Tender process launched to find screening provider
Commissioners are relaunching a stalled effort to find a single provider for the abdominal aortic aneurysm screening programme in south London and parts of Surrey.
Reconfiguration key to 'special measures' CCG's turnaround
Four CCGs placed into special measures by NHS England won’t be able to solve all the area’s problems until a decision is made on a reconfiguration of acute and specialist services, the accountable officer has warned.
Six trusts named as 'outliers' in lung cancer audit
A hospital trust is considering hiring more nurse specialists after being flagged as an outlier for lung cancer treatment.
Radiology backlog a 'potential key risk' for trusts: CQC chief
Trust boards must recognise backlogs of unreported radiology images as “a potential key risk” and take action immediately, the chief inspector of hospitals has warned.
County to develop “single service” pathology joint venture
Acute trusts across Kent have agreed to create a joint venture to deliver a single pathology service for the county, despite years of work, developing two services in the county.
HSIB to roll out maternity investigations across England by March 2019
The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch will not achieve national coverage of maternity incidents until March next year, it has told HSJ.
Trust considers centralising elective activity ahead of winter
East Kent Hospital University Foundation Trust is considering centralising its elective orthopaedic services to help it better cope with next winter.
Year-plus waiters rise 75 per cent
The number of patients waiting a year or more for elective treatment has risen by 75 per cent year-on-year, NHS Improvement data confirms.
Trusts to work around major reconfiguration delay
Two acute trusts are trying to develop a shared on-call rota for vascular surgery after a long awaited reconfiguration was delayed again.
Waiting times blow out to 22 weeks as elective admissions falter
Waiting times rose again, and the longest waits were hardest hit. Continued, severe and widespread capacity pressures are the likely culprit. By Rob Findlay
GPs warn trust paperless switch could 'compromise patient care'
Patient care could be “compromised” by trusts’ plans to implement paperless referrals, GPs in the south east have warned.
Over 1,000 staff to transfer to trust subsidiary company
Around 1,100 staff at a teaching trust, including many employed by Serco, are to transfer into a new NHS owned company this summer.
Exclusive: Patients at risk as blood clot assessments decline
Thousands of hospital patients are being put at risk of developing deadly blood clots that cost the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds because of a failure to carry out a routine assessment.
Major A&E reconfiguration delayed
Plans to consult on much needed changes to accident and emergency services in east Kent are being pushed back.
Trusts in talks to guarantee payment after 'paperless' switch
Trusts are having to negotiate local deals to ensure they still get paid for outpatient referrals after the NHS switches from paper to electronic referrals later this year.
Trust could seek cash from council pension fund for hospital rebuild
A large acute trust is considering seeking funding from a local authority pension scheme to carry out much needed redevelopment work.
CCGs left with £15m bill following dispute with acute trust
Commissioners have been left with a £15m bill after losing a dispute with their local acute trust over procedures which they said had been costed wrongly.
Long waits soar as hospitals struggle to admit
Over one year waiters shot up by 20 per cent, as admission rates slumped in the face of record A&E pressures.
Teaching trust to check 5,000 X-rays after data mismatch
A teaching trust is re-examining around 5,000 X-rays – some dating back more than a decade – after fears they may have been overlooked and patients could have been put at risk.
Six children affected by MRSA on same ward
Six babies in a neonatal intensive care unit have been found to be colonised with the same strain of MRSA – leading to staff being tested and three being identified as carriers of the bacteria.