'Fantasy' trust debts overtake PFI liabilities
A steep increase in emergency bailouts means NHS trusts’ total borrowing from the Department of Health and Social Care has overtaken their PFI liabilities.
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.
CQC highlights avoidable harm in 'fragmented' health economy
A review of the Northamptonshire health economy found several examples of patients being harmed by poor hospital discharge processes, as well as a “lack of trust” between organisations that was hampering progress towards system integration.
Patients 'pressurised' into treatment to hit cancer target
Some prostate cancer patients are “pressurised into receiving treatment within 62 days” even where it is deemed unnecessary, according to evidence within a new report.
Trust sector reports 'window dressing' deficit of almost £1bn
NHS trusts ended last year with a combined deficit of £960m, according to accounting data published by regulators.
Trust accepts control total after 'grip' warning from regulator
A financially troubled NHS trust has accepted its control total for 2018-19, despite the finance director saying it should be rejected in draft plans.
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
Struggling STP bans 'unhelpful' board member behaviour
A struggling sustainability and transformation partnership has created a list of “helpful” and “unhelpful” behaviours for its board members and plans to hold a “reconciliation event” for system leaders.
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.
NHS consortium withholds money from major IT firm
A consortium of NHS trusts is withholding money from GE Healthcare because a multimillion pound imaging system is still not working properly.
Best and worst hospitals in each area for staff recommending care
A breakdown by area of acute and combined trusts performance on the NHS staff survey, according to the share of employees who would recommend their organisation for work or care.
In full: Pathology network proposals
HSJ approached the 29 pathology networks proposed by NHS Improvement to ask if local trusts had signed up. In most cases the proposed “hub” trust was able to answer on behalf of its network.
Small hospital no longer ‘inadequate’
The Care Quality Commission has upgraded a troubled hospital trust’s inadequate rating, just 10 months after it was issued.
Shocking deterioration in RTT waiting times
Elective RTT waiting times shot up by over a week in December, in the fastest monthly increase since 2010, notes Rob Findlay
Waiting times steady despite slowdown in admissions
Yet another large trust stopped reporting its referral to treatment data, which clouded the picture for the latest November figures and raised non-reported waiting lists to a new record.
Cowper’s Cut: The fear, the network and the path
Why does a safety-critical industry such as the NHS have the level of bullying and fear running through it at so many levels, asks Andy Cowper
Trust chief exec appointed to lead 'advanced' STP
A trust chief with more than 20 years experience has been appointed “executive lead” of the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West sustainability and transformation partnership.
Exclusive: One in four hospital trusts routinely pay suppliers late
More than a quarter of hospital trusts are now routinely delaying payments to their suppliers because of cash flow problems, analysis by HSJ reveals.
Analysis by trust: Large majority provide less consultant access at weekends
The majority of trusts continue to provide patients with less access to consultants at the weekend compared to a weekday, new data reveals.
NHS England director to take over at special measures trust
An NHS England director has been appointed as the new chief executive of Kettering General Hospital Foundation Trust.