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…

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 …

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.

2022-23 was probably the worst ever winter for the NHS, after a steep collapse in performance. This year’s been a little better — new figures confirm — but how was this achieved, and what does it mean for coming months? This week’s HSJ Health Check podcast reviews the latest figures on emergency care performance — across A&E waits, ambulance delays…

On this episode we discuss the quality of maternity services in the NHS, which have remained firmly in the spotlight. We cover a recent HSJ investigation into delayed inductions of labour and cover the broader challenges facing maternity services amid multiple inquiries and more 'inadequate' CQC ratings. Also more on why families whose babies died …

With one working day left before the new financial year, the NHS’s instructions for 2024-25 have finally been published. HSJ’s James Illman, Annabelle Collins, and Dave West unpack what's in this year’s guidance and talk more about the sticking points that caused the long delay.

HSJ revealed this week the cost of building “40 new hospitals” in the NHS has increased by £4bn, so on this episode we dig into what’s driving this and if it will get past the Treasury. Also this week – when PFI deals go wrong and how a fire at the Whittington Hospital in north London has led to a High Court case.…

This week we discuss the implications of a long-awaited independent review into a patient safety scandal at Salford Royal Hospital, in which multiple patients were harmed by John Williamson, the former head of the spinal division. We cover why concerns about care quality resurfaced long after the trust concluded its review in 2016 and why it failed…

HSJ Health Check debates the new NHS staff survey results, with trust CEO Matthew Winn, survey expert Chris Graham, and HSJ's Nick Kituno. Some key findings are improved this year, but others reveal a service still struggling to recover from the pandemic. There's also an alarming increase in reports of discrimination. Meanwhile, Matthew and Chris a…

There has been a huge increase in the proportion of treatments done by the private sector compared to before the pandemic, and for the first time we’ve worked out which parts of the country send most patients to independent hospitals. Also, more on news that NHS capital budgets have been raided to pay for staff pay rises and the cost of strikes. Re…

A controversial new care model has come under fire from trust leaders, who have warned patients and clinicians are coming to harm. We discuss the concerns surrounding the national roll-out of Right Care, Right Person, and why the emergency services have ended up playing a “high stakes game of chicken”. Also this week, we discuss NHS England’s ambit…

We talk more about the decimation of England’s national public health unit less than three years after it was created. We cover the motivations behind this, the impact it could have on integrated care systems’ plans and whether Labour will reverse it. Also, the latest on the planning guidance and how its become entangled with the Budget negotiation…

This week we discuss a major obstacle in the planning guidance negotiations – how high to set the A&E four-hour target. The government is pushing for a new target set at over 80%, while NHS England lobbies for one just one percentage point higher than the current target. Also this week more on how the risk in emergency care has shifted from ambulan…

Two of the most successful NHS hospital chief executives – one current, Glen Burley, and one former, Dame Alwen Williams – join the HSJ Health Check podcast, arguing that the sometimes-contentious spread of the ‘group model’ and joint leadership will keep on spreading. The Foundation Group CEO and former boss of Barts Health Trust – one of the moth…

This week for the first time a study has revealed the number of patients on PIFU pathways has not translated into a significant reduction in follow up appointments. Also, a governance row across some of the biggest trusts in east London, while a major teaching hospital on the other side of the Thames sees its finances explode. With Ben Clover, Anna…

Dental budgets are being raided by ICSs to fund other services in the middle of an unprecedented access crisis. We cover a broken financial system, a discredited contract and increasing political pressure to fix NHS dentistry. Also we review how NHS England is faring on its pledge to increase overall primary care investment.…

HSJ recently revealed the dramatic differences in access to specialist medical treatments around the country. We discuss what’s driving this inequality, who is missing out and what big-city trusts are doing to improve access. Also, an update on how the NHS coped during the longest ever junior doctor strikes over Christmas and the New Year and why t…

In our final episode of the year we make our predictions for what 2024 could hold for the NHS, including the first integrated care system merger, how the strikes will pan out and manager regulation. Thanks for listening and we’ll be back in January!

Three years ago the NHS was the first healthcare system in the world to set an ambition to become net zero, but it struggles to prioritise this in the face of daily operational and financial pressures. This week we discuss in depth the green targets, progress already made and why, despite competing priorities, they should still be high up leaders’ …

This week we’re joined by Thea Stein, who recently moved into think tank world after nine years running an NHS trust. We cover her reflections on her time at Leeds Community Healthcare Trust, why she is fed up of “visions” of integrated care and much more interested in the tricky detail, and the radical policies needed to recruit and retain more st…

Leaders at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust have been heavily criticised in an independent inquiry into the actions of former maintenance supervisor David Fuller. We cover the mistakes made by the trust that enabled him to abuse hundreds of bodies in its mortuary over 15 years and what the rest of the NHS must do in response to this horrific cas…

US firm Palantir has officially been awarded the lucrative federated data platform deal, which is one of the biggest NHS data projects in recent years. This week Nick Carding, Joe Talora and Annabelle Collins discuss the controversy surrounding the deal, what the risks and benefits are for the NHS and what’s next in its implementation.…

A trust that gave its name to a controversial A&E policy has seen performance improve significantly, so this week we discuss how North Bristol Trust handled the risks and how quickly its model could spread throughout the NHS. Also, NHSE chief Amanda Pritchard told MPs this week there has been a ”misunderstanding” about productivity in the NHS - we …

This week Annabelle and James are joined by Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers. We’re looking ahead to winter and an election year, in which the NHS faces ongoing strikes, stalling progress on waiting lists and challenging finances. We also cover the damage done by ’short-termism’ and why turnover of trust CEOs is getting wors…

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 an…

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 a…

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 fro…

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 …

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 p…

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,…

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 a…

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…

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…

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 f…

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 I…

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 th…

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 …

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…

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, an…

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 rev…

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.

We discuss data revealing the true scale of long A&E waits for mental health patients and what acute trusts are trying to do about it without any extra national funding. Also: most GP practices are still using old-fashioned paper records, despite a commitment four years ago to get rid of them. We discuss whether it’s worth GPs’ time and money to ma…

Targets to reduce the number of outpatient appointments are not being met by trusts. On this epsiode we discuss why the number of outpatient appointments has remained stuck at £124m, despite pressure to cut them, and what is being done about it. Also this week, an update on integrated care systems’ finances and what is worrying them at the moment, …

After seemingly endless delays, the fate of the ‘40 new hospitals’ has finally been revealed by the government. With eight key schemes pushed back until the next decade, the programme set to receive £10bn less than requested and funding subject to “future spending reviews”, we cover the immediate reaction and what’s next for NHP trusts. Also - more…

The government’s 40 “new hospitals” has dominated headlines - and decisions - over NHS capital funding in recent years, but this week HSJ revealed dozens of trusts are still waiting for money promised by the previous big capital programme. We discuss why over £1bn is yet to be received for capital schemes announced in 2017 and 2018 and what impact …

This week bureau chief Ben Clover stands in for Annabelle Collins and introduces two important stories, one that got national coverage and one that HSJ broke. Deputy editor Dave West takes us through the strange delay of some community diagnostic centres, which some suspect is politically-motivated as the government looks to what it can deliver bef…

On this week’s episode Alastair reveals why NHS England’s elective recovery director Jim Mackey is replacing David Sloman as national operations lead later this year. We also discuss why Tim Ferris was the right man for the national transformation job, but arrived at the wrong time. Also this week: what’s next for the Agenda for Change pay deal and…