-bang approach to reform. Instead, (presumably) new ministers should take a deep breath, revisit the 1983 Mental Health Act (since amended), and consider how it could be modified further to meet their main objectives. Wednesday March 30, 2005 The Guardian
• The recent news that drugs for treating Alzheimer's patients should be discontinued isn't as controversial as you might think, argues Oliver James. Sunday April 10, 2005 The Observer
• Nurses have given the government the thumbs down over its NHS reforms, claiming it has failed to improve patient care, according to a poll published today. Hélène Mulholland Tuesday April 26, 2005
• The health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, today promised that an overhaul of family doctors, dentists and pharmacists will be central to the forthcoming white paper on personalised healthcare. David Batty Thursday May 19, 2005
• A shake-up of GP services will be included in a white paper on reform of primary healthcare to be published before the end of the year. Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, yesterday called for a period of intense public debate about "family health services", a term coined in the Department of Health to show GPs do not have a monopoly on caring for patients in the community. John Carvel Friday May 20, 2005 The Guardian
• Hundreds of women's lives will be lost to breast cancer unless the government fast-tracks approval for a drug which has had spectacular results in beating the disease, say specialists. Herceptin is already being used to prolong survival in the one in five women with advanced breast cancer who carry a particular genetic flaw that produces a protein known as HER2. But results from a new study show that it also doubles the chances of survival of women with the gene in the early stages of breast cancer. Jo Revill, health editor Sunday May 22, 2005 The Observer
• Cancer drug must be fast-tracked. Leader Sunday May 22, 2005 The Observer
• Cancer patients may be dying because of delays in making new medicines available within the NHS, it was claimed yesterday. CancerBacup, which offers advice and support to patients, yesterday issued a list of 12 drugs which it argues have been held up because of delays in getting approval for universal use in the NHS. But the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), which appraises drugs for NHS use, said CancerBacup's dossier was "misleading" because some drugs, such as Herceptin for breast cancer, were not yet licensed and could not be assessed. Sarah Boseley, health editor Thursday May 26, 2005 The Guardian
• Collaboration is as vital as competition in the next stage of NHS reform, says Chris Ham. Wednesday June 8, 2005 The Guardian
• Paul Corrigan, the special adviser who made foundation hospitals a reality, tells John Carvel what went right and what went wrong in his four years at the health department. Wednesday June 15, 2005 The Guardian
• Doctors and nurses are threatening the success of NHS reforms, health service managers heard today. Dame Gill Morgan, chief executive of managers' organisation the NHS Confederation, told the confederation's annual conference in Birmingham that frontline staff were not "fully engaged" with the government's reform agenda, and could undermine overall success. Hélène Mulholland in Birmingham Wednesday June 15, 2005
• The head of the NHS signalled plans today to reduce the number of primary care trusts as part of an overhaul designed to improve the commissioning of services. Speaking earlier this afternoon to NHS managers at the NHS confederation's annual conference, Sir Nigel Crisp told delegates that poor practice and governance in the NHS "can't go on" before going on to announce the decision to streamline PCTs. Hélène Mulholland Thursday June 16, 2005
• The NHS is preparing to replace up to half its ambulance fleet with people carriers under plans for a radical shake-up of the service in England to be announced by ministers next week. Fully-crewed ambulances would continue to respond to emergencies, but people carriers driven by solo "emergency care practitioners" would be used for less urgent cases. The plans were disclosed today by Health Service Journal, which suggested that the government was looking for ways to divert 1 million patients a year from accident and emergency departments. John Carvel, social affairs editor Wednesday June 22, 2005 The Guardian
• A radical shake-up of primary care to make GP surgeries more flexible and patient friendly, including the prospect of specialist GP surgeries for teenagers, is to be outlined today by the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt. People could also register with GPs near their workplace rather than their home as a better reflection of modern lifestyles. Family doctors would also be given greater autonomy to order diagnostic scans rather than having to refer to a hospital. Patrick Wintour, chief political correspondent Thursday June 23, 2005 The Guardian
• The maximum price for a course of NHS dental treatment is to be cut by more than half to £183 under reforms announced yesterday by Rosie Winterton, the health minister. She said patients would no longer be recommended to go for a simple check-up every six months. At present this costs about £6 a visit, with extra charges for scaling and polishing or x-rays. Those with healthy teeth would be advised to attend once every 18 months or two years, paying £15 for a complete package of preventive dental work. John Carvel, social affairs editor Friday July 8, 2005 The Guardian
• The NHS is introducing a new form of healthcare rationing by weeding out patients from hospital waiting lists who could be treated more cheaply by local GPs. A scheme to veto "unnecessary" outpatient appointments was introduced in April at Hammersmith hospital in London and is about to be extended to other NHS trusts. It challenges the well-established right of consultants to refer patients to colleagues with appropriate skills. John Carvel, social affairs editor Thursday July 21, 2005 The Guardian
• The anti-viral drug being stockpiled to combat bird flu will not be used to prevent the disease spreading. Ministers have decided it will be given only to people who are already infected and whose health is in serious danger. The move has surprised experts working on plans to combat the anticipated pandemic of the disease. They had expected it would be given out in the early stages of any outbreak to prevent the disease from spreading. But ministers decided against this move because they fear the nation's entire stocks of Tamiflu, or oseltamivir, would be used up within days if given as soon as people were exposed to the virus. Jo Revill, health editor Sunday July 24, 2005 The Observer
• Patients forced to wait more than a year for diagnostic scans will be seen within six months under new plans to tackle hidden 'black holes' on NHS waiting lists. Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, said it was 'just not acceptable' that some people were having to wait so long to find out what was wrong with them. Body scanners can help diagnose serious conditions, from epilepsy to heart disease. From November, anyone forced to wait more than 20 weeks for a routine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computerised tomography (CT) scan at a local hospital will be able to choose either to go to a private hospital free of charge or to another NHS hospital. The government will guarantee that they will be treated within six weeks. Gaby Hinsliff, political editor Sunday July 24, 2005 The Observer
• Patients facing lengthy waits for non-urgent health scans will have the chance to go to another hospital to help speed diagnosis, the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, said yesterday. By April next year, the maximum wait should be no more than 20 weeks under a phased programme designed to get rid of bottlenecks before GPs can refer patients for hospital treatment. James Meikle, health correspondent Tuesday July 26, 2005 The Guardian
• Walk-in surgeries where patients can see nurses or GPs from early in the morning until 10pm, including at weekends, are planned under pilot schemes to widen NHS services outside hospitals. Local care for diabetes, asthma and arthritis and more regular visits to nursing and residential homes will also be funded under moves to address problems in some areas where there are not enough family doctors. Six primary care trusts, responsible for delivering care outside hospitals in Liverpool, Lancashire, Plymouth, Yorkshire, and two areas of east London, were the first to win government backing. Another 15 are expected to follow. James Meikle, health correspondent Tuesday July 26, 2005 The Guardian
• White papers urge better integration of social care and health. John Carvel Wednesday July 27, 2005 The Guardian
• Women undergoing IVF treatment may be restricted to having only one embryo implanted at a time in an effort to reduce the number of multiple births. Regulators of fertility treatment are reviewing whether Britain should follow other European countries in making single-embryo transfer the norm. James Meikle, health correspondent Friday July 29, 2005 The Guardian
• Patient choice in jeopardy as NHS woos private sector. A huge shake-up in NHS care outside hospitals in England was announced yesterday, just five years after the last changes were introduced. Many of the 303 primary care trusts responsible for commissioning or providing services face a merger and will soon no longer employ district or school nurses, therapists and other frontline staff.. James Meikle, health correspondent Friday July 29, 2005 The Guardian
• She promised she would be a listening health secretary and there are signs that she already is. It is still too early to separate rhetoric from reality, but where in her early days Patricia Hewitt was almost celebrating the instability and uncertainty that the government's new market in health would create, a more circumspect approach is emerging on some fronts. Wednesday August 3, 2005 The Guardian
• The Department of Health is to invite about 100,000 people across England to take part in discussions about GP services - in an exercise that is being regarded by officials as the biggest governmental focus group of all time. John Carvel, social affairs editor Friday August 19, 2005 The Guardian
• The number of primary care trusts (PCTs) could be more than halved in the latest NHS shake up, according to a survey published today. Hélène Mulholland Thursday August 25, 2005
• Specialist cancer units for teenagers, complete with pool tables, widescreen satellite TVs, games consoles and internet access, are needed to help young people fight their disease, government advisers said yesterday. James Meikle, health correspondent Thursday August 25, 2005 The Guardian
• Plans for a national network of 250 psychological treatment centres to provide therapy for 1 million people a year are being considered by ministers to tackle a national epidemic of depression and anxiety. A framework for making behavioural therapy freely available under the NHS will be set out today by Lord Layard, a Downing Street adviser who has convinced the prime minister that mental illness has become Britain's biggest social problem. John Carvel Monday September 12, 2005 The Guardian
• The first indication of the government's plans to reform NHS services outside hospitals will be given to 100 people in Gateshead today in an experiment at getting citizens' juries to shape the thinking of ministers. Groups of local people will be asked whether they would like private companies and charities to run health and social services in areas that are poorly served by the current providers. John Carvel, social affairs editor Wednesday September 14, 2005
• 'It is a good rule in life never to apologise,' wrote PG Wodehouse. 'The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them.' Luckily for patients, the NHS has scorned his words. 'When things go wrong, say sorry' is the new official advice being given to doctors and nurses across Britain. A document outlining the 'Being Open' policy is being sent to all NHS trusts. It gives step-by-step advice on how to deal with patients who have been unintentionally harmed. Guidelines explain how to arrange a meeting, who should be there, how to communicate and what should be discussed. Top of the list is a simple apology. Anushka Asthana Sunday September 18, 2005 The Observer
• Union activists are gearing up for a campaign of action over the government's decision to break up primary care services, the Unison leader, Dave Prentis, warned today. A campaign is underway after leading union members met earlier today to voice their opposition to plans they say will have "profound implications" for patients and staff. Hélène Mulholland Wednesday September 21, 2005
• The NHS should have a duty to cooperate with social services to improve the health and wellbeing of vulnerable and elderly adults, according to research published today. David Batty Wednesday October 19, 2005
• The health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, today formally apologised to nursing leaders for the "anxiety and uncertainty" she caused last summer when announcing a major NHS restructuring exercise. Hélène Mulholland Thursday November 10, 2005
• Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, will today open a second front in an escalating dispute with the medical establishment when she tells GPs that it is no longer acceptable for surgeries to remain shut during evenings and weekends. Her call for "a more patient-friendly NHS" will come after leaders of the British Medical Association were startled by disclosure in the Guardian yesterday that the government has decided to give nurses and pharmacists the right to prescribe almost every medicine in the national formulary. John Carvel, social affairs editor Friday November 11, 2005 The Guardian
• Ordering the doctors. Round-the-clock access to GP surgeries is the kind of radical reform Labour loyalists should love. Roy Hattersley Monday November 14, 2005 The Guardian
• The health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, is preparing to make up to 6,000 NHS staff redundant at a cost of £320m in severance payments, according to a leak of her department's employment plans. The job cuts stem from an overhaul of NHS organisations that was set up across England less than three years ago. Ms Hewitt intends to merge 300 primary care trusts - PCTs, the commissioners of local health services - into about 100 leaner bodies. The 28 strategic health authorities that oversee them will reduce from 28 to about 11. Health unions were told on Tuesday that Ms Hewitt was about to approve plans to save £250m a year by shedding administrative staff. John Carvel, social affairs editor Thursday November 24, 2005 The Guardian
• Makeshift field clinics should be set up in cities across Britain to deal with minor alcohol-related injuries, according to those behind the UK's first all-night 'hangover hospital', which opened in Newcastle this weekend. The health service initiative, which is backed by the police, was established to coincide with the more liberal licensing regime and to help reduce the expected increase in pressure on accident and emergency departments. Around 80 per cent of emergency admissions on Friday and Saturday nights at hospitals across the country are currently alcohol-related, with the problem costing the NHS £1.7 billion a year. Lorna Martin Sunday November 27, 2005 The Observer
• Hewitt reveals first details of white paper. Hewitt will outline the white paper on primary care to the Cabinet on Thursday. Two policies appear to have been scrapped - enabling patients to register with more than one GP practice and health MOTs, which will now only be offered to high-risk groups. Hewitt said the white paper would seek to move power over health budgets to local people: "People are telling us they want much more emphasis on prevention and health promotion. We need to get much smarter in engaging people locally in that dialogue." She said there should be "much better support for people with anxiety, depression, moderate mental illness…The typical response, people feel, is for GPs to prescribe Prozac or something of the kind or really not do much else. What people are saying is that they want someone to listen, someone to talk to." Hewitt also said of Cameron's references to his son, who has cerebral palsy, in a speech last week: "Of course he's got deep personal experience of the NHS because of his child but it's dangerous territory, I think, for politicians to be talking too much about their own family experience. There are many members of the House of Commons who have very extensive personal experience of the NHS - the Chancellor, for one." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Independent on Sunday 8 January 2006
• A thorough shakeup of the top ranks of NHS management was announced yesterday in an attempt to tighten control after an accident-prone period of policy mishaps and financial instability. Sir Nigel Crisp, the chief executive, said he was reorganising the health service to separate the work of commissioning services from supervision of the hospitals providing it. He presented the changes as a way of helping the NHS manage the transition to a new era in which patient have more choice of services and hospitals compete for their custom. John Carvel, social affairs editor Saturday January 21, 2006 The Guardian
• Health experts are considering plans to vaccinate all children up to the age of two with the flu jab. Government advisers believe that inoculating the under-twos could ease the burden on the NHS of treating the large number of cases each year. Sunday January 22, 2006 5:14 AM
• Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has officially launched the NHS's first walk-in health centres for commuters, allowing them to fit a visit to the GP or nurse around their working day. The centres at railway stations will be run by private firms but operate under the NHS banner and treatment will be free to NHS patients. The first two surgeries, in London's Liverpool Street and Manchester's Piccadilly, opened their doors a few weeks ago and have already treated many patients. They will be followed by more in London's Canary Wharf, Victoria and King's Cross, as well as at central stations in Leeds and Newcastle upon Tyne, as part of a £50 million make-over of services outside hospitals.  Tuesday January 24, 2006 7:54 AM
• Social enterprises, short-stay 'step-up' beds, care campuses, more walk-in centres, longer GP opening hours, prescriptions for social care - John Carvel gets a sneak preview of the new health and social care white paper. Wednesday January 25, 2006 The Guardian
• Today, we tell the inspirational story of how Danny Biddle, one of the victims of the 7 July bombings, was saved by an extraordinary team of specialists working at St Mary's Hospital in west London. Not only did they bring him back from the brink of death several times, but they then saw him through the harrowing struggle to come to terms with losing his legs. Night after night, nurses sat by his bed to reassure him as he relived the terrible events of that day. The intensity of the care he received shows the NHS at its best. When it comes to emergencies, the large teaching hospitals, such as St Mary's are able to deliver a swift and coordinated response. ... The NHS excels in offering people who are critically ill the very best chance of survival. Danny's story shows how miracles can be worked when hospitals are free to do the job properly. We applaud the staff at St Mary's. They must not be compromised in their ability to deliver the highest standard of care - the care that saved Danny Biddle. Leader Sunday January 29, 2006 The Observer
• A million fewer patients could be seen by hospital specialists under new government plans and instead will be cared for nearer their homes. The move is designed to save unnecessary appointments by ensuring GPs deal with more patients themselves rather than make referrals. However, the plans will spark fears that signs of illness could be missed if patients are not seen by a specialist. Hospital consultants could also be forced out of wards to visit those who still qualify for outpatient appointments at clinics or surgeries rather than making patients travel to them. Gaby Hinsliff, political editor Sunday January 29, 2006 The Observer
• A big switch of NHS resources out of hospitals into GP health centres and German-style polyclinics will be proposed today in a white paper from the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt. Over the next decade, medical work worth £4bn a year could be diverted from hospital outpatient departments in England into NHS and private units closer to people's homes. Ms Hewitt has been struck by the NHS's heavy reliance on hospitals in dealing with the 45m or so outpatient appointments each year. She wants to switch a substantial slice of this work to 50 new community hospitals, modelled on the "polyclinics" successfully pioneered in Germany. The hospitals would be state-of-the-art, with the latest diagnostic facilities, specialising in a range of common medical conditions but without the A&E departments that generate emergency pressures on district general hospitals. The decision may provide a reprieve for dozens of community and cottage hospitals threatened with closure, which could instead supplement the polyclinics. NHS trusts will be urged to look again at using satellite hospitals for the new approach to patient care. John Carvel, social affairs editor Monday January 30, 2006 The Guardian
• Hewitt to move 1m outpatient appointments from hospitals. The health white paper contains plans to have diagnostics services, from blood tests to investigations and scans, delivered outside hospital in "supersurgeries", redeveloped community hospitals and GP surgeries. The FT says: "Commercial operators, from Boots to Bupa and UnitedHealth, the biggest US health company, together with Care UK and South African-owned providers of existing fast-track surgery centres will be able to bid - alongside the more entrepreneurial family doctors - to provide services in areas short of doctors."  Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Financial Times 30 January 2005
• Up to 100 cottage hospitals in England which are under threat of closure by primary care trusts trying to control overspending were reprieved yesterday on the orders of the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt. She said they may play an important role in plans to move 5% of the workload of the big general hospitals out into the community, closer to patients' homes. The change of heart came in a white paper ... John Carvel, social affairs editor Tuesday January 31, 2006 The Guardian
• Tony Blair described the white paper as fitting the NHS around the needs of the patient, not fitting the patient around the NHS. The plan is to make it easier for people to choose a GP practice that offers access convenient for their daily lives - and that may include early morning, late evening or Saturday appointments. John Carvel Tuesday January 31, 2006 The Guardian
• Hewitt's primary prescription. Leader Tuesday January 31, 2006 The Guardian
• Big shift as healthcare set to move closer to home. The white paper hints at a new, swifter, consultation process, with the public involved in planned changes earlier but with opponents less able to slow down changes in the way services are provided. It also includes plans to "unbundled" the tariff for procedures so it can be split into diagnostic, assessment and post-hospital care.  Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Financial Times 31 January 2005
• Adverts row in ambulance consultations. The Government has been accused of "going through the motions" over public consultation on the proposed mergers of ambulance trusts as it emerged that the NHS Appointments Commission has placed national advertisements for chairmen even though public consultation over the proposed mergers ends next month. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Birmingham Post 1 February 2006
• GP access incentives top 'consumerist' white paper. GPs will be offered incentives to extend opening hours and will be able to apply for an "expanding practice allowance" for practices that have open lists, which are growing significantly and which offer extended opening hours. But Dr Kailash Chand, West Pennine LMC Secretary, said: "The white paper will bring a range of initiatives to make primary care more consumer-friendly; this consumerist part of the white paper could waste resources by pandering to demands of the worried well and, in the process, destroy the core values of general practice. The more controversial aspect is likely to be the increased role played by the private providers that could fundamentally destabilise general practice. UnitedHealth Europe has already revealed intentions to set up super-surgeries (in prosperous areas) the length and breadth of the country within five years." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Doctor Update 1 February 2006
• Have your say. The chief executive of the troubled Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Greenwich and the chief executive of Greenwich PCT will attend a public meeting of Greenwich Keep Our NHS Public on Thursday. The meeting takes place at 7.30pm on February 2 at Greenwich Forum, Trafalgar Road, Greenwich. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  News Shopper 1 February 2006
• "The NHS is ours. They have no right to destroy it." Over 200 residents and health workers from Hackney, east London, crammed into a Keep Our NHS Public campaign meeting last Wednesday. Fears were raised that the troubled St Bart's PFI deal will cost the hospital trust £111 million a year for the next 42 years if the project continues, or £100 million if Hewitt pulls the plug, meaning that either way there is a risk people will lose much needed specialist cardiac and cancer care. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Socialist Worker 1 February 2006
• New Labour steps up its health privatisation plans. Proposals in the government's new health White Paper will make it easier for private companies to profit from health services, and will make the funding crisis faced by many hospitals worse. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Socialist Worker 1 February 2006
• 'A major strategic shift'. The health white paper says half the outpatient clinics in some specialities could eventually be provided in community settings. There will be pilots over the next year in six specialties: dermatology, ENT, orthopaedics, general surgery, urology and gynaecology. 5% of NHS resources will transfer from secondary to primary care over the next decade. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Hospital Doctor 2 February 2006
• Emergency: choked by paper. Opinion Leader Research (OLR) was paid £1,245,000 to carry out "the biggest public consultation of its kind ever held in England" in the run up to the health white paper, which culminated with the Citizens Summit of 1,000 people held in Birmingham in October. The results of that exercise were published to accompany the white paper. 76% of the participants favoured specific physical health MoTs, but the final policy was merely an online questionnaire. Most people were not enthusiastic about bringing more competition into the NHS. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Times 1 February 2006
• Forget the high concepts, this is an ideal prescription for the NHS. Patricia Hewitt's take on community health is the kind of unheroic policy making we need - but it must get a fair chance.  Polly Toynbee Friday February 3, 2006 The Guardian
• PCT and social services will not be forced to merge. While the health white paper included measures to align the planning, budgeting, inspection and performance management of PCTs and social services, it did not propose further structural change and marginalised NHS care trusts, which formally merge NHS and social services under one management. It also sidestepped the question of making charging regimes and eligibility criteria more uniform across the country, putting these decisions off to later reviews and the comprehensive spending review. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Public Finance 3 February 2006
• Every baby will be given a jab against the most lethal form of meningitis under a shake-up of the vaccination system announced today. The pneumococcal vaccine will save up to 50 children's lives each year, and prevent hundreds of disabilities. It will be given routinely at two, four and 13 months. Thousands more children will be protected against other serious illnesses arising from the pneumococcal infection, which include the most common bacterial form of pneumonia in children and septicaemia, which can lead to the partial amputation of children's limbs. Sarah Hall, health correspondent Thursday February 9, 2006 The Guardian
• Among health professionals, they're known as "frequent flyers" - the patients who regularly go to hospital with conditions ranging from asthma to arthritis.  Polly Curtis, health correspondent Monday February 13, 2006 The Guardian .  See full report
• Right on cue, both the benefits of treating more people in the community - and the costs of continuing present levels of hospital care - are set out in stark detail in our news pages today. It is just two weeks since the government signalled in its latest health white paper a switch from hospital to primary care. The 5% earmarked over 10 years may not sound much but it will coincide with a much tighter squeeze on hospital spending and amount by the end of the decade to some £2.5bn a year. The benefits of doing so - not just in costs but in the quality of life for patients - are indisputable. Leader Monday February 13, 2006 The Guardian .  An example
• White paper closer to home working group launched. The Department of Health has formed the Care Closer to Home Demonstration Group, made up of the Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of General Pracitioners, British Medical Association, Royal College of Surgeons, Royal College of Nursing and the NHS Confederation. It will look at ways to provide care closer to home in six specialities: ear, nose and throat; trauma and orthopaedics; dermatology; urology; gynaecology and general surgery. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Department of Health 13 February 2006
• 'Death knell to the personal doctor'. Almost 80% of GPs believe the government's radical plan to reform primary care presents a significant threat to general practice, according to a survey of nearly 500 GPs by Doctor. 76% of respondents branded it either bad or a disaster. In particular, GPs were angry and concerned about the perceived threat from alternative providers. More than half expected to have to compete against private companies over the next two years, and only 1% of respondents said they welcomed the prospect of competing for patients. Only 7% of respondents rated the white paper as being good. Most said it represented another example of unnecessary change when the profession needed stability. Despite ministers claiming the choice agenda and other initiatives would put patients at the centre of the NHS, 74% of GPs said patients would not benefit from the measures outlined in the white paper. More than 77% of respondents also thought it would have a negative effect on their morale, and only 3% thought it would improve their morale. Some GPs said it might force them out of general practice altogether. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Doctor Update 15 February 2006
• Calls for care home nurses. Department of Health emergency care czar Professor Sir George Alberti has said that every residential care and nursing home for the elderly should employ a full-time NHS nurse. "We need an NHS professional dedicated to every nursing and care home in the country to check residents are all right," he said, adding that nursing home residents should be given regular check-ups to prevent avoidable hospital admissions. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Health Service Journal 16 February 2006
• Patient journey overhaul planned. Patients could face fewer appointments before having an operation under measures being considered to meet the 18-week target between GP referral and treatment by 2008. The "patient pathway" is to be redesigned, possibly with less meetings with medics and consultations which are attended by more than one health professional. Individual hospitals were traditionally responsible for achieving waiting list targets, but this scheme involves PCTs ensuring health providers move patients through the system as quickly as possible. Eight areas have been asked to pilot new systems: East Kent, Gateshead, Huntingdonshire, south London, north Nottinghamshire, Oldham, Devon and Exeter and south Bedfordshire. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of BBC Online 22 February 2006
• NHS takes next step in tackling hidden waiting lists. Eight areas have been asked to pilot new systems for reducing the wait between GP referral and tratment to 18 weeks. They are: East Kent (East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust, Ashford PCT, Canterbury PCT, East Kent Coastal PCT, Shepway PCT); Gateshead (Gateshead Health NHS FT, Gateshead PCT); Huntingdonshire (Hinchingbrook Healthcare NHS Acute Trust, Huntingdonshire PCT, Norfolk and Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA); King's (King's College Hospital NHS Trust, Southwark PCT, SE London SHA); North Nottinghamshire (Newark and Sherwood PCT, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust, Trent SHA, Mansfield District PCT, Ashfield PCT, Bassetlaw PCT); Oldham (North East Sector/ Greater Manchester: five PCTs and one large acute Trust); Royal Devon & Exeter (Exeter, East and Mid Devon PCTs, Royal Devon and Exeter NHS FT); South Bedfordshire (Luton PCT, Bedfordshire Heartland PCT, Luton and Dunstable Hospital NHS Trust, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire SHA). Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Department of Health 22 February 2006
• Walk-in clinics could offer faster cancer care.  Health officials go on fact-finding mission to US · City financiers may become involved. Sarah Boseley, health editor Thursday February 23, 2006 The Guardian
• Hewitt 'surprise' at GP verdict. Patricia Hewitt has expressed surprise at GPs' damning verdict on the primary care white paper shown in a Doctor survey. The poll revealed that 79% of GPs believe the Government's plans represent a significant threat to general practice. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Doctor Update 23 February 2006
• Mental health mergers. Rather than having change forced on them, mental health trusts are making changes of their own accord. Over the next few months, a clutch of mega-sized mental health organisations are being created through a series of mergers. The new trusts are: Northumberland, Tyne and Wear trust, Sussex Partnership trust, Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys trust, Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership trust. Each covers a population of around 1.5 million. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Health Service Journal 23 February 2006
• Blair: "Over time, front line will get freedom." Tony Blair told Hospital Doctor: "Over time, as you bring in practice-based commissioning, Payment by Results, and greater patient choice, we will have more and more accountability, and we've got to give greater freedom to the front line. That's not to say that they still won't have to meet certain key objectives of the health service, but I think it's a perfectly fair thing for consultants and others to say that, once this new system comes in, you can slim down the amount that comes from the centre." On PFI he said: "You do need constantly to make sure that your vision for healthcare, including bringing healthcare closer to people, is in alignment with your hospital building programme. Now that is obviously what we're trying to do as we evaluate the projects we've got. There is a need to build or rebuild some of the secondary care provision because at the moment it is not good enough."  Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Hospital Doctor 23 February 2006
• Rallying together to save 999 service. Over 300 residents attended a highly charged consultation meeting over proposals that would see Staffordshire Ambulance service become part of a West Midlands brigade and Staffordshire Moorlands PCT merged into a countywide trust. Health chiefs were heckled and the proposals were denounced as moving services away from the community.  Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Stoke Sentinel 27 February 2006
• No to ambulance merger. Nottingham city and Notts county joint health scrutiny committee has said no to the merger of the East Midlands ambulance service with that of Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire. The committee also rejected the merger of Trent strategic health authority into a larger unit covering Notts, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland. Councillors argued this went against national guidelines to make health care more community-based.  Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Nottingham Evening Post 27 February 2006
• NHS chief's future in doubt as ministers appear to lose confidence. Speculation is mounting about the future of Sir Nigel Crisp, the National Health Service chief executive and permanent secretary of the Department of Health. According to the FT, he appears to have lost much of the confidence of health ministers and the support of many of the 28 chief executives of the strategic health authorities. According to one senior Whitehall figure, Crisp has gone in the space of 12 months from being "the blue eyed boy of Whitehall to a member of the fingertips club". Evidence of ministers' loss of confidence was their decision, rather than Crisp's, to call in McKinsey, the management consultants, to examine the structure inside the DoH as the government moves to a supplier market in healthcare. McKinsey's findings are understood to have been so critical that they have not been committed to paper.  Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Financial Times 28 February 2006
• Challenge to handling of PCT reform. A primary care trust chair has called on his colleagues to support a bid for a judicial review of the way the government has handled PCT reconfiguration. Huntingdon PCT chair Michael Lynch has written to colleagues to seek support, saying the time has come for chairs to "speak out". He argues that since the government's U-turn on its demand for PCTs to reduce their provider role to a minimum, the "raison d'etre for reconfiguration has disappeared". He has called for Sir Nigel Crisp's resignation. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Health Service Journal 2 March 2006
• Council backs alternative scheme. Councillors have backed a joint PCT for Yarmouth and Waveney, as part of the reconfiguration of NHS organisations. The scheme is an alternative to the proposal for a single body for the whole county.  Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Eastern Daily Press 3 March 2006
• Labour's flagship health service reforms were in disarray last night, as the head of the NHS, Sir Nigel Crisp, quit in the face of increasing deficits which the government admitted would breach its forecast of £200m.  Patrick Wintour and Sarah Boseley Wednesday March 8, 2006 The Guardian
• The impossible job. Leader Wednesday March 8, 2006 The Guardian
• Health trust snubs merger plans. Easington PCT has snubbed plans for a merger with six other trusts in County Durham. The trust said it did not consider more centralised health services would benefit patients in the district, a deprived area with chronic health issues from its legacy of coal mining. It is concerned that £40m in government cash may not be retained for local patients.  Summary by Keep our NHS Public of BBC Online