The must read stories and talking points from Thursday

Trust faces special measures

It’s tough going in the NHS in Cornwall. Acute services have long been a problem area, it’s in the capped expenditure programme, and its clinical commissioning group has been in quite a mess too. 

Glimmers of hope have largely come to naught.

Now the Royal Cornwall is recommended for quality special measures by the Care Quality Commission, in what is a pretty critical report even by those standards. 

Kathy Byrne moved over from Australia to be chief executive in April 2016. She is looking to establish an accountable care structure – presumably to whip the out-of-hospital system into shape – but it seems there remains quite a challenge inside hospital too.

Commissioning shuffle in the North West

Fresh dispatches from the fast changing world of clinical commissioning group leadership, this time from the north west.

Jan Ledward, previously chief of two Lancashire CCGs, moves over two Liverpool CCGs – from where Katherine Sheerin departed in difficult circumstances the summer.

Her Lancs roles are filled in the interim by a chief officer moving out of Oldham – where, being in Greater Manchester, there are moves afoot to be joined at the head with local government.