health funding

UK Parties, Politics and Healthcare

Submitted by Hugo_Minney on Thu, 03/04/2010 - 06:29

Your politicians - listening to you?I ask you - if you were to design a new national health service from scratch, would you really design it with nobody to think ahead and make decisions on resources?
So why are the main political parties in UK engaging in their favourite sport of manager bashing?

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A simpler tax and benefits system

Submitted by Hugo_Minney on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 22:31

The current benefits system is labyrinthine, and needs to be simplified[1]. But then, so is the tax system. Did I read somewhere that this year’s tax guide is twice as long as last year’s? In trying to make it fairer, we just make it more complicated. Whitehall mandarins create sustainable jobs (for themselves) but not a lot more.
The issues:

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Local taxation with local representation

Submitted by Hugo_Minney on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 22:08

Sir Michael Bichard is a man to listen to – his proposals are practical and usually sufficiently well supported that they make it into policy. I was listening to him on Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning (Friday 18 Sept 2009) discussing Local Government with Tony Travers of LSE. The gist of the conversation seemed to be that local government has delivered significant innovation, whereas Whitehall had offered no improvement. But local government couldn’t go any further because they are micro-managed – their income is set by Whitehall, and services are also set by Whitehall.

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A revised Inverse Care Law

Submitted by Hugo_Minney on Mon, 08/17/2009 - 09:48

An experimental lifeTudor Hart's Inverse Care Law was formulated in 1971, and probably is due for an overhall. Instead of "good medical care varies inversely with the need in the population served", I'd like to propose
"Those who need most, ask least"

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More for Less - NHS Growth Money is coming to an end

Submitted by Hugo_Minney on Wed, 06/03/2009 - 17:00

"All bets are off" as David Nicholson tells NHS to prepare for cuts (HSJ 4June - updated Pulse 27Nov09). Massive investment over the last 8 years hasn't improved productivity (HSJ 28May). PCTs aren't making use of the wealth of experience and enthusiasm available through Practice Based Commissioning (PBC) (Primary Care Today May/June 09). The same old ideas are put forward as the solutions to all our problems - more care out of hospital, more innovation, more work led by nurses, more Health centres, more salaried GPs. Why haven't these 'obvious' solutions delivered?

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Comments

Recent Additions and Updates

Old time farming - a moral tale

Submitted by Hugo_Minney on Tue, 02/14/2012 - 20:49

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A moral tale of industrialised farming.  Just like the Archers BBC Radio 4 long-running serial, the farmer industrialises, and then realises the error of his ways.

Charming animation shown as an ad during the Grammy Awards on Monday

A moral dimension to consulting

Submitted by Hugo_Minney on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 22:11

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Moral dilemmaIt's easy to assume that all of our decisions are purely rational, but they rarely if ever are rational.  And they always have consequences for others, usually consequences that we think we could not have predicted.

But consultants are not here to make decisions, only to provide information and advice.  Does this somehow absolve us from a moral responsibility?

 

The Ten Commandments in Professional Services (6-10)

Submitted by Hugo_Minney on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 16:56

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Interpreting God's Commandments

I've written previously about applying the first five commandments to Professional Services.  Here I show how Do Not Murder, Do Not Steal and so on are just as relevant commandments in the nuance and subtlety of modern life as they ever were.

Read on - and there's an invitation to comment!

The 10 Commandments in Professional Services (1-5)

Submitted by Hugo_Minney on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 21:56

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Two greatest commandsThe Ten Commandments apply just as firmly in each aspect of our daily life as they apply to the whole of our lives.  I'm a management consultant, and on this page I explain how the first five of the Ten Commandments apply to management consulting and professional services.

Getting GPs involved in Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG)

Submitted by Hugo_Minney on Sun, 01/29/2012 - 23:26

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Life in the YearsMost healthcare providers, in UK the same as everywhere else, get paid for each activity they do.  If someone needs care, they get paid.  If someone is well, they don’t.  So there isn’t much incentive (for the healthcare provider) to keep people well, even though it is much better for the person, much better for the nation, and much lower cost.  Minney.org Ltd is working with one CCG to generate enthusiasm and involvement, and the results are fairly successful….

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