Review of the Papers, Wednesday 01 August

Government

• Growing concern about the role of the private sector in public services reform was raised by the CBI on Tuesday after comments by the new work and pensions secretary in an FT interview. Peter Hain said that big prime contracts for private sector welfare-to-work providers are "not his preferred option". Welfare-to-work providers on Tuesday questioned where the government will find the money for its huge back-to-work drive for those on benefit without upfront investment from the private sector. John Cridland, deputy director general of the CBI employers' organisation, said the suggestion that the bigger role for the private sector, proposed in the recent Freud report, would be scaled back "adds to our real concern about the mixed messages from ministers on the future of public service reform. The government risks squandering an opportunity to build on the private sector's proven track record of helping the long-term unemployed into a job," Mr Cridland said. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/13870a26-3f9a-11dc-b034-0000779fd2ac.html
• The number of home visits carried out by GPs has halved in ten years, new figures show. New official data on the work patterns of family doctors show more consultations are now carried out by telephone and nurses see one in three patients. Doctors were able to top out of providing out of hours services under a new contract in 2004 and this is being blamed for the drop in home visits which made up nine per cent of consultations in 1995 but in 2006 only accounted for four per cent. The figures also show doctors are working an average of 44 hours a week during normal hours, which has changed little in the last decade. Those GPs who have opted out of providing out of hours care work on average seven hours a week fewer than in 1995 when the service was mandatory. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/31/ngp131.xml
• Raj Mattu's suspension is estimated to have cost the NHS as much as £5 million. The 47-year-old cardiologist claims he was suspended by hospital chiefs after he blew the whistle on overcrowding on his heart attack recovery ward. Managers forced extra beds into the unit to meet treatment targets. Mr Mattu claimed this led to 11 patients dying because they could not be reached in an emergency by resuscitation teams. The bill for Mr Mattu's suspension is made up of paying his salary while suspended, the cost of filling his position, and legal bills for the case, which went to the High Court. A further £1 million was spent on an independent inquiry into the allegations against the consultant. The panel ruled two years ago that Mr Mattu be allowed to return to work. But the hospital refused to accept the ruling. Mr Mattu was head-hunted to start a cardiac unit at Walesgrave Hospital, Coventry, but is said to have fallen foul of a new chief executive anxious to meet government targets. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/01/ndoctors201.xml