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It's time for the government to provide qualified, regulated sign language interpreters throughout the public sector Most of us take the ability to communicate for granted. Yet for those people who are deaf, dealing with public services without qualified British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters can be at best stressful and at worst potentially dangerous. As many as one in six people are deaf or hard of hearing, but hospitals, police and other important public services are not legally required to offer qualified sign language interpreters, enabling them to opt for unregulated interpreters. Failure...

Our latest livechat discussed how managers can implement technology to maximise scarce resources David Downing, director of health at SAS UK The focus should be on "proper" data use rather than confidentiality: you don't wantsome unknown body in the back office knowing all your medical conditions but the health and social care bodies in your region should have full rights to use your data for your health benefit. Steps for managers auditing or redesigning data management systems: • Realise it's not as hard as you think or have been told it will be • Involve the business at the...

The transfer of responsibilty for public health to local government is a great opportunity, but councils must pay it the attention it is due Amid the cuts and redundancies, local government's new responsibility for public health is a great opportunity. While public health is hardly new territory for councils – more than 80 public health directors were joint appointments between councils and primary care trusts – formal assumption of the powers is momentous. Public health teams which assume little will change for the first few months are likely to be disabused of that notion pretty rapidly....

From communcation errors to blame culture, all public leaders must learn from the failings highlighted by the Francis inquiry Wednesday 6 February will see the results of the Francis inquiry, the long-awaited report into severe failings in care in Mid Staffordshire hospitals. The inquiry was launched in 2010, when the government pledged to find out the cause of the catastrophic management breaches across the hospitals in question, to bring to account those responsible, as well as learn valuable lessons from the events. The families affected by the scandal will, quite rightly, be keen to hear answers...

Map: Find out which CCG your area fits in Simon Rogers

The potential rewards of using NHS commissioning power to enhance communities should be embraced wholeheartedly The Public Services (Social Value) Act, which comes into effect in January 2013, places a legal duty on public service commissioners to take account of social value when procuring services. In these financially constrained times we're all looking for ways to make the money in our purse go as far as possible. As new commissioning organisations take hold of the NHS purse strings they will want to do the same for local people and communities, getting maximum benefit out of every penny...

A procurement makeover at County Durham and Darlington NHS foundation trust could provide a model for the whole NHS Millions of pounds are too often wasted in the way the NHS purchases products and services, from swabs to stationery. Until the health sector bites the bullet and gets its procurement house in order the financial impact of health reforms will achieve only partial success. At County Durham and Darlington NHS foundation trust we have been through a major restructuring and a complete overhaul of our approach to procurement, leading to an upgrade of our skills and systems. In 2011, the...

Just like for Fernando Torres, moving to Chelsea has been a big step forward – but also full of challenges Following in the footsteps of one Fernando Torres , I have moved from Liverpool to Chelsea to take up my new job as the chief executive of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on 3 September. Like many people who start their career in clinical practice in the NHS, my clinical career has been in nursing. I never set out to be a chief executive. But having previously worked as the chief executive at Alder Hey Hospital and the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital...