Achieving a high standard of cleanliness is the biggest single factor in successfully reducing the indirect transmission of healthcare acquired infections (HCAIs) such as MRSA and C-difficile.

The NHS White Paper, "Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS"  represents the completion of a devolution journey the NHS has been undertaking for over a decade. Moving all service providers either to Foundation Trust status or to one of a number of social enterprise models, it effectively de-nationalises NHS organisations.

As Joint Head of the Healthy Communities Programme at Local Government Improvement and Development, formerly the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), I lead the Programme with my job share partner Sue Johnson. 

Dementia costs the UK more than cancer, heart disease and stroke put together, and the number of people affected is on the increase, in line with the increase in population.

At June’s Reducing HCAIs 2010 conference “A Health Economy Approach to Quality Care” our Patron Edwina Currie gave a presentation on the effects avoidable healthcare associated infections (HCAIs) have on patients and their families. 

When the coalition government came to power it was given credit for the protection it offered to health services by ringfencing NHS budgets. The Coalition Government has come under pressure to reverse its pledge to ring-fence health spending in order to protect other services but as yet has not backed down.

The NHS White Paper allows individual employers the freedom to determine pay for their own staff. While this is a relatively small provision in the paper, it has potentially serious implications.

Pressure ulcers or bed sores seem to be very much a Cinderella condition. According to the Royal College of Nursing (2005), the costs of treatment in the UK are estimated to be equivalent to 4% of the NHS yearly budget - about £2.1 billion a year.

The Government expects a climate of openness and dialogue in the NHS which encourages all staff to feel empowered to raise concerns in a reasonable and responsible way without the fear of victimisation