HSJ Health Check

Record covid cases are being recorded and the NHS must decide how to prepare for another potential wave in late December or January. We discuss what chief execs are doing right now to keep services afloat and as many staff working as safely possible. Also notable points from recent government briefings and an update on the operational challenges facing the booster campaign.

This week we dig into the latest NHS performance data, including the first detailed snapshot into how the NHS is coping this winter. The figures reveal performance has never been worse and we discuss the severe harm this is having on the public, with trusts warning its becoming unavoidable. Featuring Ben Clover, Annabelle Collins, Matt Discombe and Alison Moore.

NHS staff are facing the prospect of another difficult winter. The Omicron variant, an accelerated booster campaign and expectations of elective recovery will be an immense challenge for a completely exhausted workforce. We discuss how staff and leaders will cope. Also, an update on who will be leading the new integrated care systems and why some key systems have still failed to recruit.

This week the HSJ Health Check podcast hears how Number 10’s mission to integrate health and social care services has ramped up with some contentious thoughts, and discuss the NHS’ overall progress in its move towards integrated care systems. Integrating health and social care is a famously difficult task. Now, it seems, Boris Johnson himself wants to clarify local accountability for this.  We discuss the implications of this latest intervention. We also consider what the terms of reference for the Messenger Review mean for the NHS leadership community, and we explore the strange story of a hospital charity which is not distributing much of the money it has raised. Featuring Nick Carding, Dave West and Alison Moore. 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. Send feedback to nicholas.carding@wilmingtonhealthcare.com.

We hear what NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard and health secretary Sajid Javid had to say ahead of what everyone is describing as the NHS’ toughest winter, and discuss the implications of the news that Health Education England will be merged with NHS England. Featuring Nick Carding, Jasmine Rapson and Lawrence Dunhill. 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. Send feedback to nicholas.carding@wilmingtonhealthcare.com.

We discuss the NHS’ performance against emergency, elective and  cancer care targets with new figures this week showing performance is  worsening despite efforts to reverse this. We also hear about national  leaders’ concerns that long waiting times are creating a worrying shift  in attitude from the public, and examine an unusual financial dispute  between two NHS bodies which harks back to the days of the internal  market. Featuring Nick Carding, Ben Clover and James Illman.

This week we track the progress of the Health and Care Bill as the tricky April 2022 deadline closes in. We discuss why the House of Lords could be the most challenging bit of its journey so far and delve into the power-struggle between strong provider trust collaboratives and fledging systems. With Ben Clover, Annabelle Collins and Dave West.

HSJ revealed NHS England has written to all trusts and integrated care systems this week telling them to stop ambulance handover delays “immediately” after serious patient safety concerns. This is far easier said than done and we discuss the reaction to the letter and more on what is fuelling some of the worst ambulance pressures ever experienced by the health service. Also the outcome of the spending review and which bits of the NHS have got lucky, and which have missed out.

The health service is clearly in a jam in the wake of covid - so why have Sajid Javid’s plans for ‘a year of reform’ antagonised some managers, GPs and other staff?’ We get into some of the challenges faced by the health secretary, how to balance ambition with NHS recovery and why the NHS doesn’t want to go back to how things were before covid hit. This week Annabelle and Dave are joined by Helen Buckingham, director of strategy at the Nuffield Trust, Richard Sloggett, programme director of the Future Health Research Centre.

Health inequalities for those with a mental illness, learning disability or autism have existed for decades and the coronavirus pandemic has made them even worse. We dedicate this episode to talk about why patients in this group have worse global health outcomes than the rest of the population, why “sticking-plaster solutions” don’t cut it anymore and if the move towards integrated care is a reason to feel positive. Annabelle Collins and Rebecca Thomas are joined by Andy Bell, deputy chief executive of the charity ’Centre for Mental Health’.