Robert Royce
Robert Royce recently retired from NHS management having worked in both England and Wales. He is an honorary senior lecturer at Swansea University
CommentA warning from Wales for Wes Streeting
As the English government sets about reorganising the NHS, Robert Royce discusses the lessons it can learn from devolved healthcare in Wales
CommentWhy are some trusts improving on A&E while their peers fail?
Robert Royce analyses performance against the four hour A&E target since 2014-15 and shows that decline is not inevitable.
CommentHistory repeats itself: first as tragedy, then as farce
The problems that University Hospitals of North Midlands Trust, and King’s College Foundation Trust and Lewisham and Greenwich are facing a direct consequence of the acquisitions they made when South London Healthcare Trust and Mid Staffs failed, says Robert Royce
Comment'Internal major incidents' have become the new NHS norm
The NHS must manage patients’ expectations better
CommentFour hour performance: the decline continues
There’s little sign of it being reversed this year
CommentHospital chains are not for the fainthearted
What benefits might hospital chains deliver – and will they disappoint?
- HSJ Knowledge
Four hours in A&E: what the target tells us about trusts
Does performance reflect the leadership?
CommentThe path to a robust NHS starts with making it 'anti-fragile'
But the journey will not be easy
HSJ KnowledgeThe potential risks of closing small A&Es
Trusts’ struggles have little relation to their size
CommentMid Staffs is too small to be a viable FT
Monitor’s report shows the hospital never really had a chance of success
HSJ KnowledgeWhere is the NHS equivalent of the strategic defence and security review?
The so-called “radical” health reforms are for the large part anything but, but they raise a central point about an imbalance in the NHS workforce and its sustainability in the current system. This needs to be addressed urgently, writes Robert Royce.
HSJ KnowledgeChanging the approach to complaint handling in the NHS
With more complaints than ever before, and most trusts now having dedicated staff to deal with them, Robert Royce asks whether anything more than the frequency of dissatisfaction has changed in the world of complaints management in the last 25 years.
CommentWhat will the private sector do with failed hospitals?
The setting of a final deadline for NHS trusts to apply for foundation status is certainly focusing minds and starting to move long-postponed jobs out of the “too hard” tray, but the unpalatable truth is that some trusts are not going to make it by the drop-dead date of 1 ...