HSJ Health Check podcast
HSJ Podcast: Are you going to lose your job?
This year sets the NHS one of its toughest financial challenges as pandemic cash dries up and funding shortfalls deepen.
HSJ Podcast: What the coroners say
It’s easy to get desensitised to disastrous waiting times in the NHS, but behind the numbers are real and avoidable care failures.
HSJ Podcast: Why this winter was (a bit) better
2022-23 was probably the worst ever winter for the NHS, after a steep collapse in performance. This year’s been a little better — new figures confirm — but how was this achieved, and what does it mean for coming months?
HSJ Podcast: The latest safety crisis for maternity care
On this episode, we discuss the quality of maternity services in the NHS, which have remained firmly in the spotlight.
HSJ Podcast: The planning guidance is finally here
With one working day left before the new financial year, the NHS’s instructions for the year ahead have finally been published.
HSJ Podcast: The £4bn hole in the NHS’s building plans
In the wake of HSJ’s disclosure this week that the cost of building “40 new hospitals” in the NHS has increased by £4bn, our episode digs into what’s driving this and asks if it will get past the Treasury.
HSJ Podcast: Scandal at ‘the safest trust in England’
This week, we discuss the implications of a long-awaited independent review into a patient safety scandal at Salford Royal Hospital, where former head of the spinal division John Williamson harmed multiple patients.
HSJ podcast: How to be a top NHS employer
HSJ Health Check covers the new NHS staff survey results, with trust CEO Matthew Winn, survey expert Chris Graham and HSJ’s Nick Kituno.
HSJ Podcast: The systems most reliant on the private sector
There has been a huge increase in the proportion of treatments done by the private sector compared to before the pandemic, and for the first time we’ve worked out which parts of the country send most patients to independent hospitals.
HSJ Podcast: A high stakes game of chicken
A controversial new care model has come under fire from trust leaders, who have warned that patients and clinicians are coming to harm.
HSJ Podcast: The victims of the DHSC’s silent restructure
In this week’s podcast, we talk more about the decimation of England’s national public health unit less than three years after it was created.
HSJ Podcast: The targets holding up the planning guidance
This week we discuss a major obstacle in the planning guidance negotiations – how high to set the A&E four-hour target.
HSJ Podcast: Two top trust CEOs tell us ‘hospital groups are here to stay’
Two successful NHS hospital chief executives join the HSJ Health Check podcast to talk about the sometimes contentious spread of the ‘group model’ and joint leadership of trusts – which, they argue, is here to stay.
HSJ Podcast: The reality behind NHSE’s flagship outpatient programme
This week for the first time a study has revealed the number of patients on PIFU pathways has not translated into a significant reduction in follow-up appointments.
HSJ Podcast: Dentistry’s missing millions
Dental budgets are being raided by ICSs to fund other services in the middle of an unprecedented access crisis, despite NHS England insisting spending is still protected.
HSJ Podcast: The specialised commissioning lottery
HSJ recently revealed the dramatic differences in access to specialist medical treatments around the country.
HSJ Podcast: HSJ’s predictions for 2024
In our final episode of the year, we make our predictions for what 2024 could hold for the NHS, including the first integrated care system merger, how the strikes will pan out and manager regulation.
HSJ Podcast: The target no one wants to talk about
Three years ago the NHS was the first healthcare system in the world to set an ambition to become net zero, but it struggles to prioritise this in the face of daily operational and financial pressures.
HSJ Podcast: Why the Nuffield Trust's new CEO is fed up with 'visions'
This week we’re joined by Thea Stein, who recently moved into think tank world after nine years running an NHS trust.
HSJ Podcast: How the Fuller abuse inquiry will change the NHS
Leaders at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust have been heavily criticised in an independent inquiry into the actions of former maintenance supervisor David Fuller.
HSJ Podcast: How NHSE’s new data platform will work
US firm Palantir has officially been awarded the lucrative federated data platform deal, which is one of the biggest NHS data projects in recent years.
HSJ Podcast: How one trust changed England’s A&E model
A trust that gave its name to a controversial A&E policy has seen performance improve significantly, so this week we discuss how North Bristol Trust handled the risks and how quickly its model could spread throughout the NHS.
HSJ Podcast: What an election year will mean for the NHS
This week Annabelle and James are joined by Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers.
HSJ Podcast: The rise and rise of the hospital group
As an increasing number of hospitals appoint shared CEOs and chairs – and more large “groups” are created – we discuss the benefits and drawbacks to this new(ish) way of running things.
HSJ Podcast: Barclay’s war on the ‘woke’ NHS
This week we’re joined by Roger Kline, academic and workforce culture consultant, to discuss Steve Barclay’s latest edict ordering the NHS to stop recruiting to equality, diversity and inclusion roles. Was the letter just red meat for the Daily Mail or could it do real damage?
HSJ Podcast: Mackey’s next move
Sir Jim Mackey is moving on from Northumbria Healthcare FT after 18 years and taking the top job at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals FT. This week we discuss what this means for the NHS in the North East and also for NHSE, where he will be leaving his chief operating ...
HSJ Podcast: Labour’s plan to ‘underpromise and overdeliver’ on the NHS
On the podcast this week we bring you the highlights and analysis from the Labour party conference in Liverpool.
HSJ Podcast: How much have strikes cost the NHS?
Less than halfway through the financial year all 42 integrated care systems are in deficit.
HSJ Podcast: Another maternity red flag
Nothing is more important than the process of giving birth, but hospitals are increasingly struggling to induce mothers-to-be on time.
HSJ Podcast: I’m afraid there is no (winter) money
Rishi Sunak announced an impressive sounding sum of money last week, apparently to help the NHS cope with winter pressures.
HSJ Podcast: Getting real about manager regulation
Manager regulation remains firmly in the spotlight so this week we ask: will it actually happen this time?
HSJ Podcast: The RAAC scandal and what it means for the NHS
NHS trusts have been told by the government to carry out urgent risk assessments if they have a certain type of lightweight concrete in their buildings.
HSJ Podcast: What the Letby fallout means for the NHS
Last Friday, neonatal nurse Lucy Letby was found guilty of 14 counts of murder and attempted murder.
HSJ Podcast: Patient experience in the post-covid era
This week HSJ Health Check focuses on patient experience and public perception of the NHS, with guests from National Voices and the Picker Institute.
HSJ Podcast: Why GP reform is finally coming
General practice – already under pressure – will be under the political spotlight over the next 12 months, with an election looming and the GP contract up for renewal.
HSJ Podcast: Leadership standards revealed
Now that NHS England has finally published its new standards for leaders, we discuss how the revised ‘Fit and Proper Person Test’ will work, and if it is enough to stop the revolving door of poor leaders.
HSJ Podcast: Under the skin of the strikes
This week we assess the damage after one of the toughest weeks of NHS strike action, with junior doctors and consultants both taking action.
HSJ Podcast: Who’s to blame for the latest A&E crisis?
A ‘shocking’ volume of mental health patients are attending A&E but whose fault is it – and what is the solution?
HSJ Podcast: Missing Sunak’s pledge
This week bureau chief Ben Clover is joined by colleagues to discuss some of the biggest stories ahead of the junior doctors’ strike.
HSJ Podcast: Was the workforce plan worth the wait?
This week bureau chief Ben Clover is joined by colleagues Nick Kituno and Zoe Tidman to talk about the workforce plan, leaving things up to ICBs and where is and isn’t getting a new hospital.
HSJ Podcast: Big beasts of policy name their best and worst
This week HSJ is joined by Nigel Edwards, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust, and Richard Murray, chief executive of the King’s Fund, who are both nearing the end of long stints at the think tanks.
HSJ Podcast: Palantir’s latest NHS deal explained
NHS England’s surprise decision to hand US tech giant Palantir a further £25m deal this week without a competitive process provoked a mixture of fury and confusion.
HSJ Podcast: Live from Confed
We’re joined by Matthew Taylor, NHS Confederation chief and HSJ Health Check fan, to discuss Amanda Pritchard’s speech and other developments on day one of the ConfedExpo conference.
HSJ Podcast: 21 days stuck in A&E
This week’s Health Check discusses data revealing the true scale of long A&E waits for mental health patients and what acute trusts are trying to do about it without extra national funding.
HSJ Podcast: The elective activity the NHS wants to cut – but can’t
Targets to reduce the number of outpatient appointments are not being met by trusts. On this episode, we discuss why there were still more than 124 million outpatient appointments in the NHS last year – despite pressure to cut them – and what is being done about it.
HSJ Podcast: The fate of ‘40 new hospitals’
After seemingly endless delays, the fate of the ‘40 new hospitals’ has finally been revealed by the government.
HSJ Podcast: The missing £1bn in capital funding
The government’s 40 “new hospitals” has dominated headlines – and decisions – over NHS capital funding in recent years, but this week HSJ revealed dozens of trusts are still waiting for money promised by the previous big capital programme.
HSJ Podcast: CDCs, the election cycle and fixing primary care
On this week’s episode bureau chief Ben Clover talks to deputy editor Dave West about whether the election cycle affects the NHS’s capital projects.
HSJ Podcast: Revealed – Why Jim Mackey is back
On this week’s episode our editor Alastair McLellan reveals why NHS England’s elective recovery director Jim Mackey is replacing David Sloman as national operations lead later this year.
HSJ Podcast: ‘Cash is King’ again as deficits bite
NHS leaders are being told they must prioritise balancing the books above all else, with some trusts even being asked to keep staff numbers down to save money.
HSJ Podcast: The NHS’s latest PFI problem
A legal battle has erupted between a hospital trust and bank-backed PFI company over fire safety and payment refusals. We discuss why the case has potentially wider implications for other NHS trusts.
HSJ Podcast: The latest casualties of the NHS data bidding war
A consortium of British companies has been knocked out of the hotly contested competition to win a £480m contract to provide the NHS with a new data platform.
HSJ Podcast: Does the Hewitt review matter?
Patricia Hewitt’s much-anticipated review of ICS autonomy was published this week. We discuss its recommendations, the politics behind it, and what meaningful, lasting impact it could have.
HSJ Podcast | Bad Blood: The NHS agency engulfed in a racism scandal
NHS Blood and Transplant has been embroiled in allegations of racism that stretch back several years.
HSJ Podcast: The NHS pay deal and who’s left out
This week we discuss a quirk of last week’s pay deal between health unions and the government, which could see staff at the top of Agenda for Change paid more than senior managers.
HSJ Podcast: Why Hunt’s spending £1bn a year to fix NHS pensions
This week we analyse the Spring Budget and what it means for the NHS, in particular the pensions tax overhaul.
HSJ Podcast: Everything you need to know about the NHS staff survey
With this year’s NHS staff survey results just landed, we take a look at those invaluable annual insights into how the workforce is feeling.
HSJ Podcast: Is it time to scrap foundation trusts?
Could foundation trusts be hindering the success of integrated care systems – and is it time to do away with them? One foundation trust chair thinks so and we discuss the merits of the idea on the show this week.
HSJ Podcast: Julian Hartley on collaboration, reform and why he became NHS Providers’ CEO
Fresh from starting work as NHS Providers’ new chief executive, Sir Julian Hartley joins HSJ Health Check to talk about collaboration, strikes, reform and more.
HSJ Podcast: Tech budget raids and wasted millions
Many NHS technology programmes are facing an uncertain future following revelations NHS England’s tech budget is being drastically cut.
HSJ Podcast: What next for urgent care?
With A&E performance seemingly improving from its December lows, we discuss the new target health systems will be working towards as well as examining what changes the new executive director of urgent and emergency care has planned.
HSJ Podcast: A game changer for length of stay?
The debate over single patient rooms has raged for many years, but emerging news from Liverpool’s new hospital suggests it could be a game-changer for cutting patients’ length of stay. We discuss the impact of the much-maligned city trust’s new hospital on patient flow.
HSJ Podcast: The staff the NHS forgot
An HSJ Investigation has revealed trusts are denying staff employed by their wholly owned subsidiary companies the pay and conditions offered to other staff. We discuss why this forgotten group of the workforce are missing out.
HSJ Podcast: Inside NHS England's £500m data gamble
Bids are open for NHS England’s new £480m national data platform – will it make the NHS better connected and more efficient, or is it a national vanity project? We also discuss who the successful bidders might be.
HSJ Podcast: The New Year war on the waiting list
NHS trusts have been given 20 days by NHS England to book in all patients who have been waiting longer than 78 weeks for their elective appointment.
HSJ Podcast: What does 2023 have in store for the NHS?
The HSJ team make their predictions for what the new year could bring for the health service, including a return of deficits, tough times for the hospital building programme and a big year for mental health reform.
HSJ Podcast: Ambulance strikes - all you need to know
On this episode, our team brings you the very latest news and analysis of the strike action hitting the NHS this week.
HSJ Podcast: Organograms assemble
This week, we bring you the latest on the hospital building programme, including confirmation that all new buildings must have single patient rooms. We discuss the staffing and safety challenges this will bring for trusts.
HSJ Podcast: Two Streps back
‘Rubbish’ communications have been blamed by senior NHS leaders for causing a flood of people going to A&E with Group Strep A concerns, with calls to NHS 111 hitting record levels so far this winter.
HSJ Podcast: NHS England’s failure to kill the four-hour target
NHS England’s protracted bid to scrap the four-hour A&E target has finally been shelved by ministers, as we exclusively revealed last week.
HSJ Podcast: Why the Hewitt review matters
Former Labour health secretary Patricia Hewitt has been charged with reviewing the role of integrated care systems by Jeremy Hunt.
HSJ Podcast: Barclay, strikes and eye-catching appointments
This week we bring you our reaction to Steve Barclay’s first major speech since returning as health and social care secretary, during which HSJ questioned him about his view on NHS funding.
HSJ Podcast: What to expect from the spending review
This week Annabelle and Dave are joined by Miriam Deakin, director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, and we discuss what could be in store for the NHS in next week’s spending review.
HSJ Podcast: Crunch time for 40 ‘new hospitals’
The fate of the “40 new hospitals” hangs in the balance, with trusts hoping for a decision on funding by the end of the year.
HSJ Podcast: Back to the 1950s
Steve Barclay returns as health secretary, and he joins the NHS at a time when the health service faces its worst funding squeeze in many decades.
HSJ Podcast: What Chancellor Hunt means for the NHS
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt is now the most powerful person in the country. We discuss what some of his mini-budget reversals mean for the NHS and if the health service is safe in his hands.
HSJ Podcast: The ICSs already in the red
Two out of three integrated care systems are already reporting sizeable deficits in their first year of existence.
HSJ Podcast: Little NHS cheer at the Tory conference
On this week’s episode we bring you the highlights of the Tory party conference, where the NHS felt like a “sideshow”.
HSJ Podcast: Why NHS pain will follow Truss’ economic chaos
With warnings the public sector could be forced to bear the brunt of last week’s tax cuts, we discuss the dire impact this will have on the NHS’ finances, its ability to retain staff and deal with the covid backlog.
HSJ podcast: ‘Worst’ NHS trust faces writing on the wall
Amid four “inadequate” ratings and a new leadership inspection, is the writing on the wall for one of the NHS’ worst performing trusts over the last decade?
HSJ podcast: The NHS’s £18bn rainy day fund
NHS trusts have more than £18bn in covid cash reserves, but how helpful is this extra money?
HSJ podcast: Who is Therese Coffey?
As a new secretary of state takes up the reins, HSJ examines the situation she inherits and what she might do.
HSJ podcast: The DHSC’s opening move in the NHS efficiency war
The NHS has been told by the government to cut management consultancy spend and completely freeze recruitment at a national level.
HSJ podcast: The NHS’s most dangerous buildings
This week HSJ revealed the final trusts added to the ‘new hospital’ programme, which are also thought to have some of the most dangerous estates in the NHS.
HSJ podcast: ICSs - 1 Trusts - nil
Significant tensions between a mental health trust and an ICS have prompted the trust’s chief executive to resign.
HSJ podcast: Tories tinker while the NHS is on fire
The NHS needs “fewer layers of management” – this remark, made by Tory leadership hopeful Liz Truss, is one of the first significant comments made about the NHS by either candidate this summer.
HSJ podcast: The A&E target conundrum continues
This week, we revisit the thorny subject of accident and emergency standards, following calls for a new six-hour target to be introduced.
HSJ podcast: Crumbling services, but who’s in charge?
Hospital leaders have warned there is a lack of accountability in the NHS, adding this could undermine public and political trust in the service.
HSJ podcast: The pay award quirk that could be the final straw
The NHS must find the money to fund an extra £2bn of the staff pay bill, after the government decided to increase it beyond the 3 per cent rise that was budgeted for.
How big should NHS England be? - HSJ podcast
On Monday night all ambulance services in England declared the highest level of alert.
HSJ podcast: Barclay’s in-tray cancer crisis
Tough times are ahead for the NHS, with a “nightmare” new health and social care secretary appointed and performance spiralling.
HSJ podcast: The hardest job in the NHS
The NHS is facing a major reorganisation this year, including within NHS England itself.
HSJ podcast: Race, inequalities and NHS ConfedExpo
Race and racism in NHS leadership and workforce, and health inequalities, are the subject of this week’s HSJ Health Check podcast.
HSJ podcast: Dispatches from Liverpool
This week the news team bring you the podcast from the NHS Confed/Expo conference in Liverpool.
CEOs of covid-ravaged trusts call for more action on shared waiting lists
Coordination of waiting lists and elective treatment across health systems and regions should be ‘far more systematic’, and could have happened earlier, chief executives of some of the hardest hit trusts have told HSJ.
HSJ podcast: Ali Parsa is back in the news
This week our focus is on new ways of delivering care in the NHS.
HSJ podcast: Boris Johnson’s ‘new hospitals’ in jeopardy
“Our project is in jeopardy.” This is the verdict of one trust working on long-needed major hospital redevelopments, which were promised by the government in the run-up to the 2019 general election.
HSJ podcast: NHS England’s unhappiest people
On this week’s episode, we discuss NHS England’s leaked staff survey results, which reveal the best and worst performing departments and regions, and deliver a particularly worrying verdict on the People Directorate.
HSJ podcast: Secret merger mania
Three further acute trusts are considering a move to joint leadership, HSJ has learned, and mental health hubs for NHS staff are being underused – we analyse both issues on this week’s HSJ Health Check podcast.
HSJ podcast: ICSs under threat from devolution frenzy
A plethora of complex governance arrangements are being set up in and around ICSs – which are only just due to become statutory. We discuss why these complications might hinder successful service change.
HSJ podcast: Is infection control relaxation worth the risk?
The NHS has been told to scale back infection control measures, but what will this mean for staff and patients?
HSJ podcast: The ICS rebellion and exec diversity declines
NHS England has asked systems to ensure their financial plans break even this year – but this is easier said than done when many face deficits of over £100m.
HSJ podcast: A painful recovery
On this week’s episode we explore the pressure points hindering the NHS’s recovery this spring.
HSJ podcast: Inside the Shropshire maternity scandal
It’s been a sobering week for the NHS, with the long-awaited review of the NHS’s latest safety scandal and the annual Staff Survey both being published.
HSJ podcast: Rishi’s big asks of the NHS
NHS spending is being scrutinised more than ever, with trusts asked to double the amount of annual efficiency savings they make.
HSJ podcast: Why the two-year waiters target could be already doomed
Is it time to rethink how the NHS manages its elective waiting list? On this week’s episode we talk about the worryingly high number of people waiting over two years for their planned care – and the alarming number which do not even have a decision to admit.
HSJ podcast: The multimillion-pound cost of Russia’s invasion to the NHS
As war rages in Ukraine, we discuss the impact of the West’s response against the Kremlin on NHS trusts with supply chains linked to Russia.
HSJ podcast: The return of payment by results
NHS England has introduced significant changes to the mechanism that is used to pay hospitals, with the era of covid ‘block contracts’ finally coming to an end.
HSJ podcast: How to fix an NHS trust
NHS trusts are getting better – that’s the view of the Care Quality Commission, at least, which now rates only a single organisation as “inadequate”, and two-thirds as “good” or “outstanding”, a big shift from five years ago.
HSJ podcast: An uncomfortable message for NHS CEOs
The man in charge of elective recovery in the NHS has said the health service faces more scrutiny from ministers, and the public, than ever before. But is the NHS ready to respond?
HSJ podcast: The NHS has captured this government
After weeks of wrangling over the elective recovery plan a compromise has been reached and on this week’s episode we get stuck into the politics surrounding it and of course what it means for NHS leaders.
HSJ podcast: Two trusts, NHS England and the whistleblowers
Two very different trusts are under the spotlight after concerns were raised by whistleblowers about poor culture and behaviour.
HSJ podcast: The NHS England exodus
With three national NHS England directors announcing their departures in recent days, this week’s episode examines why this is significant and the impact it could have on future policy making.
HSJ podcast: Red Meat for the NHS
This week we discuss the politics around the elective recovery plan, following suggestions it could be announced imminently to distract from the goings on at Number 10.
HSJ podcast: Will trusts really sack 60,000 unvaccinated staff?
NHS trusts will soon be forced to redeploy or dismiss staff members who have not had their covid jab and this week we discuss what this could mean for the safe running of the health service.
HSJ podcast: What the 2022-23 NHS planning guidance really means
On this week’s podcast, we explain what the latest planning guidance from NHS England – published over Christmas – means for the service and its patients.
HSJ podcast: HSJ’s predictions for 2022
In the final episode of the year, we make our predictions for what 2022 could hold for the health service, including staff vaccination woes, spades in the ground for some ‘new hospitals’ and further delays for ICSs.
HSJ podcast: How the NHS is preparing for Omicron
Record covid cases are being seen and the NHS must decide how to prepare for another potential wave in late December or January.
HSJ podcast: Winter of the ‘cancer catastrophe’?
This week we dig into the latest NHS performance data, including the first detailed snapshot of how the NHS is coping this winter.
HSJ podcast: The last thing the NHS needed
NHS staff are facing the prospect of another difficult winter. The Omicron variant, an accelerated booster campaign and expectations of elective recovery will be an immense challenge for a completely exhausted workforce.
HSJ podcast: Boris Johnson’s secret integration intervention
This week the HSJ Health Check podcast hears how Number 10’s mission to integrate health and social care services has ramped up with some contentious thoughts, and discuss the NHS’ overall progress in its move towards integrated care systems.
HSJ podcast: Pritchard and Javid’s key messages to trusts ahead of ‘toughest winter’
This week we discuss Amanda Pritchard and Sajid Javid’s key messages to local NHS chiefs at this week’s NHS Providers conference.
HSJ podcast: Why NHS bosses are braced for more slaps and fewer claps
This week we look at the latest NHS performance data and discuss hospitals’ chances of hitting crucial waiting time targets, as winter approaches.
HSJ podcast: The Health Bill and the race to 1 April for ICSs
This week we track the progress of the Health and Care Bill as the tricky April 2022 deadline closes in.
HSJ podcast: The ambulance crisis and NHS England’s King Canute moment
HSJ this week revealed NHS England has told all trusts and integrated care systems to stop ambulance handover delays ‘immediately’, following serious patient safety concerns.
HSJ podcast: Why the Saj wants ‘reform’ – but the NHS is angry about it
The health service is clearly in a jam in the wake of covid – so why have Sajid Javid’s plans for ‘a year of reform’ antagonised some managers, GPs and other staff?
HSJ podcast: Inequality kills: Why £2.3bn is not enough to rescue mental health
Health inequalities for those with a mental illness, learning disability or autism have existed for decades and the pandemic has made them even worse.
HSJ podcast: Chained naked outside the Department of Health
We discuss Sajid Javid’s first Tory conference as health secretary and try to pin down the ‘fundamental and far-reaching reforms’ he pledged to make.
HSJ podcast: Another winter nightmare?
On the podcast this week, we look ahead to winter and ask whether NHS England’s 10-point accident and emergency action plan could prevent a crisis.
HSJ podcast: Why NHS services are collapsing
On this week’s podcast, we discuss the knock-on impact covid has had on staffing and services, after medical consultants at a major acute trust warned its leadership that specialist staff shortages are causing services to become unsafe.
HSJ podcast: Why £15.6bn extra spells cuts for the NHS
The government has announced £16bn more for the NHS — but NHS England is having to curb its ‘long-term plan’ ambitions and considering which of its budgets to shave. This week’s HSJ Health Check podcast explores why.
HSJ podcast: Is it ‘unfair’ to blame GPs for remote consultations risk?
This week’s HSJ Health Check podcast discusses the warnings made by a Greater Manchester coroner over the risks of remote GP appointments, following the deaths of five people. Is it fair to blame general practice for the safety concerns?
HSJ podcast: The ‘new hospital’ playbook lie
This week’s HSJ Health Check podcast discusses the government comms “playbook” which, as revealed by HSJ, told trusts they should describe new wings, units and refurbishments as “new hospitals” — which they are not.
HSJ podcast: The rocky road ahead for integrated care systems
With seven months to go, we discuss what ICSs have to do before they become statutory on 1 April, amid brewing rows over who might sit on the board.
HSJ podcast: Are covid visiting restrictions damaging patient safety?
An HSJ investigation revealed this week that coroners have raised multiple concerns pandemic hospital visiting restrictions may have had a damaging effect on patient care.
HSJ podcast: Why ambulance and A&E waits have hit record highs
Waits in accident and emergency departments have risen to an all-time high, according to the latest national data, while there has been a surge in the number of people calling ambulances for the most serious types of incidents.
HSJ podcast: Summer, salaries, systems and shielding
This week’s NHS Health Check podcast is dedicated to all matters staffing: The Agenda for Change pay deal, how much integrated care system chiefs should get paid, and shielding staff not getting risk assessments.
HSJ podcast: How the government is trying to build back cheaper
A letter obtained by HSJ’s Nick Carding revealed the government has told eight of the most advanced “40 new hospitals” trusts to put produce plans to build much more cheaply — he discusses what it means on the HSJ Health Check podcast.
HSJ podcast: Why the NHS needs fewer chairs and chiefs than ever
The sharp increase in shared NHS trust chairs and CEOs has been notable in recent months, with more key appointments made in London and the North West just this week.
HSJ podcast: A nasty surprise for trusts – and preparing for 19 July and beyond
Trusts received an unpleasant surprise last Friday when they were told they must do more elective procedures to receive money from the national £1bn ‘elective recovery fund’.
HSJ podcast: The health bill has landed
The Health and Care Bill has finally been published. We discuss the most eye-catching measures and the controversies surrounding what was supposed to be straightforward legislation.
HSJ podcast: The unknown unknowns of Sajid Javid
With a new health secretary appointed days before the health bill was due to be published, we discuss what’s next for the legislation.
HSJ podcast: A deep dive into Hancock’s data dream
Harnessing an opportunity to use the ‘full power of data’ to improve patient care, or a worrying ‘data grab’?
HSJ podcast: Picking the next NHS England chief executive - a conversation with Jeremy Hunt
Monday marked the deadline for applicants wanting to be the next NHS England CEO to throw their hat in the ring.
HSJ podcast: How an Afghan refugee became a telemedicine pioneer
Dr Waheed Arian escaped from Afghanistan and came to the UK as a child refugee in 1999. Since then, he has become an A&E doctor and founded global telemedicine charity ‘Arian Teleheal’.
HSJ podcast: How NHS England (quietly) axed the A&E target
Under the cover of Cummings’ headline-grabbing testimony last week, NHS England gave the green light to plans to scrap the landmark four-hour accident and emergency target.
HSJ podcast: Dominic Cummings’ fire and brimstone
Dominic Cummings set the Commons health committee on fire with his serious allegations about Matt Hancock’s handling of the pandemic earlier this week.
HSJ podcast: When safety warnings go unheeded
HSJ revealed in an investigation this week that serious concerns were raised by patients at a mental health hospital for children in the years before it was rated ‘inadequate’ by the national regulator in March 2021.
HSJ podcast: How the government’s NHS reform plans are changing
In this week’s podcast we discuss how the government’s health and social care legislation plans are changing — both in substance and in context.
HSJ podcast: Who will be the next chief executive of NHS England?
With Sir Simon Stevens stepping down from the NHS’ top job in July, the 12-week countdown to find a successor begins.
HSJ podcast: The covid crisis in India — and what it means for NHS staff
The NHS — and, indeed, the world — has been watching the catastrophic covid surge in India, with almost 400,000 cases recorded in a single day.
HSJ podcast: Greensill, Topwood and the NHS
At the start of the pandemic, financial services company Greensill launched ‘Earnd’, an advanced payment system, for NHS staff. Some trusts signed up for it and it was given backing from senior figures in the health service.
HSJ podcast: Why the eating disorder care crisis is risking lives
Eating disorder services in the NHS are at crisis point, with lockdown making an already pressurised situation even worse.
HSJ podcast: A tale of three regions – what happened next?
After the first covid wave we took a deep dive into three regions in England – now as the third wave ebbs away we have returned once more.
HSJ podcast: What the PM’s new health team means for the NHS
Boris Johnson has appointed a new health adviser, well known to NHS health policy circles. Samantha Jones – former NHS England director and hospital chief – is to leave the private sector and move into the civil service.
HSJ podcast: Why this year’s NHS marching orders are so different
The NHS has been given its planning guidance for the first half of this year – and it strikes a markedly different tone to previous years. But what else would you expect from 2021?
HSJ podcast: How three top trust chiefs fell out of favour
For the first time ever the leader of a mental health trust has been named HSJ’s top chief executive, and in a surprising turn of events, three former top-table leaders have departed our top 50 altogether. Why the fall from grace?
HSJ podcast: Stressed out but feeling positive - what covid did to NHS staff
This week has seen the publication of not one but two huge sets of data: the biggest workforce survey in the world and the latest NHS performance stats – and we’ve crunched them both.
HSJ podcast: Realpolitik and the NHS’ next big plan
In a last minute controversial intervention, Matt Hancock has torpedoed plans in Lancashire to consolidate emergency services.
HSJ podcast: Punishing staff for gaming the vaccine system
Reasonable or ‘unnecessarily hostile”? This week’s HSJ Health Check debates whether it’s right for a trust to threaten its staff with disciplinary or regulatory action if they seek to have their second covid jab early.
HSJ podcast special: The ‘secretive’ firm at the heart of the covid response
In this one-off HSJ podcast we talk to the UK head of the controversial firm Palantir, whose development and operation of an NHS covid-19 data store has been one of the pandemic’s apparent success stories.
HSJ podcast: So long NHSX
HSJ revealed this week NHSX — the tech agency set up by Matt Hancock not quite two years ago — is set to merge into a new NHS England transformation directorate.
HSJ podcast: What the new white paper means for the NHS
This week the HSJ Health Check team debate what the government’s health and care white paper – proposing the biggest NHS legislation in nearly a decade — will really mean.
HSJ podcast: Scandal in the Midlands
This week we look at Rebecca Thomas’ investigation into “heartbreaking” patient safety incidents in University Hospitals Birmingham FT’s haematology services. HSJ’s involvement began after Rebecca was contacted by more whistleblowers than had ever got in touch with her previously about any subject.
HSJ podcast: When ‘just in time’ does not work
“Resilience requires buffer and buffer can look wasteful until the moment that it isn’t,” Simon Stevens told MPs at a committee hearing in Parliament this week. We discuss how the pandemic made the NHS’ approach to running everything to optimum, just-in-time efficiency fell apart.
HSJ podcast: How the NHS was left high and dry in covid’s third wave
Operational pressures on the NHS because of covid are still high and, although admissions are starting to level off in some places, the usual winter challenge of patient discharge is more troubling than ever.
HSJ podcast: The covid tidal wave heads North once more
Hospitals in the Midlands are being primed to take covid patients from London and the South East, but with the tidal wave of covid admissions sweeping north this seems like a very short-term fix.
HSJ podcast: An NHS overwhelmed by covid
The HSJ team dissect what has been happening in a week of ever-climbing covid cases in hospital.
HSJ’s five most listened podcasts of 2020
Revisit HSJ’s five most listened to podcast episodes of the year
HSJ podcast: Escaping the gloom – what 2021 holds for the NHS
Four HSJ correspondents make their predictions for the NHS in 2021, from the vaccination programme and tech reorganisation, through to change at the top, staffing and mental health.
HSJ podcast: The NHS’ post-coital vaccine glow begins to fade
This week has seen the first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine administered in the UK, but the continuing covid pressures on the NHS remain, with concerns raised about the health service being overwhelmed in coming weeks and months.
HSJ podcast: Delivering the vaccine - the NHS’ greatest challenge
The UK is the first country in the western world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech covid vaccine and now the baton has been passed to the NHS to successfully deliver it.
HSJ podcast: Big decisions under cover of covid
This week has seen a flood of coronavirus related news so the podcast this week discusses two other important happenings, that might have been given more attention in normal times.
HSJ podcast: Long-covid care cannot be delayed any longer
With delays to promised support clinics, warnings about the need to protect staff pay, and trusts accused of penalising staff during their recovery, we dig into why the NHS must provide serious support sooner rather than later for debilitating long-covid.
HSJ podcast: The job the NHS must not screw up
Vaccinating the population for covid-19 presents an enormous logistical challenge for NHS England and the NHS — the national and reputational impact of “screwing it up” would be devastating. HSJ Health Check asks if it can succeed; plus testing, and creaking emergency care.
Podcast: Can the NHS cope with covid?
Dave West, HSJ deputy editor, joins the Spectator magazine’s podcast to explain why dealing with a major covid outbreak at the same time as winter pressure would put an extreme strain on the NHS.
HSJ podcast: Is primary care ready for the second wave?
Recorded in the middle of another dramatic week for the NHS, the latest HSJ Health Check takes stock of whether primary care really has seen long-lasting innovation during the pandemic, and debates if a mood-measuring watch for GPs is the answer to burn-out.
HSJ podcast: Hospitals are still neglecting mental health
Acute hospitals are still not taking mental health patients seriously enough, argues HSJ’s Rebecca Thomas in this week’s Health Check podcast. We also get an update on covid pressures on the health system.
HSJ podcast: The North reaches boiling point
On the podcast this week, we try to get to the bottom of this week’s political furore in the North West, the confusion that ensued and the impact the continued rise in covid admissions could have on normal NHS work. We also discover quite how long it takes to heat ...
HSJ podcast: The NHS was not prepared for covid’s second wave
As covid wave two crashes on to the North of England, HSJ Health Check discusses the last minute scrambles in the NHS to deal with admissions, try to protect elective care, and provide mass testing for staff.
HSJ podcast: Has covid changed the NHS forever?
To mark one year of the HSJ Health Check podcast we’re joined by special guest Nigel Edwards, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust, who shares his expert insight on the biggest operational, cultural and strategic changes the NHS has gone through during the pandemic.
HSJ podcast: Simon Says
This week the team delves into an exclusive HSJ summit interview with NHS chief executive Simon Stevens and weighs up the trade-offs the health service might need to make as covid cases rise, why legislation is still expected next year and why no comment on NHS finances could be significant.
HSJ podcast: What a second wave means for NHS staff
The pressure is rising again on the health service but keeping it running smoothly this winter will rely on its workforce. This week the HSJ Health Check podcast focuses on some of the biggest issues facing NHS staff right now.
HSJ podcast: A good old-fashioned NHS finance row
Payment by results is being swept away in favour of system funding and block payments — making some hospital chiefs very unhappy indeed. Meanwhile, is the government giving the NHS the money it needs to get through the pandemic? This week’s HSJ Health Check explores.
HSJ podcast: Is the government sacrificing cancer recovery in favour of Operation Moonshot?
This week on the podcast the HSJ team discuss government plans to invest a reported £100bn to expand covid testing, amid thousands of people being denied potentially life-saving cancer screening during the pandemic’s peak - according to new statistics. We ask: Could the £100bn be better spent working through the ...
HSJ podcast: Five great ‘known unknowns’ facing the NHS this autumn
Autumn will bring pivotal funding decisions in the comprehensive spending review, while the NHS battles to “lock in” covid reforms, seek “near normal” capacity, and anticipate a surge in mental health demand. It must also brace itself for whatever coronavirus will bring next.
HSJ podcast: Has covid changed hospital inspections forever?
The Care Quality Commission’s chief executive has said inspections will no longer be “big, disruptive events” - HSJ’s podcast discusses how covid has changed how the regulator operates for better or worse.
HSJ podcast: Did PHE deserve to die?
In the week following Matt Hancock’s announcement of the abolition of Public Health England, HSJ Health Check examines the implication for the staff and functions of the important agency
HSJ podcast: Why the mistake in the People Plan matters
The NHS People Plan included an ‘unacceptable’ mistake about LGBTQ+ people, fuelling debate about diversity and inclusion in the NHS, and its workforce culture and policy. HSJ Health Check covers the latest developments.
HSJ podcast: Prepare for a winter of discontent
National guidance for the remainder of 2020-21 reveals NHS rows with councils over care funding will be back this winter, and sets a series of unattainable targets for resuming planned care. HSJ Health Check this week explains why.
HSJ podcast: Hancock’s vision for health and care after covid
Matt Hancock set out his post covid vision for health and care in a wide-ranging speech this week – HSJ’s podcast dissects key themes including staffing, emergency care, digital, system working and social care.
HSJ podcast: The unfolding scandal at East Kent
Recovery is the buzzword as the NHS tries to drag itself out of the deep hole dug by covid-19. This week’s HSJ Health Check is a deep dive into plans for recovery in three different regions.
HSJ podcast: A tale of three regions’ recovery
Recovery is the buzzword as the NHS tries to drag itself out of the deep hole dug by covid-19. This week’s HSJ Health Check is a deep dive into plans for recovery in three different regions.
HSJ podcast: Why the Cumberlege review is being buried
A government-commissioned review — into why mesh implants and other treatments were allowed to harm hundreds of women — said the failings were “caused and compounded by failings in the health system itself”. This week’s HSJ Health Check podcast considers why it is being buried by government.
HSJ podcast: How covid turned NHS finances on their head
Finance became a dirty word in the NHS as it went into covid crisis mode, but reality is slowly returning. HSJ Health Check looks at the financial landscape now faced by the NHS.
HSJ podcast: Running the health service under covid
This week’s HSJ podcast reveals the dilemmas facing those running and working in the NHS as it tries to operate while keeping covid-19 outbreaks under control.
HSJ podcast: ICS' role in the covid recovery
The week’s podcast explores whether system integration will become central to how the NHS recovers and resets after covid.
HSJ podcast: What the next six months hold for the NHS
In this week’s episode, HSJ editor Alastair McLellan discusses the next phase for the NHS in the wake as services and government respond to the ongoing threat of coronavirus.
HSJ podcast: Missing chapters and rebooted services
This week the team look at the latest on the effects of coronavirus on BAME staff, and planning for mitigating it via testing track-and-trace and getting the rest of the hospitals restarted.
HSJ podcast: What’s being missed while coronavirus dominates?
With the focus fixed firmly on coronavirus, there are other important and urgent issues in healthcare going under the radar. In this week’s HSJ Health Check, we look at those things which are being passed by.
HSJ podcast: Is ‘move fast and break things’ working for NHSX?
This week’s HSJ Health Check podcast examines leaked NHSX emails revealing its chief executive is worried its reputation is being damaged by ‘non-compliant’ tech.
HSJ podcast: How the NHS performed during the peak
This week’s HSJ Health Check podcast digs into the latest NHS performance data, revealing how coronavirus affected normal services – taking the weight off emergency departments, but lengthening the waiting list for planned care.
HSJ Health Check: Testing, tracing and mortality rates
This HSJ Health Check podcast special explores the issues around testing, tracing and mortality rates.
HSJ podcast: A possible covid-linked syndrome in children
On this week’s HSJ Health Check podcast we discuss warnings over a possible covid-linked condition in children, and Sir Simon Steven’s new guidance on the next phase of the response for the NHS.
HSJ podcast: After the peak — recovery, restoration, reform
For much of the country, coronavirus has peaked. This week’s HSJ Health Check debates the next steps.
HSJ Health Check special: The NHS’ legal risk over covid-19
This HSJ Health Check podcast special explores the legal rules and risks for the NHS as it tackles coronavirus.
HSJ podcast: Empty beds, death numbers, and non-covid care
This week’s HSJ Health Check podcast examines the latest in the NHS’ response to the coronavirus pandemic.
HSJ podcast: Braced for peak coronavirus pressure
Coronavirus continues to dominate the lives of healthcare leaders and policymakers, as it does this week’s HSJ Health Check.
HSJ podcast: Staff, kit and collateral damage - the covid-19 response
The health service is in the grip of coronavirus covid-19, with hospital admissions and fatalities rising quickly. This week’s HSJ Health Check podcast discusses the major issues and challenges in this unfolding crisis.
HSJ podcast: Coronavirus grips the NHS
The health service is beginning to feel the grip of coronavirus covid-19 in earnest — particularly in London and, to a lesser extent, the West Midlands. This week’s HSJ Health Check podcast debates the response to this unfolding crisis.
HSJ podcast: The great coronavirus reconfiguration
This week’s HSJ Health Check podcast examines what will probably be the largest ever, rapid-turnaround reconfiguration of NHS and care services, in preparation for the spread of covid-19.
HSJ podcast: What next for the A&E four-hour target?
With the national review of NHS targets drawing to a close, what is going to happen to the totemic four-hour accident and emergency waiting target? This week’s HSJ Health Check podcast considers the latest developments and next steps in the high-stakes process of reform.
HSJ podcast: Are the government’s priorities in order?
Building hospitals or making progress on prevention and health inequalities, this week’s HSJ Health Check podcast asks if the government has got its priorities in order.
HSJ podcast: The ups and downs from the new NHS staff survey
Annual NHS staff survey results have been published and in this week’s HSJ Health Check podcast, our team takes a closer look at the good, the bad and the ugly.
HSJ podcast: Has NHS England got too much power?
Amid speculation that government will seek to grab back some of NHS England’s power, this week’s HSJ Health Check considers whether NHSE is too big a beast — and how new legislation could seek to grapple with the issue. We also talk primary care cuts in Birmingham.
HSJ podcast: Six home truths from an outgoing NHSE director
In an HSJ Health Check interview, the outgoing NHS England national clinical director for stroke, Tony Rudd, shares six hard-edged messages to the health and care system.
HSJ podcast: Care quality at a crossroads
The inquiry on rogue surgeon Ian Paterson, West Suffolk Hospital dropping two ratings, and staff trouble at the Care Quality Commission — we discuss care quality dilemmas past and present on this week’s HSJ Health Check podcast.
HSJ podcast: What’s in the new NHS planning guidance?
The NHS’s marching orders for 2020-21 have been published — in this week’s HSJ Health Check podcast we explore big changes to funding rules and the top priorities from NHS England.
HSJ podcast: Integration, overseas staff, and meeting your digital twin
We reveal a big shift in integrated care system leadership, explore a new digital health venture — featuring your “digital twin” — and catch up with the workforce crisis, on this week’s HSJ Health Check podcast.
HSJ Health Check: Ditching the 4-hour target and long-wait harm revealed
Listen to this week’s HSJ podcast, covering the row over ditching the four-hour standard, and revelations about harm from long-waits for appointments.
HSJ podcast: The PCN furore, inpatient safety, and a step-change in A&E
Listen to this week’s HSJ Health Check, discussing primary care networks, sexual assaults in mental health facilities and the significant worsening of accident and emergency performance.
HSJ Health Check: Why the 2020s will beat the 2010s
Listen to this week’s HSJ Health Check, discussing the 10 things that mattered most for the NHS in the past decade, a podcast exclusive from HSJ editor Alastair McLellan.
Car parks, capital and catering - what's in store for the NHS in 2020?
Listen to this week’s HSJ Health Check podcast — we make our bold predictions for 2020 on three of the biggest issues for the NHS: Workforce, mental health and technology.
HSJ Health Check: What a large Conservative majority means for the NHS
Listen to the HSJ Health Check podcast — the general election is over, and we give our early analysis of what the Conservative government with a large majority could mean for the NHS.
HSJ podcast: When norovirus and flu visit early
Listen to the HSJ Health Check podcast — our new episode covers the outlook for the nursing workforce as revealed by HSJ this week, norovirus and the flu turning up early for winter, and a Midlands trust landing an “outstanding” rating.
HSJ podcast: Have the politicians forgotten mental health?
Listen to the HSJ Health Check podcast — this week we come from the HSJ Mental Health Summit in Leeds, and hear from mental health foundation trust chief Matthew Trainer, and sector leader Sean Duggan.
HSJ podcast: The election manifesto special
Listen to the HSJ Health Check manifesto special — we bring you a bonus extra podcast examining election proposals from the three main UK parties on health and care, covering funding, staffing and reform.
HSJ Health Check: The pensions crisis latest
Listen to the HSJ Health Check podcast — this week we examine the tentative solution to the NHS pensions crisis, maternity failures in Shropshire, and the mysterious departure of a London finance director.
HSJ Health Check: ‘Sane’ Labour’s plans for the NHS
Listen to the HSJ Health Check podcast — this week we examine the Labour party’s big NHS announcement, and the exit of Greater Manchester’s “devo health” chief.
HSJ Health Check podcast: The Pauline Philip letter – trusts told to do whatever it takes
Listen to the HSJ Health Check podcast — this week we explain what the forthcoming general election means for the health service.
HSJ Health Check: What the election means for the NHS
Listen to the HSJ Health Check podcast — this week we explain what the forthcoming general election means for the health service.
HSJ Health Check: Brexit and the NHS’s new billions
Listen to the HSJ Health Check podcast — this week we cover what the prime minister’s proposed Brexit deal would mean for the NHS, and whether the service is starting to feel the benefits from the first installment of its £20.5bn government funding boost.