Comment archive – Page 2
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Daily InsightThe mythbuster: The dishonest metric that disguises the true extent of long A&E waits
Measuring ’trolley waits’ tells us little about the true and deeply worrying scale of delays in emergency care, argues Steve Black
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CommentProfessional regulators make it too hard for patients to complain
Employers and regulators should support patients and colleagues who give evidence against registered professionals and embed lessons learnt, writes Emerita Professor Louise Wallace and Dr Annie Sorbie
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Expert BriefingPatient Safety Watch: The deeply concerning state of home birth services
HSJ hosts the Patient Safety Watch newsletter, written by Patient Safety Watch chief executive James Titcombe
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CommentThe AI risks that NHS boards are missing
The risk for boards is not that AI will fail loudly, but that it will work efficiently while quietly missing harm. Governance that cannot see false negatives is not governance at all
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Expert BriefingThe Download: When the patient brings the scribe
The weekly newsletter that unpacks system leaders’ priorities for digital technology and the impact they are having on delivering health services. This week, written by Ella Devereux. Contact HSJ in confidence here.
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CommentWhy so many acute oncology services are unsafe by design
Despite their central role in cancer care, Acute Oncology Services remain underdesigned and overreliant on professional goodwill. Workforce redesign, not resilience, is now the critical safety issue
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CommentThe real cause of NHS leadership burnout
Pressure is visible; disorientation is not. Until the NHS names the quiet drift pulling leaders off course, burnout will continue to be misread and mismanaged
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CommentNHS reform is having a disproportionate impact on female staff
NHS reform is accelerating. How leaders support and retain diverse women during change will determine delivery, capacity, and long-term success
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CommentThe launch of ‘ChatGPT for health’ is both a threat and an opportunity
OpenAI’s entry into consumer health is not speculative innovation but a response to behaviour already happening at scale. For the NHS, it exposes a long-ignored gap in law, interoperability and patient agency that policy can no longer sidestep
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Daily InsightThe mythbuster: Simple, plausible and wrong
20 per cent of A&E patients end up being cared for in corridors, and delayed discharges cost at least £2.7bn annually, yet ministers ignore the best solution to these problems.
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Expert BriefingThe Integrator: ICBs are set up to fail on hospices
Insider tales and must-read analysis on how integration is reshaping health and care systems, NHS providers, primary care, and commissioning. This week by correspondent Mimi Launder.
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CommentWaiting list falls but still not fast enough
The longest waiting specialties made the biggest improvements in waiting times in November, says Rob Findlay
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CommentWhy pharmacy is still excluded from neighbourhood care
Community pharmacy is one of the NHS’s most accessible assets, yet it remains largely excluded from new integrated care models.
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Expert BriefingImPatient: Patient-centred AI regulation – a call to action
Patient (Lived Experience) Leadership is about those affected by life-changing illness, injury or disability who want to influence change through being equal partners in decision making. In this monthly expert briefing, patient leadership champion David Gilbert picks out the most significant developments in a field of increasing relevance to the ...
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CommentCapacity, not complacency, is the biggest risk to NHS cyber security
One of the most dangerous assumptions in NHS cyber governance is the belief that once compliance has been demonstrated, maintaining that formally assured position is enough. In today’s operating conditions, this is neither prudent nor responsible
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CommentNeighbourhood health services must not ignore severe mental illness
Integrated neighbourhood health services must prioritise severe mental illness, or risk deepening one of the UK’s most profound and preventable health inequalities
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Expert BriefingRecovery Watch: Unsexy and painstaking – 2026 in elective care
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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CommentThe NHS risks going backwards on patient safety
NHS organisations are beginning to shift from blame-focused incident management to systems-based learning. But with old cultures still deeply embedded and operational pressures mounting, leaders and regulators must actively resist a return to defensive, compliance-driven thinking
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Daily InsightThe mythbuster: NHS care can be faster, better AND cheaper
Debates about NHS productivity wrongly assume hard trade-offs are necessary to improve the service’s performance. In fact, bottom-up analysis of clinical processes shows better, faster, cheaper care is achievable now
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Expert BriefingThe Integrator: Stabilising the ICB leadership crisis
Insider tales and must-read analysis on how integration is reshaping health and care systems, NHS providers, primary care, and commissioning. This week, by deputy editor Dave West.