- Care UK buys Harmoni
- How Jim Easton’s commissioning board role will be split
- Scale of unnecessary deaths from diabetes revealed
2.10pm: Forty operation have been cancelled at Sherwood Forest Hospitals Foundation Trust after rat droppings were found in an operating theatre. The hospital, which is facing joint action by Monitor and the CQC, cancelled all activity while pest controllers were called in to “eradicate the problem.” Read the story here.
2.00pm: A cost benefit analysis of medical revalidation by the Department of Health has shown it will cost the NHS £970m a year by 2022. But the study concludes benefits such as a reduction in avoidable harm, litigation and suspension will outweigh costs. Read the full story and access the report here.
12.10pm HSJ is backing a campaign by sister magazine Broadcast to raise the profile of female experts on television and radio. Broadcast reports that in news and current affairs programmes, men typically outnumber women by 4:1. The title’s Expert Women campaign has now teamed up with the BBC to launch a training day for women wanting to share their expertise through the broadcast media. For more information click here.
12.00pm Care UK has bought Harmoni, it has been announced this afternoon. The deal will create an organisation providing unscheduled care to more than 15 million patients. Harmoni was the most successful commercial provider in the race for NHS 111 contracts. In some areas Harmoni beat Care UK which bid for a number of NHS 111 contracts in partnership with Capita. The announcement of the deal follows recent confirmation that Department of Health director of improvement and efficiency Jim Easton is to join Care UK as managing director.
11.09am Too many patients with diabetes are developing potentially life-threatening complications because they are not receiving the straightforward care and support they need, according to MPs. Every year, 24,000 people with diabetes die simply because their disease has not been effectively managed, according to the Public Accounts Committee.
9.40am Jim Easton will not be replaced, and the functions of his department will be split between four of the other NHS Commissioning Board national directors, HSJ has learned.
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