All articles by Matt Discombe
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Expert BriefingRecovery Watch: How many beds are enough?
Addressing urgent and emergency care recovery, including reducing A&E wait times and corridor care, remain top operational priorities for the NHS. This week’s Recovery Watch newsletter, by deputy bureau chief Matt Discombe, reports on progress towards these goals.
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NewsShift out of hospitals must be ‘realistic’, warn doctors
A royal college has added to concerns that a shift in NHS funding to expand “neighbourhood” care risks undermining “safe, sustainable hospital services”.
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NewsCEO warns against ‘top slicing’ acutes for ‘well meaning’ neighbourhood schemes
Large acute trusts are shouldering unreasonable risk because their funding has been “top sliced” to pay for “well meaning” but unproven “neighbourhood health” schemes, a leading London CEO has told HSJ.
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NewsTrust appoints substantive CEO five weeks after hiring interim
A mental health trust has once again recruited its chief executive from its neighbouring provider.
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NewsNHSE makes three appointments to top team
NHS England has made three senior appointments as it readies itself for absorption by the Department of Health and Social Care, HSJ can reveal.
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NewsPerformance dips after trusts earn bonus cash
Most trusts that earned capital funding for improved A&E waiting times in March saw their performance deteriorate in the months after, HSJ can reveal.
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NewsTrust labelled ‘inadequate’ amid ‘serious safety concerns’
A trust has had its leadership rating downgraded from “good” to “inadequate”, and been told it has “significant and serious safety concerns” in surgical services.
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NewsCorridor care cases hit 90k in May
More than 90,000 cases of corridor care were recorded in English NHS hospitals in May – an average of 3,000 per day – according to the first official stats on the scale of the problem.
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NewsRevealed: The trusts sharing £86m prize for March A&E sprint
NHS England has revealed the trusts which will share an £86m prize pot for delivering improvements to A&E waiting times in March.
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NewsRevealed: Hospitals with the most ‘red line’ 24-hour waits
At least one in 10 A&E patients wait more than 24 hours at many hospitals, despite NHS England telling trusts to adopt a “zero tolerance” approach to such long waits, new figures have revealed.
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NewsGovernment will be ‘incredibly lucky’ if current elective care plan works
The government and NHS England is wrong to think that improvements in productivity, and not increased funding, will result in shorter elective waiting lists, the leader of the NHS Alliance has claimed.
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NewsGovernment accused of ‘disconnect’ in policy over new ICB role
The government’s decision to give integrated care boards partial responsibility for delivering a new £1.8bn special needs programme is creating “real tension” with their plans to cut staffing and focus on commissioning, system leaders have warned.
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NewsTroubleshooter joins trust as interim CEO
A mental health trust has appointed an interim chief with a reputation for taking on challenged organisations while it begins a search for its next permanent leader.
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NewsTop trust ‘struggling’ with tariff reform
A top-performing trust’s CEO has said it is “struggling” with the impact of NHS England’s financial reforms – which it argues are “disproportionately” affecting organisations providing specialist care.
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NewsNHS-owned consultancy faces closure
An NHS-owned consultancy is facing closure after reporting significant financial losses, HSJ can reveal.
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NewsNeighbourhood plans ‘in danger’, says top five trust leader
The government’s neighbourhood health agenda is “in danger of not happening” amid a lack of clarity over governance structures and funding, the chair of England’s fourth-largest trust has claimed.
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NewsMajor trust names new chair after axing shared model
A major trust has named its new chair after ending a shared agreement with its neighbour.
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NewsRevealed: Hospitals with the highest avoidable admissions
Around 15 per cent of emergency admissions at some trusts are potentially avoidable, according to new NHS England data.
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NewsCEO: ICB must take ‘urgent action on shameful situation’
The boss of a trust where a child recently spent over two months in A&E has urged other local system leaders to take “urgent action” to help resolve the “shameful situation” concerning vulnerable children.
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NewsTrust’s £360k overtime bill for handful of staff ‘not sustainable’
A trust has said it paid £358,000 in overtime to just eight band 6 and 7 staff members to keep its pathology service running amid multiple strikes last year, in an arrangement the CEO warned was “not sustainable”.