Implementation of a hospital information system in Limpopo Province, South Africa, failed Problems arose because of inadequate infrastructure as well as with the functioning and implementation of the system Evaluation using qualitative and quantitative methods showed that the reasons for failure were similar to those in computer projects in other countries Reasons for failure included not ensuring users understood the reasons for implementation from the outset and underestimating the...

Intervention, particularly from the government, can make or break a healthcare regulator, say Peter Littlejohns and Polly Newton When David Prior took to the airwaves in June to address what had gone wrong at the Care Quality Commission, few listeners can have anticipated the brutal assessment he delivered. ‘What ministers wanted was a policeman. What they got was a social worker’ “I have known for the last three months that we were not fit for purpose when it came to hospital inspections,”...

I am writing this blog in the back of a hired Ford Ranger at 5.25am on the 7th October 2017 on the road to Skilpadshek on the Botswana, South African Border. This is the last day of our holiday before flying back to London tomorrow. But this was no ordinary holiday, two weeks in a convoy of three 4X4s setting off from South Africa through Botswana to Namibia. Organised by Sakkie and Beatrix, our South African friends, Tercia and I together with their 3 adult children, Tian, Rachelle and Ruben...

Three years ago I attended the International Society on Priorities in Healthcare conference in Melbourne Australia. Here is the blog I wrote then https://trendsinmenshealth.com/reports/priority-setting-healthcare-thinking-unthinkable/ I am now back in Australia having just attended the 10th Health Services and Policy Research Conference at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast, Queens Land (as they say an academic’s journey is a long and weary one). The conference was organised by the Health...

The call for a public debate about what the NHS should provide (and what it should not) in order to create a high quality and sustainable health service for the 21st century has come from many quarters. This includes the Chair of NHS England, the CEO of NHS Providers, the BMA and me . https://trendsinmenshealth.com/reports/priority-setting-healthcare-thinking-unthinkable/ Politicians, however, have been reluctant to take up the challenge, fearing the wrath of public opinion should it turn...