James Illman
James is a bureau chief for HSJ. He covers performance --- especially as it relates to electives --- and the NHS in the East of England. He has also been writing about the recovery of acute care services in the health service post-covid.
His series of articles exposing care failings at East of England Ambulance Services Trust was named “investigation of the year” at the inaugural Press Gazette specialist media awards in 2018. James joined HSJ in 2012 after four years on Local Government Chronicle. Before his time at LGC, he worked for business title Legal Week.
Contact info
- Tel:
- 020 7608 9066
- Email:
- james.illman@hsj.co.uk
HSJ LocalTrust shuts 10% of its beds in savings drive
A hospital trust has shut more than 10 per cent of its beds and cut staffing to try to meet a savings target, which is one of the highest nationally.
HSJ LocalCEO filmed ‘inadvertently’ misleading staff issues apology
A hospital chief executive has apologised after being filmed telling staff his trust had already decided to outsource its facilities management services despite the organisation’s official position being that a decision had yet to be made.
NewsFunding electives over A&E a big risk, says NHS chief
Ministers should consider “how it [will] look to the public” if any new funding for the service is restricted to boosting elective work, in the face of winter pressures destabilising urgent and emergency care.
NewsExclusive: Trust CEOs sound alarm as ‘ministers float plans to cut elective funding’
Ministers are considering “capping” the £3.2bn elective recovery fund this year, senior NHS figures have told HSJ, in a move they warned could derail Labour’s pledge to cut waiting lists – and send NHS finances into further disarray.
Expert BriefingRecovery Watch: Labour’s 40,000 appointments pledge is stuck in the pit stop
Recovering services from the covid crisis is a big task for NHS leaders for the foreseeable future. The Recovery Watch newsletter tracks prospects and progress. This week by bureau chief James Illman.
NewsAmbulance services hit crucial target
Ambulances reached some of the most seriously ill people within an average of 30 minutes last month – meeting a key NHS England target for the first time in more than a year.
NewsDarzi: NHS ‘unlikely’ to meet performance targets in five years
Labour is “unlikely” to meet its flagship manifesto commitment to restore the NHS’s constitutional waiting times during this parliamentary term, Lord Darzi has warned.
Expert BriefingRecovery Watch: ‘We’re in a right hole’
Recovering services from the covid crisis is a big task for NHS leaders for the foreseeable future. The Recovery Watch newsletter tracks prospects and progress. This week by bureau chief James Illman.
HSJ LocalTrust hired ‘untrained strike-breakers who put patients at risk’, union claims
A trust has been accused of putting patients at risk by bringing in “untrained strike-breakers” from hundreds of miles away and paying for their hotel accommodation to “disrupt” a week-long walkout by facilities management staff.
Expert BriefingThe Integrator: Capping acute funding uplifts for the wider good
Insider tales and must-read analysis on how integration is reshaping health and care systems, NHS providers, primary care, and commissioning
HSJ LocalFormer trust CEO reverses retirement after four months
An acute trust chief executive who retired in the spring has returned to the NHS in a senior interim role.
HSJ LocalTrust too ‘compassionate’ to effectively run services in-house
A trust’s “compassionate environment” would prevent it effectively managing its facilities management department, an internal report recommending the outsourcing of the service has claimed.
NewsExclusive: NHSE leak reveals GP ‘work to rule’ could cost £570m in four months
GPs’ “collective action” could cost over half a billion pounds and lead to around half a million additional elective referrals over four months, according to NHS England’s internal modelling.
HSJ LocalTiering system needs ‘streamlining’, says trust CEO in programme
NHS England should streamline its “tiering” intervention programme to reduce the time and resource demands it places on struggling trusts, a CEO in the regime has told HSJ.
HSJ LocalTroubled trust appoints first time CEO
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation Trust has appointed a new chief executive, the troubled mental health provider has announced.
- News
Streeting ‘stunned’ as review accuses CQC of ‘significant failings’
A highly critical interim independent review of the Care Quality Commission has found “significant internal failings which [are] hampering its ability to identify poor performance at hospitals, care homes and GP practices”.
HSJ LocalTrusts announce unprecedented merger plans
Two East of England trusts have today approved the first step of merger plans in what is understood would be the first tie-up between two standalone community service providers.
HSJ LocalTrust launches probe after cyber attack
One of the NHS’s least digitised teaching hospitals has been forced to carry out “a full forensic investigation” after a cyber attack last week, HSJ has learned.
HSJ LocalReview finds 418 ‘unnatural, unexpected deaths’ linked to troubled trust
A troubled mental health trust’s internal mortality review has concluded 418 of an estimated 12,503 patient deaths over a four-and-a-half year period were “unexpected and unnatural”.
NewsLong waiters increase raises fresh questions over key NHSE target
The number of 65-week elective waits has increased for consecutive months with the figure rising by more than ten per cent to around 56,000 in May, NHS England’s latest statistics show.