Alastair McLellan
Alastair McLellan has been the editor of HSJ, mostly, since 2002. He has overseen the launch of the award-winning HSJ Intelligence and HSJ Solutions and the move to make HSJ a purely digital service. Under Alastair’s leadership HSJ has been named specialist information service of the year three times since 2010.
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NewsNHSE desire to please govt forcing finance chiefs to agree undeliverable plans
One of the NHS’s foremost finance figures has joined the chorus of senior healthcare leaders raising serious concerns about the damaging effect of the way the service’s annual planning round is conducted.
LeaderMental health is not a priority for this government
This government is fond of declaring it is committed to “three shifts” in health and care policy: hospital to community, analogue to prevention, and treatment to prevention.
NewsGlobal majority leaders are now part of the NHS establishment
What will strike readers first about the 2024 HSJ list of the most influential people in health policy and the NHS with a global majority background is how unsurprising it is.
LeaderThe future of NHS England
NHS England is to have a new chair, albeit the current incumbent Richards Meddings has agreed to stick around until March in line with the government’s tactic of getting the previous administration to ‘own’ a very difficult winter.
News‘Offer GPs the consultant contract’ to reform primary care
GPs should be “brought into the NHS” by being offered the chance to be employed under the consultant contract, according to one of the country’s leading trust chief executives.
NewsLocal leaders should run NHSE regions, suggest trust CEOs
NHS England’s regional leadership should largely constitute senior executives seconded from local NHS organisations, some of the country’s leading trust CEOs have suggested.
NewsNo point in having ‘honest conversations’ with centre on finance, say trust CEOs
Trusts are increasingly deciding there is little benefit in resisting the imposition of unrealistic financial plans demanded by NHS England, some of the country’s leading provider chief executives have told HSJ.
NewsShrink the centre to boost local management, Darzi concludes
The NHS needs to urgently reconfigure the “balance of its management resources”, says Lord Darzi’s report into the state of the NHS.
HSJ LocalCEO expresses ‘extreme concern’ about trust performance
An acute trust chief executive has warned that his organisation will struggle to “provide high-quality, timely, and financially affordable care” over the winter.
LeaderThe NHS’s national clinical leaders need a clearer, stronger role
There are many candidates competing for the title of the most difficult leadership role in the NHS. However, national medical director has one of the most compelling cases, with chief nursing officer coming a close second.
LeaderAre site chief executives a good idea?
The number of hospital groups is increasing rapidly as HSJ’s analysis earlier this year showed. Their growth has brought about the arrival of a new breed of NHS leader – the site chief executive or managing director who reports to a group chief executive.
NewsHSJ Awards shortlist revealed
Five acute trusts, two mental health providers, a specialist centre and an ambulance service will battle it out for the coveted “Trust of the Year” category of the 2024 HSJ Awards.
LeaderDoctors’ pay: a warning from Labour’s past
In November 2002, HSJ sat opposite then prime minister Tony Blair in the cabinet room and asked him what he planned to do about consultants’ refusal to accept the new contract the government wanted to introduce.
NewsExclusive: Streeting has ‘total confidence’ in Amanda Pritchard
The shadow health and social care secretary has “total confidence” in NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard, he has told HSJ.
NewsLabour expects trusts to pay ‘time and a half’ to staff delivering ‘40,000 extra appointments’
Trusts should pay staff around “time and a half” for the additional shifts required to hit Labour’s manifesto pledge for an extra 40,000 elective appointments a week if the party wins power, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has told HSJ.
LeaderThe NHS needs a strong CQC
With close to £200bn spent every year on English health and care, it seems ridiculous that some believe there is no need to judge whether that investment is producing the outcomes it should. It is only human to want your boss to ‘give you the money and leave you alone’ ...
NewsRevealed: the most respected trust CEOs of the last decade
Sir Julian Hartley is the most respected trust chief executive of the last decade, an analysis of the annual HSJ Top 50 chief executives ranking has revealed.
LeaderPoliticians beware: The NHS will never again meet the four-hour A&E target
The English NHS as a whole will never again achieve the target contained in the NHS constitution to admit or discharge 95 per cent of A&E attendees within four hours. In an election year, politicians of all colours, as well as NHS leaders, need to be overtly honest about this.
CommentHSJ introduces new rules for reader comments
HSJ is blessed with a very engaged readership. Each month our stories receive between 1,000-1,500 comments in total. This level of response is an order of magnitude greater than that enjoyed by most specialist titles.