Regulators intervene in 52-week wait payment dispute
National regulators have stepped in to resolve a multimillion pound dispute between commissioners and a struggling trust over its backlog of patients awaiting treatment.
Exclusive: Major incident as hospital waste collections halted
More than 20 NHS trusts must store clinical waste, including human remains, at their premises for up to a fortnight after their scandal-hit contractor stopped collecting waste last week, prompting a major incident.
Trusts move clinical waste contracts to new provider after stockpiling scandal
Fifteen NHS trusts have transferred their clinical waste management contracts to another provider, after it emerged a key supplier to the NHS was stockpiling human body parts and other dangerous waste.
Revealed: The slowest invoice payers in the NHS
A third of acute trusts routinely break the law by paying their suppliers late, HSJ can reveal.
'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.
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.
Hospital chain expands after CEO retires
A West Midlands hospital chain will expand to cover three trusts, following the resignation of a neighbouring trust’s chief executive.
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
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.
The Commissioner: New commissioners – a lead provider
What NHS England isn’t telling you, and more indispensable insight for commissioners, by Dave West.
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.
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
Revealed: Best and worst trusts for maternity care experience
Thirteen trusts are providing women with a poorer care experience than expected in more than one core area of maternity services, according to the latest data from the Care Quality Commission.
NHS Improvement abandons consultancy turnaround programme
A financial turnaround project where management consultants are sent to work with NHS trusts has been shelved by NHS Improvement, HSJ has learned.
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.
Pathology network tenders £112m contract amid potential expansion
Pathology chiefs in the West Midlands have tendered a major contract despite uncertainty over whether they will follow NHS Improvement’s recommendations about which trusts will be in their network.
Former PCT chief appointed to chair STP
The Worcestershire and Herefordshire sustainability and transformation partnership has appointed veteran NHS manager Charles Waddicor as its independent chair.
Board warned over 'burnt out' staff and vacancies
An NHS trust has increased nurse staffing levels in its acute admissions unit and is changing its shift patterns to more flexible rotas to tackle widespread nursing vacancies.
Trusts must reduce deficits by two-thirds to hit official forecast
NHS trusts must reduce their combined monthly deficit to £107m to meet the official forecast figures in the second half of 2017-18, after recording a monthly deficit of almost £300m in the first half of the year.
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.