Try to avoid shaking hands with a geordie, would appear to be the advice here. Seriously, though, when you get the scare stories about dirty hospitals and hospital acquired infections, it is sobering to consider just how the infections are getting in to the hospitals. Having visited a couple of people in hospital over the last year I have to say the measures to ensure visitors have clean hands see...

The question, seen by some as one of the most revealing pointers to underperforming UK hospitals, has been dropped from an annual official survey of the Healthcare Commission

The 100th hospital scheme to be built under the biggest hospital building programme in the history of the NHS - St Helens Hospital in Merseyside - has admitted its first patients. So far 131 hospitals have been built or are under construction as part of the scheme at a cost of £12 billion. Secretary of

In order for them to survive, the business model for NHS hospitals is going to have to change radically, writes Paul Corrigan.

The number of patients treated for drink problems in Scottish hospitals hits an all-time high, say official figures.

The British love the NHS and in particular, they love hospitals. When I give a talk about the government's NHS policy I often start by asking people to say what most embodies what they think is "the NHS". It is not GPs; it is always hospitals. Politicians know this and they are careful when it comes to suggesting that a hospital has to be downgraded or even closed. In some cases politicians e...

Almost two thirds of hospital trusts failed to meet the target to halve the number of MRSA cases, despite Government claims to have tackled the problem, analysis by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. Although the Government claimed to have virtually halved the rate of MRSA in hospitals by April 2008, figures show that its targets to fight the superbug were not met in 64% of hospital trusts. In ad...

Circle Health took over a hospital recently. Basically a privatised NHS hospital. Everything is cool though, we’re told. It’ll be more efficient, nobody will lose out they said. Well, predictably, guess what… [Circle Holdings] had been in negotiations with the government for two years over the takeover of Hinchingbrooke hospital; as the preferred bidder, it

A nurse's monthly pay won't even cover a soft drink. There is no hope of treatment in hospitals which are themselves dying:"Harare Central officially closed down on Friday last week, and at the Parirenyatwa Hospital, most wards have not been...

About 100 student nurses have been removed from Boston's Pilgrim Hospital after the Nursing and Midwifery Council expressed "serious concerns" about it. Sylvia Knight, director of nursing and patient services at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (which runs the hospital), said We are seeking further clarification from the NMC regarding the reason for their actions.If she truly, really doesn...