HSJ Health Check

To mark one year of the Health Check podcast we’re joined by special guest Nigel Edwards, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust, who shares his expert insight on the biggest operational, cultural and strategic changes the NHS has gone through during the pandemic. We discuss whether mutual aid and breaking down professional barriers are here to stay and how the growing cancer waiting lists could ta...

This week the team delves into an exclusive HSJ’ s summit interview with NHS chief executive Simon Stevens and weighs up the trade-offs the health service might need to make as covid cases rise, why legislation is still expected next year and why no comment on NHS finances could be significant. We also discuss the latest scandal exposing the abuse of patients at another private hospital for people...

The pressure is rising again on the health service but keeping it running smoothly this winter will rely on its workforce. This week the HSJ Health Check focuses on some of the biggest issues facing NHS staff right now, covering ‘trade-offs’ after the spending review, staff testing chaos, and whether risk assessments are actually having an impact for vulnerable staff. Featuring Annabelle Collins,...

Payment by results is being swept away in favour of system funding and block payments, much to the irritation of some NHS hospital chief executives. And is government giving the NHS what it needs to get through covid? The HSJ Health Check team discuss.

This week on the podcast the HSJ team discuss government plans to invest a reported £100bn to expand covid testing, amid thousands of people being denied potentially life-saving cancer screening during the pandemic's peak - according to new statistics. We ask: Could the £100bn be better spent working through the cancer backlog? We also discuss confidential documents - accidentally published - whic...

Autumn will bring pivotal funding decisions in the comprehensive spending review, while the NHS battles to "lock in" covid reforms, seek "near normal" capacity, and anticipate a surge in mental health demand. It must also brace itself for whatever coronavirus will bring next. Five HSJ correspondents explain what the next four months hold across finance, mental health, performance, technology, and...

This week our expert team discuss if coronavirus has been the catalyst for permanent reform of the Care Quality Commission, following comments made about the new ‘streamlined’ inspections by its chief executive in an exclusive interview with HSJ. We also discuss other aspects of the health service that may never revert to ‘normal’ and ask whether, in the face of major service reconfiguration, covi...

This week the team discuss the most tumultuous week in Public Health England’s history. Editor Alastair McLellan and correspondents Sharon Brennan and Jack Serle discuss what happened  to the embattled agency and where public health might land.

The new NHS People Plan accidentally implied that being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer was a disability or long-term condition, sparking outcry. It has been corrected, and some have argued that criticism went too far, amounting to personal criticism of NHS England chief people office Prerana Issar, who has been working to change NHS culture and tackle discrimination. Meanwhile, NHS E...

Is the NHS and local government set on a collision course, due to  changes around care assessments set out in new central guidance this  week? This week the podcast tackles this question and digs into what the  'phase 3' letter really means for the running of the health service.  Featuring Annabelle Collins, Sharon Brennan, James Illman and Ben  Clover. (This episode was r...

Matt Hancock set out his post covid vision for health and care in a long, meandering speech this week – HSJ Health Check dissects key themes including staffing, emergency care, digital, system working and social care. With HSJ’s Dave West, Annabelle Collins, James Illman and Tom Norton.

This week the team dig into what’s going on in East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust – an organisation which has seen well over its fair share of covid-related deaths since the start of June. We discuss the leadership challenges faced by the trust over many years, its ongoing maternity scandal, and how its persisting battle with coronavirus doesn’t fit with the new national narrative of...

This week HSJ Health Check conducts a deep dive on the experience of three regions all affected by the virus in different ways and recovering at different rates. Our expert journalists explore the prospects in the West Midlands, the North West and London over the next six months and what the sticking points might be. Featuring Annabelle Collins, Rebecca Thomas, Ben Clover and Lawrence Dunhill.

A government-commissioned review this week reported on intense suffering by hundreds of women which was “entirely avoidable, caused and compounded by failings in the health system itself”. This week’s HSJ Health Check looks at how and why these findings by Baroness Julia Cumberlege are being buried by the government and the NHS. With HSJ editor Alastair McLellan, quality and safety correspondent M...

Finance became a dirty word in the NHS as it went into covid crisis mode. Reality is slowly returning – but the world of NHS finances has been turned on its head. This week’s HSJ Health Check contemplates what’s changed, and the landscape for the coming months. With HSJ’s Annabelle Collins, Katherine Hignett, and Dave West.

With pubs reopening, why are many NHS services still closed or restricted? Why aren’t all staff being tested to prevent outbreaks? This week’s HSJ Health Check explores the latest dilemmas for those running and working in the NHS as they try to operate health services while controlling covid infections, amid the ongoing pandemic. With HSJ’s Dave West, Annabelle Collins, Nick Carding, and Matt Disc...

This HSJ Podcast explores the changing relationship between the life sciences industry and the NHS. Forged by the covid crisis, protocols have been set aside and companies have worked with regulatory bodies to accelerate clinical trials and deliver equipment to the NHS front line. The panel reflects on events of the past few months and looks towards the future and with hope of a new style of worki...

The week’s podcast explores whether system integration will become central to how the NHS recovers and resets after covid. It explores plans to create system waiting lists, new legislative proposals and asks where staffing and social care fits into these agendas. It is brought to you by senior correspondents, Sharon Brennan and Annabelle Collins and bureau chief Lawrence Dunhill.

The NHS has gone through an enormous reconfiguration in response to the covid-19 pandemic, but as the health service moves into ‘phase three’, what happens next? HSJ’s editor Alastair Mclellan and senior correspondents Annabelle Collins and Nick Carding discuss.

What became of major chunks of the national review into why people with a BAME background have seen a greater death rate from covid-19 – which were written, then disappeared? Plus, June’s new look target for coronavirus testing, and what NHS capacity will be left with arduous infection control in place? This week with HSJ’s Dave West, Ben Clover, Nick Carding and Alison Moore. Contact dave.west@wi...

With the focus fixed firmly on coronavirus, there are important and urgent issues in healthcare going under the radar. This week four of HSJ’s expert journalists share the vital developments they think are going unnoticed – from the financial situation in mental health trusts, to problems still being caused by tax changes on medical consultants’ pensions. With Dave West, Annabelle Collins, Rebecca...

This week our tech reporting team Jasmine Rapson and Nick Carding, along with Dave West and Annabelle Collins, discuss leaked NHSX emails that revealed concerns the Department of Health and Social Care’s tech division is damaging its reputation with “non-compliant” tech. We consider how the covid-19 pandemic has seen some hasty technology procurements, and whether the way patients access healthcar...

This week HSJ Health Check digs into the latest NHS performance data, revealing how coronavirus affected normal services – taking the weight off emergency departments, but adding millions to the waiting list. We also discuss the need for scrutiny of how covid-19 is affecting people with mental health, learning disabilities and autism, the covid testing “black hole”, and why pressure is staying hig...

On this week’s HSJ Health Check podcast we discuss where England’s covid-19 response on three key fronts. With the government poised to announce some relaxation of lockdown measures bureau chief Ben Clover and three HSJ colleagues look at the testing drive, the new contact tracing app and trends in mortality. After the government achieved its testing target by fiddling the rules, Nicholas Carding...

On this week’s HSJ Health Check podcast we discuss  warnings over a possible covid-linked condition in children, and Sir  Simon Steven’s new guidance on the next phase of the response for the  NHS. Children’s intensive care doctors have observed a small but  growing number of cases, and issued warnings to try to ensure cases are  not dismissed. Matt Hancock has ordered fur...