Matt Discombe
Matt is a deputy bureau chief covering performance - especially urgent and emergency care services - as well as the London region. He also leads HSJ Intelligence’s coverage of the NHS in Wales. Matt joined HSJ in 2019 after previously working for Wales Online and Gloucestershire Live, for which he also covered the health service.
Contact info
- Tel:
- 020 3812 5362
- Email:
- matt.discombe@hsj.co.uk
NewsChase ‘quick wins’ to hit A&E target, hospitals told
Hospitals are being encouraged to target children, less sick patients, and “near miss breaches” in the final weeks of the financial year, in an attempt to hit the government’s A&E target.
News‘Evidence-free’ mandatory training to be rationalised, says CEO
A leading trust chief executive has said mandatory staff training is an “evidence-free zone” and its impact on patient outcomes is “very difficult to work out”.
NewsHospitals ‘overpaid’ by up to 18% under block contracts
Some hospital trusts may be receiving 18 per cent more than they should for providing emergency care, according to indications from a major national review whose findings have been kept under wraps.
News£50m gap declared after EPR and A&E knock trust off plan
A trust has declared it will end the year with a deficit of at least £48m, admitting its breakeven plan “carried too much risk”.
NewsCouncil planning disputes ‘costing trust millions’
A major trust has warned it will have to spend “millions” of pounds to address planning issues at one of its hospitals as it “struggles to find money for basic safety”.
NewsPrestigious trust ends joint chair arrangement
A major trust is to end its shared chair agreement with its neighbour when the incumbent leaves later this year.
NewsNHSE’s ‘model A&E’ delayed after ‘real world value’ questioned
Senior leaders have been drafted in to draw up NHS England’s new blueprint for A&Es, following internal criticism of the highly anticipated guidance.
NewsExclusive: NHSE director to head major trust
A national director is leaving NHS England to head up one of England’s major trusts, HSJ can reveal.
NewsConfusion over ‘corridor care’ obscuring safety risks
The NHS has been told by a safety watchdog to agree a universal definition of “corridor care” following a row over the terminology used to describe the practice.
NewsRevealed: Wide variation in resident doctors on strike
There was wide variation in the proportion of resident doctors who went on strike before Christmas amid increased national turnout, analysis of NHS England data suggests.
NewsA&E handover delays worse at 21 trusts
One in six hospital trusts have seen ambulance handover times deteriorate this winter, despite a trend of national improvement and directives from NHS England.
NewsProbert: We want NHS to be ‘world’s most transparent health service’
The NHS is striving to become the “most transparent health service in the world”, its deputy chief has said.
NewsRise in flu beds slows following government ‘collapse’ fears
The rise in hospital flu cases slowed last week – following NHS England and government claims that the service was facing an “unprecedented… worst-case scenario”.
NewsTwenty failing trusts need new ‘intervention’ approach, says Mackey
NHS England’s interventions for the trusts with the biggest problems “haven’t really worked” and will be reconsidered in the new year, Sir Jim Mackey has said.
News‘Don’t railroad GPs into neighbourhood health,’ says NHS London chief
The head of the NHS in London has warned against “railroading” GPs into providing more neighbourhood services.
NewsSix-fold variation in staff vaccination rates revealed
Fewer than one in 10 frontline NHS staff have been vaccinated at some trusts, despite public appeals from NHS England ahead of this winter.
News‘Corridor care’ approaches 1m cases a year
About 1 million A&E patients have been placed in corridors or similar “temporary” spaces over the past year, information obtained by HSJ reveals.
NewsHospital chief to become only ICB CEO with minority ethnic background
A hospital chief executive is leaving to lead an integrated care board, where she will become the only ICB CEO from a minority ethnic background.
NewsTrust’s GP phone service ‘won’t be imposed’
Plans for ambulance call handlers to help GPs manage incoming call demand “will not be imposed” on other practices, an ambulance chief has said.
NewsRevealed: Long waits for sickest patients at ‘above average’ A&Es
Trusts within reach of NHS England’s headline A&E performance target are often dealing with only a small fraction of their sickest patients in a timely fashion, new data has revealed.