HSJ Health Check

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.  

Rishi Sunak announced an impressive sounding sum of money last week, apparently to help the NHS cope with winter pressures.    But, as ever, what might sound like a lot of money is really just a drop in the ocean - and it turns out it will only be used to offset costs relating to strike disruption.    We discuss the precarious financial and operational position this leaves the health service in, and also dig into plans for a new outpatient strategy expected later this year.    With Henry Anderson, Annabelle Collins and James Illman.

Manager regulation remains firmly in the spotlight so this week we ask: will it actually happen this time?   We discuss recent interventions from politicians, what’s stood in its way in the past, and take a closer look at NHS chief executive turnover, as we find more than half of trusts have a ‘first time’ CEO.    Also - more on audiology care failings, after it has emerged more children have come to harm across multiple trusts.    With Ben Clover, Annabelle Collins and Dave West. 

NHS trusts have been told by the government to carry out urgent risk assessments if they have a certain type of lightweight concrete in their buildings. This follows multiple school closures because of safety risks around “reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete”. We discuss the impact these safety fears are having on the NHS, why hospitals aren’t also being shut down and what this means for the New Hospitals Programme.

Last Friday, neonatal nurse Lucy Letby was found guilty of 14 counts of murder and attempted murder.    On this week’s episode we discuss how former leaders at the Countess of Chester Hospital had resisted a police investigation, the questions still to be answered by local and national leaders, and what lies ahead for the trust.   With Annabelle Collins and Lawrence Dunhill.