HSJ Health Check

NHS Blood and Transplant has been embroiled in allegations of racism that stretch back several years.   On this episode Annabelle is joined by Lawrence Dunhill who has been reporting on the agency’s failure to address these systemic problems.    The story spans secret recordings, a bitter employment tribunal and high profile resignations, with the organisation seriously struggling with blood stocks and staff shortages.

This week we discuss a quirk in last week’s pay deal between health unions and the government, which could see staff at the top of Agenda for Change paid more than senior managers.   We also dig into the “shameful” planned cuts to social care budgets to the tune of £550m, as revealed by HSJ last week.

This week we analyse the Spring Budget and what it means for the NHS, in particular the pensions tax overhaul. We cover why Jeremy Hunt has gone for such an expensive fix and what impact it will have on the health service and its ability to retain experienced doctors. Also this week, our insights into three days of junior doctors’ strikes and more on the ongoing BMA ‘rate card’ controversy.

This year’s NHS staff survey results have landed, so on this episode, we bring you the need-to-know findings and insights into how the NHS workforce are feeling. Our team is joined by Chris Graham, the chief executive of the Picker Institute –  the charity that organises the survey – and we discuss everything from the worrying drop in staff feeling safe to report clinical errors, to the shocking results once again reported by ambulance trusts. Also with Annabelle Collins, Alison Moore and Emily Townsend.

Could foundation trusts be hindering the success of integrated care systems? Chair of Bolton FT Donna Hall thinks so, and argues its time to scrap them. We discuss the merits of this and also whether integrated care systems’ strategies are too much “motherhood and apple pie” and not enough substance. Also this week, an update on ICS finances, after its revealed 14 systems are now in the red.

Fresh from starting work as NHS Providers' new chief executive, Sir Julian Hartley joins HSJ Health Check to talk about collaboration, strikes, reform and more. We ask the former Leeds Hospitals chief why he moved to a national role, and what building a successful provider collaborative looks like in practice. He also discusses the long haul of improvement facing the service, arguments for fundamental reform, and why we need NHS Providers. With HSJ's Annabelle Collins, Dave West and Ben Clover.

Many NHS technology programmes are facing an uncertain future following revelations NHS England’s tech budget is being drastically cut. This week we discuss the impact these funding cuts could have on NHS trusts’ ambitions and whether the sector has the leadership to guide it through this tricky patch. Also this week, a major pathology merger in Lancashire has effectively been scrapped following years of work and millions of pounds spent, after being left in limbo by those who encouraged the project in the first place.

This week bureau chief Ben Clover fills in for Annabelle Collins. Ben is joined by mental health correspondent Emily Townsend and HSJ's urgent care lead Matt Discombe to discuss new targets (and the lack of them), discharge and how involved the police should be in mental health services.

The debate over single patient rooms has raged for many years, but emerging news from Liverpool’s new hospital suggests it could be a game-changer for cutting patients’ length of stay. We discuss the impact of the much-maligned city trust’s new hospital on patient flow. Also this week – we hear about the growing frustration in Manchester over the delay to the New Hospitals Programme, and we analyse our exclusive interview with the CEO of scandal-hit Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust. Featuring Lawrence Dunhill, Nicholas Carding, Zoe Tidman and Emily Townsend.

An HSJ Investigation has revealed trusts are denying staff employed by their wholly owned subsidiary companies the pay and conditions offered to other staff. We discuss more about how and why this forgotten group of the workforce are missing out. Also this week – the trust that sacked a whistleblower who warned them about potential patient harm has been told to pay out more than £200,000. We talk in more detail about this case and the questions it raises about whistleblowing in the NHS.