Tips and help

6 great places to find data on health in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Where do you find data to put your story into context – or give you ideas for stories in the first place? Here are some of the places that come in handy for understanding health in England and the UK … Continue reading

Serious Untoward Incidents and FOI

Every time something goes wrong in the NHS it creates a paper trail… And that means that investigators can use the Freedom of Information Act to find out exactly what has happened. THE SYSTEM If something happens on a ward … Continue reading

Transcripts: NUJ event – Reporting on our health services

The European Health Journalism website has published transcripts of the NUJ masterclass this month where I spoke about investigating health. Direct links are copied below: Presentation slides on the new NHS structures Transcript of speech by John Lister, senior lecturer … Continue reading

Richard Vize on CCGs – notes from #reportinghealth

Carol Miers wrote up her notes on the speech by health expert Richard Vize at Help Me Investigate Health’s #reportinghealth event – we’ve reproduced them below with permission: “GPs tend to be self employed business people, they hate NHS bureaucracy and hate … Continue reading

Link: Tips on getting started in data-driven health reporting

Journalism.co.uk have pulled together a list of tips from me on working with health data. It’s the third part in a series which has so far included: How the BMJ approaches investigative reporting How open data can be used to … Continue reading

Hospital food hygiene ratings: how to find them in your area

A version of this post covering schools appears on Help Me Investigate Education. With food hygiene in the news following the horsemeat scandal, I thought I’d put together a quick guide on getting information about your own local hospitals’ hygiene … Continue reading

Document: who’s responsible for what in health?

If you want to get an overview of the different parties involved in the new health system and their roles – including some new players as well as old players with new responsibilities – a recent report from the National Quality Board‘s … Continue reading

Meet the CCG’s with their work cut out

Cross-posted from CCG Latest News: They are taking control in April but some CCGs have a tougher job on their hands than others. Meet three commissioning groups with a big challenge ahead of them. Dr Foster, which supplies intelligence and … Continue reading

Recipe: what’s the worst time to go to A&E?

Today we publish the first results of a collaboration with the Birmingham Mail: when’s the worst time to go to A&E in the West Midlands? (It’s 1am, by the way).  Or, to give it its print headline: “A&E delays worst … Continue reading

Will commissioners respond to feedback?

A date for your editorial diary in the latest briefing from the NHS Commissioning Board, on one specific pledge being made on health services: “All NHS patients should have the opportunity to leave feedback, in real time, on any service, … Continue reading