All Planning guidance articles
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NewsIntegrated health organisations actually a form of contract, says NHSE
The “integrated health organisations” proposed in the government’s 10-Year Health Plan are not, in fact, organisations but a “contract-based delivery method”, according to the 2026-27 planning guidance issued by NHS England today.
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NewsDemanding A&E, elective and cancer targets for 2026-27 revealed
Trusts have been told to treat 82 per cent of A&E attendees within four hours next year, and must also hit a slew of other new targets revealed in the latest planning guidance.
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News‘Integration is not enough’, NHSE demands ‘credible, affordable’ local plans
New five-year plans to be drawn up by all NHS organisations this autumn must be “credible, deliverable and affordable”, and boards must actively challenge them rather than them “simply endorsing the final version”, NHS England has said.
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NewsNew elective contract ‘unworkable’, say providers
New national payment rules for private providers of elective care are “unworkable” and will undermine patient choice, the sector is warning.
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CommentTrust and ICB leaders must resist the temptation to blame others for the NHS’s woes
As NHS leaders navigate the new planning guidance, they must balance urgent recovery efforts with long-term reform to ensure sustainable healthcare services, writes Kathy McLean
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PodcastHSJ Podcast: Unpacking the planning guidance
NHS England published the 2025-26 planning guidance last week, so HSJ Health Check breaks down what it means for the service.
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Expert BriefingRecovery Watch: The trusts with the biggest challenge under new elective targets
Elective recovery and returning the NHS to meeting the 18-week standard by 2029 is the government’s main performance priority. The Recovery Watch newsletter tracks prospects and progress against this goal. This week by bureau chief James Illman.
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NewsTrusts to take on ICB responsibilities next year
Some trusts will take over responsibility for the “planning and transformation” of services from integrated care boards by March next year, according to the 2025-26 national planning guidance.
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News‘Culture of overspending’ is over, NHS told
Ministers have said they will back NHS leaders to make “tough decisions”, including cutting services, as part of ending a “culture of routine overspending without consequences”.
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NewsExclusive: Elective recovery scheme ‘wide open to gaming’
Plans to pay trusts to validate and sometimes remove patients from their waiting lists could be “wide open to gaming” and create a public perception problem, senior NHS figures have told HSJ.
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Expert BriefingReform Watch: What the new elective plan means
With the launch of Labour’s plan for elective care, Recovery Watch becomes Reform Watch. This newsletter will track the new government’s plans to “re-imagine” the NHS.
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NewsSurge in patients sent hundreds of miles for care
The number of people sent out of their home area for a mental health bed – in some cases hundreds of miles away – has increased to a five-year high, despite national ambitions to eliminate the practice.
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PodcastHSJ Podcast: The planning guidance is finally here
With one working day left before the new financial year, the NHS’s instructions for the year ahead have finally been published.
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NewsTrusts told to justify workforce increases, as NHSE warns the service must ‘consolidate’
NHS England has told trusts to review and justify their staffing increases over the last four years, saying there must now be a drive to “consolidate” services and workforce.
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News£6bn deficit warning sparks ‘horrible’ demands for nationwide cuts
Local NHS organisations are facing intense “pressure” from NHS England’s national and regional teams to cut staffing numbers to improve the service’s financial outlook for 2024-25.
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NewsNHS to target same elective activity next year
Health systems will be asked to deliver the same amount of elective activity next year as they were tasked with completing in 2023-24, HSJ understands.
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PodcastHSJ Podcast: The victims of the DHSC’s silent restructure
In this week’s podcast, we talk more about the decimation of England’s national public health unit less than three years after it was created.
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Expert BriefingRecovery Watch: Planning guidance heads for March
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 and finance correspondent Henry Anderson.
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NewsNHSE seeks to ease key elective target
NHS England is in negotiations with ministers to formally push back the target to eliminate 65-week waiters, HSJ has learned.
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PodcastHSJ Podcast: The targets holding up the planning guidance
This week we discuss a major obstacle in the planning guidance negotiations – how high to set the A&E four-hour target.