Archive for 'Health'
Can the changing media landscape help deliver public health campaigns?
Posted on 22. May, 2013 by Emma.
Last Tuesday afternoon I found myself in a conference room in the depths of the ICC in Birmingham listening to Dr Kevin Fenton, Director of Health Improvement and Population Healthcare, Public Health England (PHE) as he gave a talk at the 2013 NICE conference. He gave a great overview of PHE, the new executive agency [...]
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Benefits, barriers and opportunities? The role of Health and Wellbeing Boards in the new NHS landscape
Posted on 22. Mar, 2013 by Rebecca Crouch.
The decreasing role of the Government and the Department of Health in managing the country’s services will be one of the most striking changes in the new NHS landscape. Accompanied by a fresh wave of new acronyms to represent its new boards and bodies, as of April 2013, many of these responsibilities will be cascaded [...]
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Britain: The fat man of Europe
Posted on 11. Mar, 2013 by AnyNoise.
The UK is officially the ‘fat man of Europe’. Not surprising as barely a day goes by without a story about Britain’s obesity crisis or a TV documentary about a child that weighs as much as a small car. However, despite the constant stream of health warnings, tangible solutions for the worsening obesity problem are [...]
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Shifting patient empowerment to a more human connection
Posted on 07. Mar, 2013 by Sangeeta Patil.
‘Patient empowerment’ is a very commonly used phrase. It is often discussed in relation to the vast amounts of information available online creating a power shift back to a patient that is now both more informed and more powerful. Consensus is certainly evident around the balance change in the doctor-patient relationship. However, the focus on [...]
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More than numbers
Posted on 07. Mar, 2013 by Emma.
Reporting the facts and figures of new medicine data is all very well, but what does it really mean? Having worked on a variety of media campaigns I can safely say in my opinion that the patient voice is of most importance. The perspective of the person actually affected by the news can convey the [...]
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What would your ideal NHS be?
Posted on 07. Mar, 2013 by Rebecca Crouch.
The new NHS, if you believe the documentation surrounding the changes, will be truly patient centred in all that it does, including decision making on services at a local level. Taking all restraints including cost out of the equation we asked the team at Aurora, as NHS users, what their ideal NHS would look like. [...]
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Patient information leaflets. What does the future hold?
Posted on 07. Mar, 2013 by AnyNoise.
When you pick up a prescription, do you read that small folded leaflet on strange semi-see-through paper that comes inside the packet? No? Me neither, but obviously, you should. Those patient information leaflets (PILs) have been a legal requirement in the UK since 1999 and are seen as an integral part of ensuring patients take [...]
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New NHS = new tactics for pharma
Posted on 07. Mar, 2013 by musicman.
From 1 April the structure in which the NHS buys services will change significantly. All players in the healthcare sector are fully aware of this milestone but many are still unsure about the level to which it will affect their business. For the pharmaceutical industry, it raises new challenges but also new opportunities. Unfortunately, getting [...]
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Understanding the benefit of patient involvement in service redesign – will the NHS ever really get it right?
Posted on 06. Mar, 2013 by musicman.
The next year or so in the NHS is going to be as challenging as it ever has been. Gone are the days of year-on-year budget increases. We are in a period of reduced budgets as the NHS looks to save £20bn by 2015 and increased demand due to an aging population. At the same [...]
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What next for Pharma after Goldacre?
Posted on 18. Feb, 2013 by cowsdrinkmilk.
Dr Ben Goldacre delivered a public lecture at the London School of Economics recently, after his recent and ongoing campaign coinciding with his book ‘Bad Pharma’, published primarily to expose ‘hidden clinical trial results’ within the pharmaceutical industry. It was a good opportunity to hear it directly from the horse’s mouth and identify how we, [...]
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Working with the NHS is integral to the sustainability of pharmaceutical companies. But who is the NHS?
Posted on 05. Feb, 2013 by musicman.
I listened to an interesting webinar last week set up by PM Society. Dr Neil Fraser, Head of Long-Term Conditions at NHS Rushcliffe CCG and a GP in East Leake, Nottinghamshire and Kevin Blakemore, NHS Partnership Manager at ABPI, discussed joint working from both a NHS and pharma perspective and how they can best work [...]
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The quest for a clear digital strategy
Posted on 05. Feb, 2013 by Sangeeta Patil.
Within the pharma industry, the pressure to ‘catch up’ in digital compared with other industries has been growing for quite some time now. The result is a growing risk of disorganised digital assets, unaligned to the overall business strategy, which are unable to solve real business problems. Add to this, more technologies, more opportunity and [...]
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Three ways to spot a working mum
Posted on 24. Jan, 2013 by PR Mum.
1. Attendance. While rummaging through the big rotter’s school bag the other day, I came across a certificate from her head teacher for 100% attendance for the previous term. Naturally I was proud and congratulated her on the award, which she informed me was given to only two kids in her year. I mentioned it [...]
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Hello baby
Posted on 22. Jan, 2013 by Handbaglady.
Yet again last week, the country’s heaving and creaking maternity services were in the media spot light and under criticism after Lily Allen tweeted about her experience of poor postnatal care following the birth of her second baby. She laments the decline in maternity services in just over a year from when she had her [...]
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Can Jeremy Hunt ever really remove accountability for the NHS from his role as Secretary of State for Health?
Posted on 16. Jan, 2013 by musicman.
I read an interesting article yesterday by James Kirkup, Deputy Political Editor for the Daily Telegraph and telegraph.co.uk, in which he discusses how Jeremy Hunt’s continual criticism of the NHS is a clever and dangerous political calculation. The new NHS from April 2013 will, on paper, remove the majority of accountability from ministers and pass [...]
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What decision making framework will the NHS use to judge the value of your service?
Posted on 02. Jan, 2013 by NW1er.
It’s often asserted that the NHS Constitution is formed from a utilitarian base. In simple terms, this would mean that the ethical decision making framework used by NHS employees is to provide the greatest benefit for the greatest number of people. But there is a tension between this moral framework and the founding principles of [...]
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New NHS decision makers are fundamental to pharma success
Posted on 20. Dec, 2012 by musicman.
After months of toing and froing, creating new health organisations, shadow working and streamlining, the new commissioning model in the NHS will officially start from April 2013. Many will argue that it has already started, with new leaders in the NHS trying to stamp their authority as early as possible. The new commissioning structure will, [...]
