NHS England will be leading a review of low value prescription items from April 2017 and introducing new guidance for Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), with a view to substantially saving NHS expenditure in this area. It follows extensive work by NHS Clinical Commissioners which identified significant areas where potential savings can be made, up to […]

Winners selected for patient insight awards, announced today at a Patient Experience Network ceremony in Birmingham, demonstrate that NHS providers and commissioners are listening to patient feedback and that services are continuing to improve because of it. The awards in the Friends and Family Test and Patient Insight for Improvement categories have gone to five […]

The NHS is today (Tuesday 21 March) taking the precautionary step of writing to patients who have had certain types of open heart surgery to inform them that they may have a low risk of having contracted an infection caused by Mycobacterium chimaera (M. chimaera). Over the next two weeks, letters are being sent to […]

Three projects are each being awarded £50,000 by NHS England to explore innovative ways to use women’s and their partners’ feedback to improve maternity services. A judging panel from NHS England and the Department of Health selected the winners from almost 50 applications for support from the Maternity Challenge Fund, which was set up last […]

NHS England is today announcing the promised help for GPs struggling to cope with the rising cost of indemnity payments so that they can offer greater access for patients. The 2016 Winter Indemnity Scheme will be extended by a month to April 17 so that GPs wishing to work additional shifts, particularly over the Easter […]

Professor Jane Cummings calls on the country’s nursing and midwifery staff to take a leading role as the NHS adapts to meet the needs of today’s population. Speaking to the country’s most senior nursing, midwifery and care leaders, Professor Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer for England (CNO), will today outline the challenges the profession will […]

Female healthcare scientists are invited to apply for NHS England’s prestigious fellowship scheme, aimed at providing career support for women working in this field. Led by NHS England’s Chief Scientific Officer, the Woman in Science and Engineering Fellowship scheme aims to support four healthcare scientists over 12 months through a career development programme that includes […]

The 2016 NHS Staff Survey is published today showing another year of improvements, with NHS staff engagement scores at their highest level in five years. The survey was carried out between September and December 2016 across 316 NHS organisations garnering 423,000 staff responses, an increase of 124,000 more people participating than last year.  This takes […]

NHS England will launch its first Knowledge Transfer Partnership Programme, a 12 month development programme, aimed at clinical leaders in healthcare science at the Chief  Scientific Officer’s Conference today (7 March). Successful applicants who secure a place will work with other leading healthcare scientists and build long-term collaborations across clinical, research and industry sectors, whilst […]

Following the launch in 2016 of Commissioning Services for People with Hearing Loss: A framework for Clinical Commissioning groups, Fiona Carragher, Deputy Chief Scientific Officer will join a range of partners from the health, charity and social care sector, to update on progress to date, including updates on: How CCGs across the country have used […]