News

Health secretary Andrew Lansley has said he would like to see nurses appointed to consortia commissioning boards, but remains opposed to making it mandatory.

Broadcaster Fiona Phillips has written an opinion piece praising the hard work of nurses in the NHS.

Today's Daily Telegraph reports that new Department of Health figures show there are now fewer than 140,000 overnight beds in all types of hospital.

False Economy’s figures that 50,000 NHS jobs will be cut over the next five years has been covered by the media, including reaction from the RCN who identified in November that 27,000 NHS posts across the UK have been earmarked to be cut.

Half of NHS trusts are failing to comply with alerts designed to protect patients from harm, according to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the charity Action against Medical Accidents.

The Guardian today features a front-page story on news that the NHS is facing frontline job losses, despite pledges to the contrary.

Dr Peter Carter was among health experts who discussed the coming NHS reforms with the Committee debating the measures contained in the Health and Social Care Bill yesterday.

New Audit Commission figures suggest more NHS staff take sick leave in areas of high deprivation in England. The report looked at data collected between July 2009 and June 2010. It also found junior staff were more likely to take time off than senior colleagues.

Ministers are under pressure to stop GPs from receiving cash bonuses if they do not spend all of their budgets on treating patients once family doctors start controlling £80bn of NHS funds.

Fewer than one in ten nurses (7 per cent) feel they have the right number of staff to deliver good quality care to patients, the RCN revealed in a new snapshot survey today (7 February).