HSJ Health Check

This week we bring you the latest in our series of HSJ Health Check podcasts tracking the development of the government’s planned Health Bill. On this episode Dave and Annabelle are joined by Mark Dayan and Sarah Reed from the Nuffield Trust and we focus on the abolition of NHS England, drawing on research the think tank has just published. We cover how this could be an opportunity to reset how th...

The government made bringing down elective waits its key target for the NHS, and ministers often celebrate how much the list has fallen since Labour came to power. However, we reveal the part that waiting list clean-ups have played in cutting the list this year – alongside growing some types of activity, and other reforms – and why some experts are raising concerns about patients being wrongfully...

Sir Jim Mackey is expected to end his tenure as ‘transition CEO’ of NHS England next year, so we ask what sort of candidate could be up for the “impossible” job of running the health service.    Also, we dig into what the budget means for the NHS, including how much the pot will be reduced by to pay for the massive redundancy programme.

This week Ben Clover fills in for Annabelle Collins and is joined by Ella Deverux and Zoe Tidman. The team discuss Ella's exclusive on the NHS App breaking cancer diagnosis news to patients ahead of a human, plus Zoe takes us through where the service is on finance, including a trust down to one day's operating costs.

NHS England has finally launched its much-delayed voluntary redundancy scheme so on this episode we cover everything we know so far and the questions that remain. Health secretary Wes Streeting also acknowledged this week in a speech to NHS leaders he has not resolved the redundancies quickly enough and that things had been particularly hard for integrated care boards. In the same speech, Mr Stree...

This week the team look at what happens when the 2nd most stressful thing that can happen to a trust coincides with winter pressures. Plus NHS England's big ask from ICBs. This week's podcast is hosted by tech editor Ben Clover, standing in for Annabelle Collins, and he is joined by Joe Talora and Mimi Launder

NHS England has published its planning guidance - now rechristened the “Medium Term Planning Framework” - so this week we cover what it will mean for the service, with guest Daniel Elkeles, CEO of NHS Providers. We dig into promises to end what NHSE claims is “an operating model that had become overly bureaucratic”, the challenging performance targets and what ‘integrated health organisations’ cou...

Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, one of the biggest acute providers in Europe, was seen as an example of how a trust can turn things around, despite its size and complexity.  However, over recent months it has come under intense scrutiny, with a major maternity scandal unfolding and serious concerns about governance and leadership. Its former CEO Sir Julian Hartley also stepped down from his role l...

This week the HSJ Health Check podcast explores how Labour hopes a fundamental change in the relationship between patients and services can turn the NHS around. We’ll also ask whether the government has shot itself in the foot with its the ill-conceived pledge to abolish NHS England and slash staff at commissioning bodies.

This week we take a look at two of the hottest topics in the NHS – productivity and technology. We’ll ask whether trusts really are getting more productive – and whether it’s fair to compare one to another. And this episode explores why health service leaders need to be keep their egos in check – but only when it comes to tech. With Henry Anderson, James Illman and Joe Talora.

The HSJ Health Check podcast is tracking development of the government’s planned Health Bill. This week we talk to Ian Dodge, who shaped several major pieces of NHS legislation as a national director at NHS England and the Department of Health. Mr Dodge reflects on the lessons that can be learned from two decades of NHS restructure Acts: They rarely succeed in transforming services, take longer an...

This week we discuss an exclusive story about a major expansion of cancer testing centres that will see the private sector take on a bigger role delivering NHS services. We’ll weigh up the success of the community diagnostic testing programme so far - and ask if one crucial factor could be holding it back.  Also, an update on plans to launch a ‘single patient record’, following revelations that NH...

This week two more integrated care board chief executives have quit, the latest in a string of resignations amid major changes to their role. We discuss what’s driving this leadership churn and also an update on the delayed redundancy scheme. And we reflect on Labour's first year in charge of the NHS, asking what drove the government to gamble on a major reorganisation of accountability.

HSJ Health Check returns this week, just as NHS England unveils new performance rankings for every trust in England. We unpick how the league table is drawn up, ask who exactly it is aimed at, and whether it will have any meaningful impact on performance and transparency.  Also, more on the cost of the latest doctors’ strikes and the financial asks facing trusts this year. We are sorry for the poo...

This week on the last HSJ podcast before the summer recess, we cover what is going on with more than £2bn that NHS England wants to take off overspending trusts.  Henry Anderson and Dave West dig into this, and Wes Streeting’s promise to move some of this money into deprived areas – asking if this will actually work. Also an update on plans for manager regulation after the government published its...

This week the HSJ team looks at the upcoming resident doctors' strike, plus how satisfied the public is primary care. Bureau chief Ben Clover, standing in for Annabelle Collins is joined by workforce correspondent Nick Kituno to talk about the BMA's latest strike action following the dramatic policy intervention made by NHSE Boss Sir Jim Mackey earlier in the week. Ben and primary care cor...

Penny Dash's long-awaited review into safety and quality came out this week and put cost-effectiveness at the heart of implementing future recommendations from reviews and inquires.   We cover the biggest changes - including the scrapping of Healthwatch - and whether yet more upheaval will be worth it.   Also this week an update on the government's neighbourhood health plans as the next bit of the...

The 10-Year Health Plan has been published, so this week Alastair McLellan and Dave West cover what really matters in the 150-page document, and why it's such a disappointment. Also, what happened to the last chapter on delivery? 

This week we cover concerns about the safety of certain AI technology used in the NHS, as NHS England tries to exert order over a chaotic market. We also discuss the health secretary’s announcement of a “national maternity investigation” and the unanswered questions surrounding this unusual decision. And finally, we talk more about HSJ revelations this week that a patient died as a result of the c...

This episode explores the evolving concept of neighbourhood health, the question marks over who will take the lead in each area and why ICBs still have an important role to play.   We’re joined by Andrew Bland, chief executive of South East London ICB and London’s neighbourhood lead, and Ruth Rankine, director of the NHS Confederation’s primary care network, to discuss the cultural and financial c...

HSJ editor Alastair McLellan sits down with NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor during this year’s ConfedExpo conference, which has been happening at the same time as the Chancellor’s spending review. They cover whether Labour may have hoped for more money for the health service, NHS reform (and the personalities involved), the cultural acceptance of the status quo in the NHS, and how...

This week we bring you the latest in our series of HSJ Health Check podcasts tracking the development of the government’s planned Health Bill. The series will explore what ministers and officials have in store as their vision for the NHS 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 Siva Ananda...

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 loo...

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 award...