HSJ Health Check

With delays to promised long-covid support clinics, warnings from the former health secretary and unions about protecting staff pay, and trusts accused of penalising staff during their recovery - we dig into why its crucial the NHS provides adequate support sooner rather than later for this debilitating condition. We also discuss the enhanced role for the Care Quality Commission over hospital food inspection, following a review of nutrition in the NHS prompted by seven inpatients dying after eating sandwiches. We pick out other recommendations from the report including must-do’s for the board, the creation of “super-kitchens”, and CEOs and patients to eat the same food. Featuring Sharon Brennan, Nick Carding and Annabelle Collins.

On the podcast this week the team dig into how the NHS is already mobilising to deliver a covid vaccine and some of the hurdles it could face in this enormous task. The stakes are high for the health service and the nation: Eminent vaccine guru Sir John Bell this week said vaccines could get life back to normal by spring – provided the delivery is not “screwed up”. We also ask if the Test and Trace can really find a firm footing during the lockdown “window”, check in on staff testing, and look at how covid hit the emergency care system in October.

Recorded in the middle of another dramatic week for the NHS, the latest HSJ Health Check takes stock of whether primary care really has seen long-lasting innovation during the pandemic, and debates if a mood-measuring watch for GPs is the answer to burn-out. We also discuss progress towards the “40 new hospitals” (or thereabouts), and the long-running saga of Chorley emergency department which a local campaign group now wants closed after ten years of campaigning for the opposite. Featuring Nick Carding, Annabelle Collins, Lawrence Dunhill and Jasmine Rapson.

“Acute trust boards did not always see mental health care as an integral part of patient care”, said the CQC in a new report on mental health that could have easily gone under the radar. We hear from senior correspondent Rebecca Thomas on why this report matters, if true integration between mental health and acute care are some way off, how the pandemic has further damaged this and whether leaving mental health out of the ’40 new hospitals’ capital announcement was significant. We also share the very latest insights into the impact covid is having on the NHS according to new NHS England data. Also featuring Dave West and Annabelle Collins.

On the podcast this week we try to get to the bottom of the political furore and ensuing confusion engulfing the North West, including a lesson on just how long it takes to heat up Manchester’s Nightingale Hospital. We also discuss what impact the continued rise in covid-19 admissions could have on non-covid NHS work, and look at new data which shows an unusually high number of excess deaths at home in the South East. Does this mean the NHS needs to fundamentally change the way it delivers palliative care? Featuring Sharon Brennan, Annabelle Collins, Lawrence Dunhill and Alison Moore.

As covid wave two crashes onto the NHS in the north of England, HSJ Health Check discusses the last minute scrambles to try to protect elective care, and mass-test staff. While covid-19’s second wave appears a little less destructive than the first, it is bringing steeply rising admissions in the areas most affected --- and sparking a somewhat chaotic reaction as health systems try to prepare for it while keeping planned care on track. With the focus in the summer on restoring elective care while the sun shone; government did not fund the NHS’s request for extra covid step-down are; and there’s now also a scramble to start routine testing of asymptomatic staff. Featuring HSJ’s North West and North East correspondents – Lawrence Dunhill and Matt Discombe – with deputy editor Dave West.

To mark one year of the Health Check podcast we’re joined by special guest Nigel Edwards, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust, who shares his expert insight on the biggest operational, cultural and strategic changes the NHS has gone through during the pandemic. We discuss whether mutual aid and breaking down professional barriers are here to stay and how the growing cancer waiting lists could take the shine off the NHS for the public. Featuring Ben Clover, Annabelle Collins and James Illman.

This week the team delves into an exclusive HSJ’s summit interview with NHS chief executive Simon Stevens and weighs up the trade-offs the health service might need to make as covid cases rise, why legislation is still expected next year and why no comment on NHS finances could be significant. We also discuss the latest scandal exposing the abuse of patients at another private hospital for people with learning difficulties and autism. Featuring Rebecca Thomas, Dave West and Annabelle Collins.

The pressure is rising again on the health service but keeping it running smoothly this winter will rely on its workforce. This week the HSJ Health Check focuses on some of the biggest issues facing NHS staff right now, covering ‘trade-offs’ after the spending review, staff testing chaos, and whether risk assessments are actually having an impact for vulnerable staff. Featuring Annabelle Collins, Nick Kituno, Alison Moore and Rebecca Thomas.

Payment by results is being swept away in favour of system funding and block payments, much to the irritation of some NHS hospital chief executives. And is government giving the NHS what it needs to get through covid? The HSJ Health Check team discuss.