Opinion

Progress towards a smarter NHS depends on the engagement of clinicians and, increasingly, the patients themselves’ Debjani Duncan. By Debjani Duncan, Healthcare Purchasing Consortium Clinical engagement is not a new concept for procurement but the ways in which it is achieved and the agenda it sets out to address now needs to change. The current … Read more

Collaboration’s  working across trust boundaries, multiple agency initiatives, private sector partnership and patient involvement in procurement decision’s signals the way forward for public procurement in the health sector as a joined up, networked activity  Christine Harland. By Professor Christine Harland is president of the Health Care Supplies Association This year’s Health Care Supplies Association conference … Read more

The move to standardise clinical costs across the health service through Payment by Results is likely to run into problems because of continuing inaccuracies in costing clinical activities Dr Colin Connolly. By Dr Colin Connolly, principal of Connolly Research Organisation. Payment by Results (PbR) is a natural progression of a whole series of reforms in … Read more

In the August issue, HES questioned if trusts were procuring appropriate bariatric equipment. Providing appropriate care for these patients is complex and can only be done well by taking a holistic approach to patient care.  Anita Rush. By Anita Rush is clinical nurse specialist in bariatrics for Berkshire Community Equipment Services Bariatric management is a … Read more

As health economics gains ground as a tool for decision-making in the NHS, Marc Sansom talks to Jon Sussex about the impact of Payment by Results on the procurement of medical equipment. By Marc Sansom, editor of HES In this pragmatic and secular age, the UK may no longer be a global vanguard of intellectual … Read more

Clinicians need to relinquish insistence on professional autonomy and allow the standardisation of healthcare technology and equipment in the interests of patient safety, Dr George Findlay. By Dr George Findlay At a recent meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Patient Safety discussion focussed on improving patient safety through improvements in the process of healthcare … Read more

In theory payment by results should be very simple but in practice it has turned out to be quite complex, perhaps too complex to have been brought in all at once, Bob Dredge. By Bob Dredge, senior fellow in financial management, Keele University Payment by results has been presented as a simple system that makes … Read more