Sir David Nicholson speaks about culture at the Healthcare Innovation Expo, where Jeremy Hunt is also due to talk, and revelation of the new NHS GP deputy medical director.
It calls for a series of measures as “a proper response to the Francis report… These include a legal duty of honesty so that hospitals and other NHS bodies must tell patients and their families if harm has been done… an end to “gagging” clauses for departing staff…. A new legal right for patients to participate in producing a care plan”.
3.40pm: Shaun Lintern has been covering today’s Jeremy Hunt speech. Technology was a big feature, with some announcements of investment.
He are some of Shaun’s tweets:
“Hunts says he wants NHS freed from the shackles of bureacracy so our brilliant docs and nurses can find the solutions that work for patients.”
“Hunt announces a new link-up with Johnson & Johnson’s innovation centre, launch of a Health App Library and a £5.5m fund for comm groups.”
“We need to go much further much faster and mustnt underestimate the size of the prize a paperless NHS can bring says Hunt.”
“Hunt says Gov has learned from past and will not impose top down Whitehall solutions but instead local ideas meetinh national standards.”
3.39pm: NHS Employers has responded to today’s Chartered Society of Physiotherapy report on NHS staff health and well-being. Dean Royles, chief executive of NHS Employers, said: “This is a timely report on a crucial issue to patients, staff and employers and we welcome a focus for further improving staff health and well-being.
“Over recent years, staff sickness levels in the NHS have been coming down and this is a credit to the excellent and often creative health and well-being programmes seen in many NHS organisations. The NHS is facing pressures on a number of fronts and we can hold onto this momentum and keep sickness coming down against the odds.”
2.55pm: HSJ reporter David Williams has broken an interesting story about confusion over data use and governance, as the new system gears up to go live on 1 April. He tweets: “@dwilliamsHSJ: If special permission isnt granted, much of the new NHS system wont have a legal basis for working with sensitive info: http://t.co/q1Lh5wB0Tr”
2.52pm: The NHS Commissioning Board - @NHSCB - tweets: “Read the pledge made by Sir David Nicholson for NHS Change Day http://bit.ly/XtlKq1 #NHSExpo”
1.36pm: HSJ readers are having an interesting debate about the merits on Don Berwick’s role in the NHS in our interview with him, published today.
1.27pm: Shaun Lintern is reporting on chief nurse Jane Cummings’ speech at the innovation expo. “The Caremakers project will be extended with over 1,000 student nurses over the next few years says @JaneMCummings| #NHSExpo.”
12.30pm: NHS policy mastermind and King’s Fund fellow Nigel Edwards has made some points via Twitter about the NHS Alliance which has raised concern around overuse of hospitals. Nigel says: “Facts for @nhsalliance UK admits per 100k 13.6k Euro OECD average 16.7 Austria 26. Only NL, It, Ire, Spain and Port lower & this nt nec good”
12.06pm: There is also significant press coverage today of reports the government is moving away from its plan to introduce minimum alcohol pricing.
Royal College of Nursing chief executuive Peter Carter responds: “With growing evidence supporting the introduction of a minimum unit price for alcohol, it is disappointing to hear rumours it may not happen.”
12.04pm: The Times has today covered the story about the Department of Health’s refusal to reveal quality information used to make a judgement about child heart surgery.
12.03pm: Our HSJ Twitter chat on Ben Clover’s survey of trust chairs - covering board governance post Francis - has begun.
11.46am: Sir David Nicholson has been speaking about NHS “culture” at the Healthcare Innovation Expo. Shaun Lintern reports: “Nicholson turns to culture and says the NHS does not have one single culture and some have built up ‘over 100s of years’… Francis report makes us reflect on what is the dominant culture says David Nicholson”
11.34am: Following Sir David Nicholson’s speech, @shirleyayres tweets: “Live streaming David Nicholson’s speech would have been a great example of innovation, transparency & an outward looking culture #nhsexpo.”
11.28am: @ShaunLintern: “An open and transparent culture is the kind of culture we need to develop innovation says David Nicholson #NHSExpo…
“If we get patients leading this change with clinicians focused on outcomes we can make a healthcare system we can all be proud of. #NHSExpo”
And that ends Sir David Nicholson’s speech at the Innovation Expo. He takes no questions.
11.24am: @ShaunLintern: “Nicholson turns to culture and says the NHS does not have one single culture and some have built up ‘over 100s of years’ #NHSExpo…
“Francis report makes us reflect on what is the dominant culture says David Nicholson #NHSExpo.”
11.16am: @ShaunLintern: “Nicholson warns against cost-cutting: ‘If that’s body language of the NHS then that won’t deliver great services for patients.’ #NHSExpo”
11.15am: @ShaunLintern: “There will be fairly static resources for the NHS Nicholson says and namechecks QIPP savings as way forward. #NHSExpo”
11.10am: Shaun Lintern tweets from Sir David Nicholson’s speech at the Innovation Expo: “If you can take 4 or 5 great ideas from #NHSExpo it will be worth spending the money to come here says DN…
“The global financial climate is putting great pressure on healthcare systems around the world - DN #NHSExpo…
“Pay restraint is part of the equation for future of NHS David Nicholson tells #NHSExpo.”
11.06am: How should boards govern post-Francis? Join us for a Twitter chat today at 12pm #HSJchairs.
It follows our survey of hospital and mental health trust chairs, published yesterday. It found the majority of chairs believe there are a “small number” of trusts failing in a similar way to Mid Staffordshire.
10.40am: The NHS Information Centre announced this morning: “New figures on hospital admissions for dental procedures reveal higher rates for patients from the most deprived sectors of the population when the primary diagnosis is for dental caries- also known as tooth decay.
“Almost one fifth of such admissions were for patients from the most deprived ten per cent of the population (18 per cent, or 18,320 admissions out of 101,390). However, those from the least deprived ten per cent of the population accounted for only four per cent of admissions with a primary diagnosis of dental caries (4,400).”
10.29am There are three NHS stories in The Times today. Their front page lead says all but the most sick patients should be kept out of “dangerous” hospitals.
The piece is based on a warning from the NHS Alliance that
Dr Chris Drinkwater and Dr Michael Dixon of the NHS Alliance wrote to the Times, saying: “If we are to put people before numbers and achieve high quality of care, as well as keeping an NHS free at the point of need for future generations we must, as an immediate imperative, shift all non urgent care from hospital into the community.”
A story on page six reports that ministers are “ready to withdraw their support” for NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson, “if he fails to cut a convincing figure before MPs next week.”
Sir David will appear before the public accounts committee next week to give evidence about expenditure on IT.
MPs are also expected to ask him about his personal expenses.
“His future is in his own hands”, one minister told the Times.
The third story is headlined: “’Hypocritical’ Hunt is accused of hiding child death rate data.”
Preliminary nalysis by Sir Brian Jarman of Imperial College, who pioneered mortality rate collection, suggests that two hospitals whose children’s heart surgery units are earmarked for closure have lower than average death rates.
But there is a row over whether the full data on children’s heart surgery outcomes should be released. Shadow health minister Liz Kendall accused Mr Hunt of a double standard over openness in the NHS.
10.14am: FREE ON HSJ: Don Berwick - who is reviewing NHS patient safety in light of the Francis report - is receiving a lot of attention today, as details of his work are announced. HSJ’s detailed interview with him on Francis, patient safety, and whether he might consider becoming NHS chief exectuive himself, is free today to those registered on the website. The Guardian, Telegraph and BBC have also covered the story.
10.01am: HSJ’s senior correspondent Crispin Dowler and reporter Shaun Lintern will be covering the Innovation Expo, including Sir David’s speech, live on Twitter and on the HSJ Live blog.
9.59am: Amid the national furore around the future of Sir David Nicholson, Channel 4 health correspondent Victoria Macdonald tweets: “@vsmacdonald This is a first. told we can’t film David Nicholson speech today @nhs expo. Sensing the hands of Downing St in this one”
9.47am: We have broken the news that Mike Bewick, currently NHS North of England medical director, who worked as a GP until 2007, has been appointed as the NHS Commissioning Board’s deputy medical director. He will be the most senior national GP working on primary care. Full story available to subscribers.
8.05am: Later today, HSJ Live will cover speeches at the Healthcare Innovation Expo in London, including NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson, health secretary Jeremy Hunt, and former health minister Lord Darzi.
8.02am: HSJ has today published an interview with Don Berwick, the international safety expert commissioned by the prime minister to review patient safety in the NHS. The revelations include that he will review all of Robert Francis’ recommendations and advise on how they should be be taken forward. We have also published a piece on Sir Bruce Keogh’s review of hospitals with high mortality rates. Both reviews will report in July, setting the context for a raft of reforms aimed at addressing patient safety and quality.
8.00am: Good morning, as the NHS prepares for the final stage of its biggest ever restructuring, there is a sizeable risk that the cause of equality and inclusion is being set back years, writes Shahnaz Ali on the HSJ site today. “To tackle the longstanding problem of a “snowcapped” organisation, the lack of diversity among senior leadership needs to remedied,” she says.
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