NHS/National Health Service

Local authorities must provide care funders with information regarding access to independent financial advice, the Care Bill has stipulated, published in Parliament today.

Short-stay admissions to care homes are few and far between in winter, despite the capacity to support hard-pressed hospitals during the season, a report has shown.

The care and support minister has launched online information profiles on care homes and services in an aim to support more effective choices and comparisons.

The successes of now-defunct primary care trusts must not be forgotten in the redrawn commissioning structure, the NHS Confederation has warned.

NHS centralisation and increasing transparency on prices and services will significantly narrow the range of mental health services available, Laing and Buisson has warned.

Homeopathy through the NHS costs between £4m and £12m a year and is a waste of taxpayers' money, according to retiring scientific adviser to the government Professor Sir John Beddington.

Public satisfaction with the NHS stabilised last year after a record fall in 2011, according to The King's Fund.

The NHS Confederation has warned while the NHS is striving for success, the restructure alone will not be enough.

The government has responded to the "betrayal" highlighted in the Francis Inquiry with plans to overhaul the NHS.

Cancer waiting lists stand at 18 weeks and stroke care in London is being re-structured, a Committee of Public Accounts report into NHS efficiency has said.