HSJ Health Check

This week we discuss the ongoing harm done by long ambulance handover delays and what the new government should do to address this problem. Also more on the health policy experts hired by Wes Streeting to help draw up a ten-year plan for health, and our analysis of his first few days in office. *After this podcast was recorded the health secretary announced he had commissioned former minister, surgeon and academic Lord Ara Darzi to carry out an independent review of NHS performance. More on this story here.* With Dave West, Alison Moore and Annabelle Collins. 

While the rest of the country was watching the football, HSJ met shadow health and social care secretary Wes Streeting in a café in Ilford for a wide-ranging interview. On this episode we bring you the highlights from his conversation with Alastair McLellan and James Illman.  We also cover the sudden resignation of the Care Quality Commission’s chief executive, the huge leadership challenges facing the beleaguered regulator and why it should be strengthened rather than abolished. 

This week we’re joined by Sally Gainsbury and Leonora Merry from the Nuffield Trust think tank, who help us join the dots on the key issues for the NHS in the election campaign.     We cover their response to Wes Streeting’s comments about their manifesto analysis, why the NHS has been notably absent from the election campaign so far and the biggest challenges facing a new government. Also with Annabelle Collins and James Illman.

As the election campaign moves into its final weeks, the shadow health secretary has confirmed a huge policy commitment that wasn’t in the manifesto. This week we look at what Wes Streeting’s commitment to hit 95 per cent in A&E performance for the first time in almost a decade would mean for the NHS.  We also hear about an ambitious plan to “save 300 lives a year” - and how bosses rubber-stamped a decision to abandon it.  With Ben Clover, Lawrence Dunhill and James Illman. 

This week’s episode comes to you from the NHS ConfedExpo conference in Manchester, where we’re joined by NHS Confederation’s CEO Matthew Taylor and chair Victor Adebowale. We cover Amanda Pritchard’s big speech and the reaction to it, the manifestos, the need for a new government to tackle capital spending, and more. With Annabelle Collins and Dave West. 

The NHS is facing weeks of disruption after pathology services across south east London were hit by a major cyber attack this week, affecting care from blood tests to transplants.    We cover the impact the attack will have on an already pressured system and the big questions facing the NHS and government around strengthening cyber security. 

NHS England has announced incentives and penalties in a bid to improve the health system’s financial plans, so this week we discuss what the new regime involves and if it will make any difference to the national £3bn deficit.   Also this week we focus on two stories from Birmingham – more bullying concerns at University Hospitals Birmingham and an update on the long-delayed Midland Metropolitan University Hospital, which HSJ revealed is due to open without the funding needed to run it.  We also take a look at the latest pledges for the NHS by the political parties as the general election draws nearer.  With Nick Carding, Henry Anderson and Emily Townsend. 

Rishi Sunak has called a surprise election, so we cover what could be in store for the NHS over the next six weeks and the different scenarios it could face if there is a change is government. Plus, we consider NHS England’s intervention in the ongoing debate about productivity (and how that might affect the service’s ask for extra capital investment) and also the aftermath of NHSE’s massive restructure.  With Henry Anderson, Annabelle Collins and Dave West. 

Greater Manchester ICS is under huge pressure to reduce its deficit after suffering a recent financial collapse. And now the ICS must navigate this without its substantive chief financial officer, who has been seconded to a post within NHS England. We discuss if there is a way out of the red and what this will mean for local care quality.  Also this week, a leaked NHSE review that concluded the NHS has a severe shortage of nurses with digital skills.

The tables have turned for the Care Quality Commission. This week HSJ revealed the government is launching a review of it’s new inspection regime and whether its ratings are properly incentivising care improvements. We discuss what prompted this review, which senior NHS figure is leading it and what it could mean for the regulator.  Also this week, a fifth of all of England’s GP premises pre-date 1948 and we discuss how this ageing estate risks hampering the workforce plan.