Pointing to the cost.

Nurse should encourage with patients to use nhs resources responsibly, according to NHS England director of patient experience Neil Churchill. He says, 'nudge' techniques that prompt changes in behaviour could reduce the drugs bill and A&E attendance.Nudging patients can also encourage them to take better care of themselves.

Doctors without borders?

*Irregular migrants' access to primary care is at GPs' discretion, but observers predict a ban on all but emergency care. *An analysis found patients only want basic GP services, which in turn reduce hospital admissions. *The DH and Home Office have completed a review of foreign nationals' access to NHS care, expected shortly.

Palliative. "A good death is part of life".

Some 500,000 adults die in England every year but only 20 per cent get their wish to die at home. While institutional death is now the norm, quality varies with 21 per cent of care homes and hospitals failing to meet minimum standards on dignity and privacy. The forthcoming end-of-life strategy is expected to guarantee choice, consistent high quality and equity.

Primary care. Otherwise engaged.

Professional executive committees were devised to be the clinicians' voice in primary care trusts, but staff have complained of corporate sell-out. Policies like practice-based commissioning are seen as a catalyst to reform the committees. New-style PECs are abandoning some more general work to focus on modernisation.