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Applications are open for the largest ever NHS development programme, aimed at changing the culture of the health service Applications have opened for the largest ever leadership development programme in the world, which is aimed at changing the culture of the NHS. Described as leadership development on an "industrial scale never seen before in the NHS", it is anticipated that at least 25,000 staff from any professional background or managerial role will be put through one of the four programmes in its first three years. The intention, according to the NHS Academy , which is behind the...

Changes to public health will increase the professional profile of public health and bring new career paths England's directors of public health now have a new employer: responsibility for the administration of public has been transferred from the NHS to local councils. The move, which was part of the government's health reforms, has not only brought a new paymaster, it is also creating career opportunities. Responsibility for social services has already been written into the job descriptions of some local authority public health directors, and it is predicted that other services like environmental...

At a time when the NHS has to make savings of £20bn, does it really need communications professionals? At a time when the NHS needs to make savings of up to £20bn by 2015, it is understandable that people question the money the NHS spends on public relations. A recent article by the BBC about the NHS in London spending £13m on public relations , further highlighted the issue. Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients' Association , argues that the NHS should be spending less on spin doctors and more on medical doctors, adding that it is the patients who are losing out. But in a time...

Our latest survey asked healthcare professionals how ready they thought organisations such as clinical commissing groups and health and wellbeing boards were to take up their new responsibilities. Here is a selection of their answers "I believe that a lot of these new structures will be in place, but whether they are ready to commission a full range of services, I doubt it." "Primary care and clinical commissioning groups are ready and have been for some time. Secondary care is not ready because for years they have refused to talk to primary care and actually work out common and...

Wednesday's event could achieve what the government's NHS reforms have not The NHS Change Day on Wednesday has great intentions and a potential to make a real difference to patients, carers and families, and by virtue of this should make health professionals proud to work in the NHS. So far more than 100,000 pledges have been made. If the event lives up to expectation, it will mean that more than 100,000 initiatives will have taken place to reignite our interest in the NHS. After the battering the NHS has taken over the Mid-Staffs scandal, the cut in resources and the ever increasing problems...

If care is to become more patient focused, the health service needs an improved culture from board to ward Patients should be at the heart of the NHS. This is a familiar message, and one that has been repeated in every major health policy document for more than a decade. A worthy aim, undoubtedly – but who is responsible for turning rhetoric into reality? Robert Francis QC last month presented the long-awaited final report of the public inquiry into Mid Staffordshire NHS foundation trust. The second of his 290 recommendations makes clear the importance of those on the frontline: all NHS staff "must...

The number of paramedics has risen dramatically in the past five years in some parts of the UK. How is the service is changing? The paramedic service is changing. The role of ambulance technician – the traditional ambulance driver trained to deliver emergency care – is disappearing and being replaced with emergency care assistants (ECAs) or support workers. The relationship between ECAs and paramedics is similar to that already established in nursing where healthcare assistants provide support and take some of the workload away from nurses. At the same time paramedics are developing new career...

Without immigrant staff, the health service would come to a standstill. So why aren't BME health professionals treated fairly? The NHS was physically and metaphorically built with the help of immigrant workers and professionals from across the world. Thousands of doctors immigrated from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka during the 1950s, 60s and 70s, recruited by a health service afflicted by an acute postwar shortage of medical staff. Many settled here permanently despite intending to return home, because the value of their contribution was recognised. The NHS thrives on equality and...