Exclusive: ICBs to shrink to 27 clusters
The consolidation of integrated care boards will result in the 42 organisations moving to 27 clusters, HSJ has learned.
Police launch corporate manslaughter investigation into another trust
A corporate manslaughter investigation has been launched into serious maternity failings at a major trust where hundreds of babies have died or been harmed.
Nine systems get extra deficit funding
Nine integrated care systems have been allowed to set higher planned deficits than last year, new figures show.
NHSE tells ICBs to slow elective referrals
NHS England has told integrated care boards they need to slow down elective referrals dramatically – nearly eliminating year-on-year growth – with high-profile waiting list targets under threat.
Systems with largest repair bills have capital budgets cut
Three integrated care systems with some of the worst maintenance backlogs have had their capital funding allocations docked due to financial underperformance, HSJ has learned.
ICBs appoint joint finance chief in national first
Two integrated care boards in the Midlands have appointed the first finance chief to head up two systems.
Trust fined £1.7m for maternity care failures
An acute trust has been fined £1.7m – one of the largest penalties to date – after multiple failings in connection with the deaths of three babies under its care.
New push to stop sending patients ‘out of area’ after homicides
NHS England has told trust, system and regional leaders to push ahead with plans to eliminate out-of-area placements within three years, in response to an independent review into the care of a man who killed three people while being treated by a Nottinghamshire mental health trust.
ICBs missing checks on vulnerable children
Integrated care boards are warning they are failing to carry out health checks for vulnerable children in care because of a lack of paediatricians and rising demand, HSJ has found.
Review uncovers ‘chaos’ at trust caring for man who killed three
A wide range of corporate failings contributed towards the climate in which a mental health patient killed three people in Nottingham in 2023, a review commissioned by NHS England has concluded.
Emergency prescribing and ‘shared care’ withdrawn by GPs
Emergency prescribing and monitoring of patients with severe mental health conditions are among services being cancelled by GP practices as part of “collective action”.
Staff at care scandal trust have ‘little left to give’ as spending controls bite
Staff at a scandal-hit trust feel “undervalued and without any autonomy” due to newly imposed financial controls, according to internal emails.
Three ICSs responsible for a quarter of very long diagnostic waits
Just three integrated care systems were responsible for nearly one in four 13-week waits for key diagnostic tests in recent months, HSJ analysis of official data has found.
First joint finance director sought by ICBs
Two integrated care boards have announced plans to recruit a shared chief finance officer, in what would be the first such move since ICBs were set up in 2022
Nineteen hospitals targeted for ‘urgent support’ before winter
NHS England has revealed the hospitals it is targeting for “urgent support” to avoid deterioration in emergency care performance ahead of winter.
‘Conflict of interest’ concerns over consultants hired to fix NHS finances
Concerns have been raised that consultants advising systems on savings plans could be “marking their own homework”, with many of the firms having already done similar exercises for the same organisations.
Providers ordered to review care models after killing of three people by patient
NHS England has ordered providers to review their care models for patients with serious mental illnesses following an investigation into the killing of three people by a patient in Nottingham last June.
Revealed: Three-fold variation in emergency response time by ICS
A threefold variation in ambulance response for serious, urgent conditions has been revealed in new figures.
ICS admits ‘doubts’ it can fix decade-old deficit by 2026
A health system says its decade-old financial deficit is “hampering” its ability to tackle inequalities, after NHS England ordered it to sign legal “undertakings” to improve.
Consultants sent in to tackle overspending at nine ICSs
NHS England has ordered nine integrated care systems to bring in management consultants to find ways to immediately bring down spending because of concerns over their finances, HSJ can reveal.