But what will this actually mean in practice, how has NHS England responded, and what will trusts have to cut to balance the books?

Also this week, Health Check discusses an HSJ story that revealed ambulance services would still struggle to respond to a mass-casualty event like the Manchester Arena bombing, despite a public inquiry making recommendations to ensure they could.

With Henry Anderson, Annabelle Collins and Alison Moore. 

Send views and questions to annabelle.collins@hsj.co.uk.

You can listen to HSJ Health Check on this page, or subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and all the other popular podcast platforms.

Topics