The worst region is the South West in which just 43% of the PCTs have an executive director with voting rights on the board.

Dr Peter Carter, RCN chief executive and general secretary, said: ‘Nurses spend more time with patients than any other health professional, so it makes sense for them to be a key part of the decisions which impact on the care that patients receive.

‘Nurses are often the first to identify Read more »

Would Natasha Richardson be alive today if she had gone skiing in the United States instead?

I don’t think it would have made a difference.

To recap the tragedy, Ms. Richardson died from an epidural bleed, after she fell while skiing. Her presentation was somewhat classic, with the well-described “lucid” period before she deteriorated.

According to Canada’s Globe and Mail, “ambulance workers were not called to Ms. Read more »

By the way it’s currently designed and implemented, it certainly seems that way.

Medicare seems intent on burying the P4P concept. Bob Doherty notes that “successful quality improvement programs provide regular feedback to clinicians on how they are doing. Rewards for reporting should be greater than the costs and hassles of reporting. The rewards should be predictable (if I do x, I will receive y). And the timing of providing the rewards Read more »

In “Too Small to Fail, ” The Washington Monthly writes on the success of conservatively-managed small banks in the midst of the financial market collapse. 

Why are small banks succeeding?  First, they are running their business more conservatively; in the tradition of, well, traditional bankers.  Secondly, they develop personal relationships with customers giving them superior information about their customers credit Read more »