HSJ Health Check

Earlier this month the government announced a “carrot and stick” approach to senior manager pay, so this week we go into the detail about what this will mean in practice and how it could affect recruitment to a workforce already facing a lot of churn. Also, more on another way financial incentives will be used in the new NHS, and what the health service might get in the upcoming spending review.

This week the team look at two long-running issues in the NHS. Bureau chief Ben Clover, standing in for Annabelle Collins, is joined by Alison Moore to discuss whether scandal-ridden maternity services are going to get another national review, and whether that would be a good thing. Plus a look at some of the fundamentals in the sector.Then Ben is joined by estates correspondent Zoe Tidman to look at whether the NHS needs a Robin Hood to redistribute some of the capital money from the richer trusts to the needier ones

In many areas the NHS is still in the foothills when it comes to using artificial intelligence, with most of the innovation found in diagnostics and speech dictation.Trusts and tech companies talk of untapped opportunity, so we discuss some of the barriers, from poor clarity over how products are approved, to a lack of money and time to make the investment.Also this week, why KPMG has been awarded millions to help the last hospitals launch their first electronic patient record.

NHS England has revealed its new “model ICB blueprint”, which will see more than a dozen functions transferring out of integrated care boards and requirements to cut the number of board members.We cover what the new slimmed-down ICBs will look like and what these changes will mean for providers.Also - HSJ revealed last week NHSE and the government are slashing ring-fenced funding for services such as maternity and mental health. We discuss the impact this could have on patient care and safety.

The first in an occasional series of HSJ Health Check podcasts tracking the development of the government's planned Health Bill, which is due to bring about the biggest change in the central running of the NHS for more than a decade.The government's plans raise huge questions about how the NHS will be run in coming years. The series will explore what ministers and officials have in store as their vision emerges, as well as the ups and downs of the process and politics of delivering legislation. This week Dave West and Annabelle Collins are joined by Bill Morgan, who as a seasoned political adviser in 10 Downing Street and the Department of Health has a hand in the several major pieces of health legislation, and Sharon Brennan, who as director of policy at National Voices has already given evidence to MPs on the latest plans.

HSJ revealed last week at least £150m has been wasted planning for "new hospitals" that might never materialise.We explore where else trusts can turn, with major state-funded rebuilds now off the agenda for many areas.That could mean reviving private financing, a new drive on patch-up maintenance efforts, and a much greater reliance on community services and tech.Also this week, Samantha Jones' likely appointment as new permanent secretary of the DHSC, and another significant senior appointment to NHSE.Correction: £1bn - not £100m - is allocated to building safety works and reinforced aerated autoclaved concrete this year, although the point that more is needed still stands.

This week the team look at the continuing fallout from the ICB cuts and pending abolition of NHS England, following the first interview with new boss Sir Jim Mackey. Bureau chief Ben Clover stands in for Annabelle Collins as host and is joined by Dave West and Mimi Launder

Another damning coroner's report has been published following the preventable death of baby Ida Lock at a Lancashire hospital, so this week we take a closer look at why the NHS is beset with so many maternity scandals. It has also been reported health secretary Wes Streeting is considering a public inquiry into maternity care, and we discuss why this might not bring about the fast change so badly needed. Also, we cover the ongoing chaos within the board of a world-leading specialist London trust.

As the dust begins to settle, we unpick one of the busiest weeks ever for NHS news. We talk more about what the abolition of NHS England means for integrated care boards, Jim Mackey's top team and their reset plans, and NHSE's u-turn on imposing a new cap on elective spending.

The annual NHS Staff Survey results have been released, so this week we take a closer look at this year's trends.Among the findings is a worrying rise in the proportion of staff experiencing violence and discrimination from patients and the public.HSJ's Annabelle Collins and Nick Kituno are joined by Picker Institute CEO Chris Graham.

This week we discuss why private providers are threatening to refuse to treat NHS patients, and why hospital bosses are equally vexed.We also cover how the outdated NHS IT estate has become a national security issue and what needs to be done to stop future data breaches and cyber attacks.

Amanda Pritchard is stepping down as NHS England's CEO at the end of next month, while Wes Streeting embarks on a massive reorganisation of the centre.This week we cover the reaction to this news, what's lies in store for NHSE and who will be steering it through this significant change.Also - an update on some top appointments at the Care Quality Commission.

This week the HSJ team look at money and what is coming for what is expected to be toughest financial year for the NHS in a generation. HSJ editor Alastair McLellan talks about the “pig of a year” senior leaders have warned of. While finance reporter Henry Anderson takes us through what the mood music is on bringing back PFI, an expensive way of getting new capital into the system – but is it the only way?

This week we take a closer look at Wes Streeting's tough talk on NHS deficits – the health and social care secretary has told the NHS there can be no overspending without consequences.But what will this actually mean in practice, how has NHS England responded, and what will trusts have to cut to balance the books?Also this week, we discuss anHSJ story that revealed Ambulance services would still struggle to respond to a mass-casualty event like the Manchester Arena bombing despite recommendations made by a public inquiry.

NHS England published the 2025-26 planning guidance last week, so we break down what it means for the service.   We discuss new targets, including a challenging elective care ambition, the high-profile commitments dropped, and news that trusts are to take on more responsibilities from ICBs next year.   A busy few days also saw the NHS's mandate for 2025-26 from ministers published last week, so we also discuss Wes Streeting's tough instructions to the NHS and his interview with HSJ.   Also, we cover news of further job cuts at NHS England and how its leadership of the service has been changing.

HSJ Health Check is joined by two of the most influential and experienced NHS leaders to talk about lessons for the government's 10-year plan from their systems, and from the past. Former NHS England chief Sir David speaks about how the Black Country, where he is now a trust chair, has used community services to reduce emergency admissions among older people. He says government should ensure the plan brings about stability of financial rules, and get successful local leaders involved in writing the plan. Dr Dash, integrated care board chair in North West London and chair of an ongoing government reviews on safety and quality, discusses how her system is approaching change. She says the plan will need to “be very clear on how [it] will be implemented” rather than setting out only a “vision”.

This week the government finally revealed its new - and mostly delayed - target dates for the building of the promised “new hospitals”. It left many trusts and communities severely disappointed and worried about how they will deliver care from ageing, and sometimes dangerous, estates. We discuss the revised timelines for the NHP, the reaction from trusts and the impact the decisions have had on NHP teams. Also - we pick out a group of hospitals mostly ignored in the national coverage, who all have RAAC concrete risks.

On this episode we unpick the ongoing tensions among leaders and senior doctors at one of the biggest trusts in England. University Hospitals Birmingham - previously a flagship teaching trust with an influential leadership - has been through the mire over the past few years, with a string of concerns over culture and care quality. A new top team says it is tackling deep-seated problems, but over recent months rows have flared publicly over consultants' overtime pay, confidence in its leadership, and questionable international training schemes. Also this week, a new senior appointment at NHS England, and what it could mean for the government's 10-year health plan.

This week the team looks at the new elective recovery plan launched this month. The government has tightened to focus on what improvement looks like and introduced some new incentives, but will it be enough? We also take a look at the ever-contentious New Hospitals Programme. Bureau chief Ben Clover is joined by Henry Anderson and Zoe Tidman.

The HSJ Health Check team reveals our predictions for the big issues — and unexpected developments — in 2025, on this week's Christmas podcast. What to expect in reform, finance, integration, primary care, workforce and more in the coming 12 months. With HSJ deputy editor Dave West, senior correspondent Henry Anderson, and correspondent Mimi Launder. Send thoughts, tips, story ideas to ben.clover@hsj.co.uk

This week the team looks at the fallout from the government's positions on staff pay from band 2 to VSM via the banks and agencies. Bureau chief Ben Clover is joined by reporters Henry Anderson and Alison Moore.

This week bureau chief Ben Clover is joined by Mimi Launder and Joe Talora. The team talk about who is really in charge of overseeing providers and what Labour's big plan to overhaul the health tech sector might mean.

This week, the podcast looks at accountability in the NHS and the Thirlwall Inquiry

This week guest host Ben Clover is joined by emergency care correspondent Matt Discombe and safety correspondent Emily Townsend. The team unpack the many policy implications of announcements made at last week's NHS Providers conference, as well as a big moment in the main auditorium. A worrying development with echoes of the Noughties also comes under the spotlight

ICS leader Fiona Edwards, trust chief Daniel Elkeles, and policy guru Nigel Edwards join the HSJ podcast to tell us what's needed from the government's 10-year health plan. Helping and reforming general practice will be crucial, they agreed, but what should be dictated nationally and what must be left to national decisions?

This week on the HSJ Health Check podcast, guest host Ben Clover is joined by the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers to talk money, quality and the CQC

This week guest host Ben Clover and the team look at what no money for winter means for the NHS, and how real a bold new integration scheme is.

This week the team discuss whether the NHS's whole safety, safe-staffing and quality system is getting overhauled, plus was it one simple trick that slashed waiting times at a trust? Guest host Ben Clover is joined by HSJ reporters Alison Moore and Emily Townsend.

This week bureau chief Ben Clover is joined by colleagues to talk about England's crumbling hospitals plus whether or not the money will be there for the elective catch-up

This week bureau chief Ben Clover is joined by colleagues to talk about what happens next for the Care Quality Commission, plus one of the biggest issues faced by the services

This week the team discuss what the Labour party conference means for the NHS, plus the latest on AI and cybersecurity following the summer's major ransomware attack

This week guest host Ben Clover and colleagues discuss the big Streeting meeting plus a new player in primary care.

Guest host Ben Clover is joined by Emily Townsend and Zoe Tidman to look at the first weeks of the Thirlwall inquiry into the management response neonatal deaths at the Countess of Chester, the Lampard inquiry into the deaths of mental health patients in Essex and the module of the covid inquiry covering the NHS response to the pandemic. The team discuss what we're likely to learn and what impact they will have on how services, boards and the wider NHS manage themselves.

This week on the HSJ Health Check podcat guest host Ben Clover is joined by reporters Henry Anderson and Mimi Launder. Henry takes us through the latest in what the new government does and does not expect this winter as the service is told there's nt going to be any extra resources this year. Mimi analyses the next steps in the government's dispute with GPs and what might happen now the British Medical Association has promised to ramp-up its collective action.

This week guest host Ben Clover is joined by Nick Kituno and Emily Townsend. They discuss one of HSJ's most-commented stories of recent months: Chairs - what they do, what they should do and whether they get paid enough. The team also analyse the recent CQC inpatient survey, which has some counter-intuitive results

This week's HSJ podcast looks at the latest development in Shropshire's troubled health system and hospitals, and NHS England's move to ramp up the rollout of the federated data platform. https://www.hsj.co.uk/shrewsbury-and-telford-hospital-nhs-trust/ceo-who-led-trust-through-scandals-announces-departure/7037595.article https://www.hsj.co.uk/technology-and-innovation/nhse-u-turn-mandates-trust-use-of-the-fdp/7037578.article

This week's HSJ Health Check podcast discusses the Chancellor's big interventions in the NHS pay, funding and reform - and fresh HSJ analysis showing the spread of huge deficits around England. With Nick Kituno, Henry Anderson and Dave West.    Read - Revealed: ICSs planning the largest deficits https://www.hsj.co.uk/finance-and-efficiency/revealed-icss-planning-the-largest-deficits/7037571.article

On this episode we unpick the fast moving situation surrounding the GP ballot for “collective action” and the crucial pay negotiations between the BMA and the new government.   We also discuss a recent mortality review done by long-troubled Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust and why campaigners are still calling for a statutory public inquiry into avoidable deaths at the trust over the last decade.

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. 

We delve into the detail of HSJ's comprehensive survey of integrated care board leaders, as well as new interventions on the future of ICBs from NHS England and Wes Streeting.    From leaders' biggest worries, and their achievements thus far, to their plans for the future, HSJ Health Check highlights some of the more surprising findings.   Also, more on the shadow health secretary's recent comments on tensions between ICBs and foundation trusts, and NHS England's new assessment framework.   With Annabelle Collins, Nick Kituno and Dave West. 

This year sets the NHS one of its toughest financial challenges as pandemic cash dries up and funding shortfalls deepen. We hear how three integrated care systems are already warning of significant consequences from the current financial requirements, and explore how the NHS plans to break even in 2024-25. With Henry Anderson, Lawrence Dunhill and Nicholas Carding. 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.  

This week guest host Ben Clover discusses alarming developments in urgent care plus the Silicon Valley firm getting established in the NHS, with HSJ reporters Emily Townsend and Joe Talora.