All articles by Alastair McLellan
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NewsNew ‘mass casualty’ orders for trusts after terror threat rises
Acute trusts designated to help deal with a “mass casualty incident” will be given just six hours to clear 10 per cent of their beds in readiness to receive the injured.
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LeaderWe must abandon the myth that inquiries work
“I don’t think people do get closure [from inquiries]… It’s a myth, and I don’t think that we should dangle the prospect of it as something that we can achieve.” Dr Bill Kirkup speaking on last week’s HSJ podcast
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NewsMore changes to DHSC ministerial team announced
An MP who called for a debate on “the revolving door of failed NHS managers” has been appointed a health minister.
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NewsNew health secretary appointed
Yvette Cooper has been appointed secretary of state for health and social care by incoming prime minister Andy Burnham.
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LeaderWhat a Burnham premiership will mean for the NHS
HSJ has spent the past few weeks talking to those in and around the “Burnham camp” in an effort to answer this question. Some consistent and significant themes have emerged.
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NewsNHS CEO might not report to health secretary
The new NHS chief executive may soon report to a senior civil servant rather than the health secretary, HSJ understands.
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LeaderStuck in the politician’s waiting room
Once again, the NHS is waiting. Waiting to see if there will be a new prime minister, waiting to see if they will appoint a new health secretary, waiting to see who that health secretary will appoint as Sir Jim Mackey’s successor. Waiting to see if the new leadership will ...
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LeaderWhen is a cover-up not a cover-up?
The answer to the question posed in our headline is apparently: “When the decision to keep something quiet is based on clinical advice.”
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NewsNHS churned through 48 ministers in 11 years
Forty-eight people have served as ministers in the Department of Health and Social Care in the 11 years since the 2015 general election, with an average tenure of just 487 days, according to analysis by HSJ.
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NewsMackey’s heir named number one trust CEO
The top two trust chief executives in the 12th edition of HSJ’s annual ranking of the most respected provider CEOs have taken very different routes to the summit.
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LeaderWaiting for the great leap forward
2026-27 is intended to be the year the NHS’s performance curve bends, but the reforms that are needed to deliver are stuck in the planning phase, says Alastair McLellan
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NewsGiving mayors NHS role ‘will challenge founding principle’
The government is launching an experiment that will pitch local government and NHS-led models against each other to see which is the most effective in improving a population’s health and wellbeing, Wes Streeting has told HSJ.
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NewsCEOs of struggling trusts are worth their salaries, says health secretary
Wes Streeting has defended the salaries paid to chief executives of struggling trusts, arguing they could earn “a lot more” if they chose.
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NewsStreeting: ICBs should ‘take a bit longer’ to get reorganisation right
The health secretary has admitted the rationalising and refocusing of integrated care boards has not gone smoothly, and that “taking a bit longer to get it right [is] a good thing” where required.
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NewsNational trust recovery programme reset after three weeks
Five trusts have been included in a new “intensive recovery programme” which is expected to replace a “national provider improvement programme” launched just weeks ago.
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LeaderThe NHS must invest in AI before ‘more doctors and nurses’
Almost every British political party with the tiniest chance of getting anywhere near power has pledged to employ “more doctors and nurses” should they be elected – and they mostly followed through.
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LeaderDo ICBs have a future?
To which question, many of you will respond “of course” and point to the repeated statements by ministers and national leaders that integrated care boards have a vital role to play.
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LeaderThe Streeting/Milburn era must end to give the NHS a fresh start
It has now been exactly a year since Labour began its reform of the NHS, and the succeeding months have proved a poor advert for its central idea of giving government more control over the service.
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LeaderThe NHS is too reliant on resident doctors
As the dust settled on the latest resident doctors strike, a group of medical and managerial senior executives met to review how their London acute trust had fared.
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CommentThe 10 best HSJ comment pieces of 2025
HSJ published more than 150 comment pieces from external contributors this year. These are chosen – and occasionally commissioned – by me