HSJ Health Check

We discuss data revealing the true scale of long A&E waits for mental health patients and what acute trusts are trying to do about it without any extra national funding.   Also: most GP practices are still using old-fashioned paper records, despite a commitment four years ago to get rid of them. We discuss whether it’s worth GPs’ time and money to make the switch.  With Annabelle Collins, Joe Talora and Emily Townsend. 

Targets to reduce the number of outpatient appointments are not being met by trusts. On this epsiode we discuss why the number of outpatient appointments has remained stuck at £124m, despite pressure to cut them, and what is being done about it.   Also this week, an update on integrated care systems’ finances and what is worrying them at the moment, plus a preview from HSJ’s forthcoming interview with NHSE chief financial officer Julian Kelly.    For more on outpatient appointment challenges, read James' Recovery Watch column: https://www.hsj.co.uk/expert-briefings/recovery-watch-new-data-lays-bare-outpatient-transformation-failings/7034898.article

After seemingly endless delays, the fate of the ‘40 new hospitals’ has finally been revealed by the government. With eight key schemes pushed back until the next decade, the programme set to receive £10bn less than requested and funding subject to “future spending reviews”, we cover the immediate reaction and what’s next for NHP trusts.  Also - more on Labour’s vision for the NHS if they win next year’s election.

The government’s 40 “new hospitals” has dominated headlines - and decisions - over NHS capital funding in recent years, but this week HSJ revealed dozens of trusts are still waiting for money promised by the previous big capital programme.   We discuss why over £1bn is yet to be received for capital schemes announced in 2017 and 2018 and what impact this has had on services.   Also this week, an update on the latest chapter in The Christie Foundation Trust’s whistleblowing saga, after the publication of a CQC report that downgraded the trust's treasured ‘outstanding’ rating. 

This week bureau chief Ben Clover stands in for Annabelle Collins and introduces two important stories, one that got national coverage and one that HSJ broke. Deputy editor Dave West takes us through the strange delay of some community diagnostic centres, which some suspect is politically-motivated as the government looks to what it can deliver before an election next year. Correspondent Mimi Launder then takes us behind the announcements on the primary care recovery plan. This received a lot of national attention earlier this week but HSJ obtained internal documentation showing just how patchy the roll-out is of some of the technology the government is counting on.

On this week’s episode Alastair reveals why NHS England’s elective recovery director Jim Mackey is replacing David Sloman as national operations lead later this year.   We also discuss why Tim Ferris was the right man for the national transformation job, but arrived at the wrong time.   Also this week: what’s next for the Agenda for Change pay deal and concerns raised about the poor care experienced by eating disorder patients in acute hospitals.

NHS leaders are being told they must prioritise balancing the books above all else, with some trusts even being asked to keep staff numbers down to save money.    We discuss the tricky relationship between ‘productivity’ and recruitment and the impact an intensified focus on finance could have on other important priorities.

A legal battle has erupted between a hospital trust and bank-backed PFI company over fire safety and payment refusals. We discuss why the case has potentially wider implications for other NHS trusts.  Also this week, we find out why NHS England had to apologise to staff impacted by problems during its restructure, and hear about the latest twist in an ICS dogged by troubling leadership issues. Featuring Nick Carding, Ben Clover and Dave West. Send views and questions to annabelle.collins@hsj.co.uk. You can listen to HSJ Health Check on this page, or subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and all the other popular podcast platforms.

A consortium of British companies have been knocked out of the hotly contested competition to win a £480m contract to provide the NHS with a new data platform.    We discuss who is left in the running, including a number of American tech firms with little or no experience of working with the NHS.    Also this week - an update on how the NHS has coped with the junior doctors’ strikes this week, and a quick look at the latest performance data, which for the first time has revealed the extent of the 12 hours waits in A&E.

Patricia Hewitt’s much-anticipated review of ICS autonomy was published this week. We discuss its recommendations, the politics behind it, and what meaningful, lasting impact it could have. With Alastair McLellan, James Illman and Annabelle Collins.