HSJ Health Check

NHS England’s protracted bid to scrap the four-hour A&E target has finally been shelved by ministers, as we exclusively revealed last week. Now the dust has settled, we unpick what happened, why it matters and whether there is still hope for reform in the future. Also - why ICSs will have to wait until 2024 to receive commissioning budgets worth billions of pounds, amid concerns about financial risk.

Former Labour health secretary Patricia Hewitt has been charged with reviewing the role of integrated care systems by Jeremy Hunt. Alastair McLellan predicts what changes the Hewitt review could bring and why its so important. Also this week, Jack Serle explains how the NHS supply chain is failing staff and patients, a problem that has escalated this week with a joint letter sent from procurement chiefs to NHS England.

This week we bring you our reaction to Steve Barclay’s first major speech since returning as health and social care secretary, during which HSJ questioned him about his view on NHS funding.  Mr Barclay struck a more conciliatory tone than in the past, but he dismissed the health unions’ pay asks as “not realistic”. We also discuss the difficult decisions some trusts leaders could face in the coming weeks if staff go on strike, and two important appointments for NHS England’s leadership team.

This week Annabelle and Dave are joined by Miriam Deakin, director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, and we discuss what could be in store for the NHS in next week’s spending review. We cover the huge financial and performance challenges facing leaders and politicians this winter and also how disinvestment in other public services is having a knock-on effect on the NHS. Also - our thoughts on how Steve Barclay could - or should - approach his second stint as health secretary.

The fate of the “40 new hospitals” hangs in the balance with trusts hoping for a decision on funding by the end of the year. This week we discuss the impact of the delays to the programme on the day-to-day running of NHS hospitals, and what chiefs must do to persuade the Treasury to allocate enough funding for all the planned projects. We also take a closer look at the newly-built hospital in Liverpool and how its design is contributing to emergency care problems in the city.

New health secretary Steve Barclay is back, and he joins the NHS at a time when the health service faces its worst funding squeeze in many decades. We discuss Mr Barclay’s initial priorities – which he revealed in his first stint as health secretary just two months ago – amid a worsening financial backdrop. Also this week – a senior procurement chief claims life has never been this hard for his colleagues despite the pandemic having abated significantly. Is he right? Featuring Nick Carding, Henry Anderson and Jack Serle.

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt is now the most powerful person in the country. We discuss what some of his mini-budget reversals mean for the NHS and if the health service is safe in his hands. Also this week – the NHS faces £7bn in additional inflation costs and something has got to give. But what? Featuring Alastair McLellan, Ben Clover and Annabelle Collins.

Two out of three integrated care systems are already reporting sizeable deficits in their first year of existence. On this episode we discuss why so many systems are behind on their budget plans. We also cover other financial woes facing the NHS including tighter government controls on spending and the pressures of inflation. Also this week we discuss revelations that patients face being removed from the NHS waiting list if they decline two dates offered to them for their treatment, with experts warning if used poorly it could see patients “banished to waiting list purgatory”.

On this week’s episode we bring you the highlights from the Tory party conference, where the NHS felt like a “sideshow”. We discuss whether Therese Coffey can pull off being a part-time health secretary and whether there was any substance to the latest dose of manager-bashing. Also this week, ambulance response times have deteriorated dramatically over the last week, with staff across the country sounding the alarm over the pressures. We talk about what this could mean for the winter ahead.

With warnings the public sector could be forced to bear the brunt of last week’s tax cuts, we discuss the dire impact this will have on the NHS’ finances, its ability to retain staff and deal with the covid backlog. Also, an update from this year’s Labour Party Conference, during which shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves pledged to fund “one of the largest NHS workforce expansions in history”. Featuring Annabelle Collins, Dave West and Lawrence Dunhill.