The Integrator: Baby steps again on specialised services
Insider tales and must-read analysis on how integration is reshaping health and care systems, NHS providers, primary care, and commissioning. This week by deputy editor Dave West.
Exclusive: Government and NHS in talks over £1bn funding gap
Government is in talks with national NHS leaders over how to fill an urgent funding gap of at least £1bn this financial year, HSJ has learned, as new analysis shows all 42 local integrated care systems were behind their own plans less than halfway through 2023-24.
ICS accused of imposing ‘woefully low’ overtime pay
An integrated care system’s new overtime ‘rate card’ has sparked a furious response from doctors who warned the “woefully under-market value” rates were directly undermining efforts to ensure safe staffing.
Revealed: First ICS digital maturity ratings
HSJ can reveal the first ratings given to every integrated care system for the ‘digital maturity’ of its NHS providers.
Trust names interim CEO
A mental health trust has named a managing director as its interim chief executive while the substantive post-holder is on secondment at the local integrated care board.
Revealed: the ICSs that refused to set breakeven plans
More than half the integrated care systems in the north of England have refused to agree a balanced financial plan, HSJ has learned.
ICSs get ‘significantly harder’ savings target of 6pc
NHS organisations will have to make average efficiency savings of almost 6 per cent to meet their financial requirements this year, a report suggests, which is significantly higher than the levels demanded before the pandemic.
Trust CEO named as interim ICB chief
Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board has appointed its third chief executive, and second interim, since it was established last July.
Revealed: the tenfold regional difference in access to GP records
Fewer than one in 10 GP practices offers patients access to their records in several areas of England, with significant variation across England, six months ahead of a new deadline.
Revealed: The integrated care partnerships with no public meetings or minutes
Six integrated care systems have not held any public meetings of their ‘partnership’ boards – and nine have not published any ICP meetings or papers – nearly a year after they were set up.
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.
ICB chair on ‘extended leave’ amid leadership turmoil
An integrated care board’s chair is on a ‘period of extended leave’, amid wider concerns about unstable leadership, poor relationships and staff dissatisfaction at the organisation, HSJ can reveal.
Revealed: the 14 ICSs admitting they will end the year in deficit
At least 14 integrated care systems have now officially admitted they will end the year with a budget deficit, after just five areas said this at the start of the year.
Medicines blackout threatens ICS prevention target
The government’s target for England to become smoke-free by 2030 – which integrated care systems are expected to pursue – is being undermined by the unavailability of two smoking cessation medicines.
Record waits for endoscopy as referrals soar
The waiting list for endoscopies has broken the record set during the height of the covid pandemic, as referrals for suspected colorectal cancer surged, HSJ analysis shows.
HSJ’s 10 most read integration stories of 2022
As we get ready to say goodbye to 2022, HSJ takes a look back at the 10 most read integration stories of the year.
NHSE estimates mortality rate for autistic people is 51pc higher
Autistic people in England who do not also have a learning disability are approximately 51 per cent more likely to die in a single year compared to the general population, according to a leaked document which estimates the mortality rate for the first time.
Trust CEO drafted in to replace departing ICS leader
The chief executive of a successful acute trust is to take over as the interim leader of an integrated care system.
CEO quits under-pressure ICS
A former Number 10 adviser who was made CEO of an integrated care board has become the first to leave since the organisations were created in July this year.
The Integrator: Council/NHS rows flare
Insider tales and must-read analysis on how integration is reshaping health and care systems, NHS providers, primary care and commissioning. This week by deputy editor Dave West.