HSJ Health Check HSJ

2022-23 was probably the worst ever winter for the NHS, after a steep collapse in performance. This year’s been a little better — new figures confirm — but how was this achieved, and what does it mean for coming months?

 

This week’s HSJ Health Check podcast reviews the latest figures on emergency care performance — across A&E waits, ambulance delays and response times, discharge and length of stay.

On nearly all measures, services have been better this winter than the year before, but only a little bit, and still well down on 2019 levels, which were already poor. 

We discuss what the service did to claw back performance, and the prospects for the coming year.

With Dave West, Matt Discombe and Alison Moore.

Send views and questions to dave.west@hsj.co.uk.

On this episode we discuss the quality of maternity services in the NHS, which have remained firmly in the spotlight.

We cover a recent HSJ investigation into delayed inductions of labour and cover the broader challenges facing maternity services amid multiple inquiries and more 'inadequate' CQC ratings. 

Also more on why families whose babies died in the East Kent maternity scandal are still having to prove legal liability to get any compensation. 

With one working day left before the new financial year, the NHS’s instructions for 2024-25 have finally been published.

 

HSJ’s James Illman, Annabelle Collins, and Dave West unpack what's in this year’s guidance and talk more about the sticking points that caused the long delay.

HSJ revealed this week the cost of building “40 new hospitals” in the NHS has increased by £4bn, so on this episode we dig into what’s driving this and if it will get past the Treasury. 

 

Also this week  – when PFI deals go wrong and how a fire at the Whittington Hospital in north London has led to a High Court case. 

This week we discuss the implications of a long-awaited independent review into a patient safety scandal at Salford Royal Hospital, in which multiple patients were harmed by John Williamson, the former head of the spinal division.

We cover why concerns about care quality resurfaced long after the trust concluded its review in 2016 and why it failed to properly investigate at the time. 

Also more on news that an Australian tech firm backed by one of China’s richest people is set to win the majority of contracts to deploy new AI diagnosis tools across the NHS. 

HSJ Health Check debates the new NHS staff survey results, with trust CEO Matthew Winn, survey expert Chris Graham, and HSJ's Nick Kituno.

Some key findings are improved this year, but others reveal a service still struggling to recover from the pandemic. There's also an alarming increase in reports of discrimination.

Meanwhile, Matthew and Chris argue there can be no 'quick fixes' or gaming when it comes to being a good employer, so leaders should focus on looking after staff and making longer-term improvements. Staff survey results should also be used more when it comes to judging trusts nationally, they say.