HSJ Health Check

Leaders at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust have been heavily criticised in an independent inquiry into the actions of former maintenance supervisor David Fuller. We cover the mistakes made by the trust that enabled him to abuse hundreds of bodies in its mortuary over 15 years and what the rest of the NHS must do in response to this horrific case. Also, an update on the government’s pay offer to consultants and why its made the Royal College of Nursing so angry.

US firm Palantir has officially been awarded the lucrative federated data platform deal, which is one of the biggest NHS data projects in recent years.   This week Nick Carding, Joe Talora and Annabelle Collins discuss the controversy surrounding the deal, what the risks and benefits are for the NHS and what’s next in its implementation. 

A trust that gave its name to a controversial A&E policy has seen performance improve significantly, so this week we discuss how North Bristol Trust handled the risks and how quickly its model could spread throughout the NHS.    Also, NHSE chief Amanda Pritchard told MPs this week there has been a ”misunderstanding” about productivity in the NHS - we discuss what’s actually going on behind the scenes.

This week Annabelle and James are joined by Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers. We’re looking ahead to winter and an election year, in which the NHS faces ongoing strikes, stalling progress on waiting lists and challenging finances.  We also cover the damage done by ’short-termism’ and why turnover of trust CEOs is getting worse. 

An increasing number of hospitals are appointing shared CEOs and chairs and with more large ’groups’ being created  – this week we discuss the benefits and drawbacks to this new(ish) way of running things.  We focus on two recent examples - the Barts Health Group in London and University Hospitals of Leicester, which as of this week shares a chair and CEO with two neighbouring trusts. With Ben Clover, Annabelle Collins and Dave West. 

This week we’re joined by Roger Kline, academic and workforce culture consultant, to discuss Steve Barclay’s latest edict ordering the NHS to stop recruiting to equality, diversity and inclusion roles. Was the letter just red meat for the Daily Mail or could it do real damage?  We cover NHS England’s response, why the cost-savings argument doesn’t add up, and what's next for EDI roles.  With Nick Kituno, Annabelle Collins and guest Roger Kline

Sir Jim Mackey is moving on from Northumbria Healthcare FT after 18 years and taking the top job at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals FT. This week we discuss what this means for the NHS in the North East and also for NHSE, where he will be leaving his chief operating office role.    And in other people moves, we also cover David Loughton’s retirement from Royal Wolverhampton Trust and Walsall Healthcare. 

On the podcast this week we bring you highlights and analysis from the Labour party conference in Liverpool. We cover what a backlog recovery drive could look like under a Labour government and how Wes Streeting will take from Blair’s 1997 playbook to ‘underpromise and overdeliver’ on the NHS. 

This week we discuss urgent high-level talks to address the £1bn funding gap - and ask whether strikes are really to blame.   Also this week, has NHS England come off the fence with its latest warning to the BMA?

Nothing is more important than the process of giving birth, but hospitals are increasingly struggling to induce mothers-to-be on time. HSJ has found multiple examples of pregnant women waiting too long for their induction, in what could potentially be a national problem for a hugely challenged area of healthcare. Also this week, we hear why former NHSX CEO Matthew Gould is back in the news and discuss the latest on NHS England’s controversial flagship data project. With Nicholas Carding, Alison Moore and Joe Talora. Send views and questions to Annabelle.collins@hsj.co.uk 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.