HSJ Health Check

This week we’re focusing on patient experience and the public perception of the NHS.   Annabelle is joined by Chris Graham of the Picker Institute and Jacob Lant from charity National Voices to discuss the crash in patient experience revealed by recent national surveys, how the findings should be used to improve quality and reduce health inequalities and the part ‘real-time’ measures could play in the future. 

General practice - already under pressure - will be under the political spotlight over the next 12 months, with an election looming and the GP contract up for renewal.    We discuss what reform could be in store, and whether an example in Wolverhampton - where the hospital trust has taken over a big chunk of local GP practices - is one for others to follow.   With Mimi Launder, Dave West and Annabelle Collins.

NHS England has finally published its new standards for NHS leaders, so this week we discuss how the revised ‘Fit and Proper Person Test’ will work, and if it is enough to stop the revolving door of poor leaders.   Also - we reveal where consultants were paid the most to cover shifts during the junior doctors’ strikes.   With Annabelle Collins, James Illman and Nick Kituno. 

This week we assess the damage after one of the toughest weeks of NHS strike action, with junior doctors and consultants both taking action.   We ask what impact this had on the recovery effort and look at some of the surprising trends to emerge from the strike data. With Annabelle Collins, Ben Clover and James Illman. 

A “shocking” volume of mental health patients are attending A&E accompanied by the police - but who’s fault is it? And what is the solution? On this week’s episode we get into the debate sparked by comments made by a senior NHS director who called for an “absolute solution”.  Also this week, the results are in on which integrated care systems are the most digitally mature. But did the NHS need to pay McKinsey £7m to tell them?

This week bureau chief Ben Clover is joined by colleagues to discuss some of the biggest stories ahead of the junior doctors’ strike. Matt Discombe reveals the results of an inquiry into an ambulance trust found to’ve withheld key details of patient deaths from a coroner. The report is damning but some stakeholders have said it is more notable for what it doesn’t cover. Recorded on Wednesday before the longest junior doctors’ strike yet, James Illman and Henry Anderson explain how NHS England’s finance director may have let the cat out of the bag about something ministers deny – that the huge round of cancellations caused by industrial action mean the service might miss the PM’s pledge to have waiting lists falling.

This week bureau chief Ben Clover is joined by colleagues Nick Kituno and Zoe Tidman. The long-awaited NHS workforce plan finally arrived last week, missing lots of the detail that managers and professional associations were crying out for. What was in it, what was not in it and a few surprises are covered in this week’s podcast. Also, what are the prospects for the NHS’s crumbling estate. Correspondent Zoe Tidman takes us through the latest in the convoluted quest to get some refurbished hospitals finished this side of 2030.

This week HSJ is joined by Nigel Edwards, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust, and Richard Murray, chief executive of the King’s Fund, who are both nearing the end of long stints at the think tanks.   Two of the most influential voices on health policy and leadership, the pair reflect on what has gone right and wrong over the last three decades, and why history keeps repeating itself.   They spoke to Annabelle Collins and Lawrence Dunhill.

NHS England’s surprise decision to hand US tech giant Palantir a further £25m deal this week without a competitive process provoked a mixture of fury and confusion. We explain what the new contract means and why its so controversial. Also this week, we review the latest government mandate for NHS England and its luke-warm response to the Hewitt review of integrated care systems.

We're joined by Matthew Taylor, NHS Confederation chief and HSJ Health Check fan, to discuss Amanda Pritchard's speech and other developments on day one of the ConfedExpo conference.