Monthly Archives: August 2011
Ministers want to turn the NHS in England into “the largest social enterprise sector in the world”
Could co-operatives be the future of care?
By Victoria King Political reporter, BBC News
Ministers want to turn the NHS in England into “the largest social enterprise sector in the world”. They envisage a network of small co-operatives and mutuals run by doctors and nurses not managers. But would that be a good thing? And is it even practical?
“‘Public sector’ and ‘public service’ are not interchangeable phrases,” says Geoff Walker, chief executive of Sandwell Community Caring Trust.
“I used to have to deliver the ‘public sector’ with all the management, admin and local politics that come with that. Now all I do is deliver a service – all I have to do now is keep 700 people happy.”
Mobility scooters would be fitted with GPS systems under the plans
Pensioners on mobility scooters ‘tracked by GPS’ under proposal to save care costs in Manchester
Excluisve by Amy Glendinning
August 24, 2011
Pensioners on mobility scooters could be tracked by satellite as part of radical plans to use technology to slash spending on social care.
The scooters would be fitted with GPS systems – with relatives able to log on to the internet to pinpoint their loved one if they became lost, confused or upset.
Home checks for high blood pressure
Taking blood pressure readings in surgeries makes many people nervous
Patients suspected of having high blood pressure are to be given home monitoring devices over fears millions have been misdiagnosed because they were simply nervous in the doctor’s surgery.
By Stephen Adams, Medical Correspondent
10:00PM BST 23 Aug 2011
Now the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has produced definitive guidelines so GPs can diagnose the condition more accurately.
