A survey of chairs working across the NHS provider sector has found unanimous support for the view that NHS trust chairs are underpaid compared with their foundation trust counterparts, plus the day’s news and comment
4.53pm Guardian columinist Anne Perkins argues that earmarking a portion of national insurance to pay for the NHS, as suggested by Labour MP Frank Field, “may make good politics, but not necessarily good economics”.
4.15pm PET CT scanning has the potential to go beyond its traditional oncology role and help neurology patients too, but the UK needs to radically expand their availability first.
Read the first in a four part series, in association with GE Healthcare, looking at the people and technology breaking new ground in healthcare.
3.50pm The BBC reports that a baby, believed to be the world’s youngest heart transplant recipient, has died.
Tiana Middleton underwent the nine-hour procedure at the age of 12 days at the Freeman Hospital, part of Newcastle upon Tynes Hospitals Foundation Trust.
She was given a Berlin Heart which helps to pump blood around the body. However, she suffered complications after the operation and died yesterday.
3.11pm In his weekly HSJ column Michael White writes that Stephen Dorrell’s surprise departure as Commons health committee chair left journalists high and dry – but at least we can speculate on who will take his place.
Waiting times data released in May shows Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust treated 80.6 per cent of urgent cancer referrals within two weeks in quarter four 2013-14, against a target of 93 per cent.
Among more than 70 schemes awarded funds are a project to develop artificial blood which could be used for transfusions in disaster zones and a smartphone app to help diagnose delirium.
The Business, Innovation and Skills department said other projects receiving backing included a blood test to identify Alzheimer’s, a potential new gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease and the use of ultrasound to force cancer drugs deeper into tumours.
The findings, shared exclusively with HSJ, suggest that on average foundation trust chairs are paid £40,000 – double the £20,000 average pay for an NHS trust chair.
1.00pm The chair of the troubled University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust has resigned.
In a message to trust colleagues, John Cowdall said: “I wanted to let you all know that after doing a lot of thinking over the last few weeks, I have decided to step down as your Chairman. Since my appointment in January 2013, I have had the immense pleasure of working alongside highly dedicated, caring and professional teams of staff, governors and volunteers. I have observed at first hand and met many of you on my visits to our hospitals. Your passion and commitment to provide first class caring services for patient has been evident throughout my time here. You are all a credit to your various professions.
“In my time here, I have seen the Trust under the sterling leadership of Jackie Daniel and the new Board of Directors guide our hospitals through a significant period of change and improvement. We all know that much remains to be done but by working together with our Governors, volunteers and various partners, I am confident that the Trust will move quickly to where it needs to be.
By the end of this month, the Trust will have prepared its plans for Better Care Together and I believe that this is now the right time for me to hand over to a new person to lead the Board and Council of Governors in the delivery phase of this work programme.
“It has been hugely satisfying for me to see at first hand the progress that has been made in improving areas such as safety, governance, quality, patient experience and finance but I am now looking forward to spending more time with my family. It was only recently that my wife asked me “when will I get my husband back?” That convinced me that I needed to make some difficult decisions about what I wanted to do in the future.
As a final request to you all, I ask that you continue to support Jackie and her team as we enter the next stage of our journey with Better Care Together. The Trust will only succeed with everyone working together. The NHS is not about buildings or equipment or strategies, it is about people. We have over 5,500 talented individuals who, when moving in the same direction, are a powerful force to be reckoned with.
“I will officially remain as Chairman until 30 June 2014. However, the Deputy Chairman, John Hutton, will now start to take up my responsibilities until my successor has been appointed.
“Thank you for your continued support, and I wish you and your families all that you wish for yourselves for the future.”
Helen Birtwhistle, the director of the Welsh NHS Confederation, wants to see individuals make a bigger effort to look after themselves and work together with health professionals in a bid to keep fit and healthy.
Her comments, reported by Wales Online, echo those of health minister Mark Drakeford, who recently called for patients to become custodians of their own health instead of handing ownership to the nearest doctor.
The last time the target for all A&Es was missed for a whole month was in April last year.
11.30am The BBC’s health correspondent Nick Triggle writes that while there are 1.4m people working for the NHS and “a similar number staffing care homes and providing vital home help”, these figures are “dwarfed by a hidden workforce - the UK’s army of carers”.
11.12am The Guardian reports that more than a third of adults in England are at high risk for type 2 diabetes, according to research published in the journal BMJ Open.
The study reveals that the proportion of people who have prediabetes – higher than normal blood glucose levels but not ye high enough to cause diabetes – has tripled in eight years. The levels have risen from 11.6 per cent in 2003 to 35.3 per cent in 2011.
10.58am More from The Daily Mail, British patients have for been fitted with wireless pacemakers for the first time.
Two men, one his twenties and the other his sixties, were fitted with wire-free pacemakers the size of pill while patients at Southampton General Hospital, which is run by University Hospital Southampton Foundation Trust.
Professor John Morgan, who operated on the men, said: “This is a big step forward in patient treatment and a milestone for cardiac rhythm management in the UK.”
10.35am Also in The Daily Mail, autism is Britain’s most expensive medical condition, according to research from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Researchers have estimated that autism costs the UK £32bn a year, which is more than the combined cost of treating cancer, heart disease and stroke.
10.22am In The Daily Mail, relatives of Orchard View residents have called for a called for a public inquiry after a review to prevent a repeat of the “institutionalised abuse throughout the home”.
10.12am Flicking through this morning’s papers, The Times reports that families seeking residential care for relatives are not being told of serious risks and safety concerns in their area, according to a report into “harrowing” elderly abuse at a home in West Sussex.
The serious case review into the deaths of five elderly people at Orchid View in Copthorne was highly critical of the Care Quality Commission for having failed to alert prospective residents and their families to concerns about conditions there.
9.58am As the political parties prepare for the general election in 2015, HSJ has commissioned a series of articles from party insiders to explore the reality of how policy is made.
In the first column, Bill Morgan, a former special adviser to Andrew Lansley, examines the tensions within the Conservatives over health policy, and explains why all parties shy away from addressing the challenges of NHS finances.
9.45am In case you missed it, the government is using the Mid Staffordshire scandal to soften up the health service for privatisation, the shadow health secretary has said.
Andy Burnham made his comments during a speech to NHS staff and trade union representatives following his appearance at the NHS Confederation Conference in Liverpool last week.
He said: “The Francis report was terrible, but it was a local failure and they [the government] are trying to say it’s happening everywhere. They are softening it [the NHS] up for privatisation.”
In the third day of debate on the Queen’s Speech in the House of Commons yesterday, which focused on health, health secretary Jeremy Hunt cited HSJ’s story and asked Mr Burnham to retract his comments.
7.00am Welcome to HSJ Live. Issues with the friends and family test’s validity and data interpretation means patients may be unable to make informed decisions about where best to have treatment, say Rachel Davis and Eleni Panagiotopoulou.
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