All Health Service Journal articles in December 2024
View all stories from this issue.
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NewsTwo more ICBs sued over procurement by NHS trusts
An NHS trust and two social enterprises are taking legal action over a £300m procurement for children’s community health services which they say raises ‘significant concerns about safety’.
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HSJ LocalICB chair quits to lead two acute trusts
An integrated care board chair is to step down for a permanent role leading two trusts.
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NewsFocus on productivity in 2024, NHSE tells boards
Letter from NHSE calls for ’focus on recovering our core service delivery and productivity’ Planning guidance delayed to 2024 after Treasury refused to sign it off Guidance now planned for January The Treasury has refused to sign off the NHS’s annual planning guidance in the wake of disruption ...
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NewsDischarging patients to virtual ward led to near-doubling of costs, study finds
Researchers have found the cost impact of discharging patients to a virtual ward was almost double that of traditional inpatient care.
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NewsNHSE approves 20 procurement framework hosts ahead of clampdown
A first set of organisations that set up and run procurement frameworks has been approved by NHS England as part of preparations to force trusts to buy services through accredited routes.
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NewsTrusts’ performance on key recovery target revealed
Ten trusts have just 1 per cent or fewer of their outpatients on “patient initiated follow-up” pathways, against a target of 5 per cent, official data suggests.
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NewsDoctors vote for six months’ more strikes
Junior doctors in England have voted overwhelmingly to extend their strike mandate for a further six months, the British Medical Association has announced.
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NewsNHSE seeks consultancy firm for £40m ‘strategic partnership’
NHS England is set to spend up to £40m on management consultancy support for its commercial directorate, according to procurement documents seen by HSJ.
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NewsCorridor care ‘must not be the norm’, NHSE warns trusts
NHS England has warned trusts corridor care “must not be considered the norm”, adding that the failings exposed by a recent undercover documentary were “not acceptable”.
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HSJ LocalTrust hit by strike over backpay dispute
Another trust faces strike action by healthcare assistants, as a dispute which began in the North West spreads to other parts of the country.
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NewsUnused space costs NHS £90m a year, new figures reveal
NHS organisations spent nearly £90m on empty space in buildings leased from two national property companies last year, HSJ can reveal.
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HSJ LocalTrust shuts 10% of its beds in savings drive
A hospital trust has shut more than 10 per cent of its beds and cut staffing to try to meet a savings target, which is one of the highest nationally.
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NewsHalf of trusts ‘don’t have good pipeline of leaders’
Half of NHS trusts are concerned about their “pipeline” of future senior managers, amid a “striking” period of turnover in leadership, the acting head of NHS Providers has told HSJ.
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NewsManagers face legal penalties for failing to deal with safety concerns
NHS managers would be made “legally accountable for responding to concerns about patient safety” under new government proposals.
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NewsChair to leave regulator after ‘intensely challenging’ term
The chair of the Care Quality Commission is to leave the organisation next spring, having admitted the past three years have “at times been intensely challenging”.
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LeaderThe return of austerity to the NHS means making tough choices
The implications of last month’s budget are now being fully understood throughout the NHS – and the conclusion of leaders at all levels is that austerity will return to the service for 2025-26.
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NewsDHSC leader appointed head of civil service
The current leader of the Department of Health and Social Care has been appointed as the prime minister’s most senior official and head of the service.
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NewsLetby trust CEO ‘was fit and proper’, claims chair
The former chair of the Countess of Chester Hospital said its then chief executive did not meet the threshold for failing a “fit and proper person” test, despite criticism of his treatment of paediatricians and their concerns about Lucy Letby.
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Daily InsightDaily Insight: Hitting a nerve
The must-read stories and debate in health policy and leadership.
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NewsFresh legal challenges further delay £4.4bn contract
NHS Supply Chain’s effort to award a multi-billion-pound logistics contract has been delayed by more legal challenges.