The must-read stories and debate in health policy and leadership.

It is rare that HSJ is able to write a positive story about ambulance services. Not because there isn’t great work being done by them and their staff but because the overwhelming story of the last 18 months has been plummeting response times and patient harm.

But yesterday there was finally a chink of light in the darkness. South Western Ambulance Service Foundation Trust – which has been one of the services most hit by handover delays and poor response times – has finally come out of the highest level of escalation under the Reap framework after 20 months.

In the last couple of weeks the trust has seen ambulance handovers reduce dramatically, its crucial category two response times fall close to the national target on some days and the number of calls it takes halve compared with Christmas and new year.

Anecdotally, other ambulance services are also seeing decreases in demand – and last week’s sitrep data showed a big decline in the hours lost to ambulance handover delays.

Don’t hold your breath – South Western says the position is still “very fragile” – but could the NHS’s everlasting winter be coming to an end at last? Let’s hope so.

Merger muddied

Efforts to merge leadership of two acute trusts were “disrupted” by board members of one of the trusts, who leaked confidential information, an NHS England investigation has found.

NHSE has said some board members at North Tees and Hartlepool FT  “[shared] internal management information [to] disrupt” proposals for a joint chief executive with its neighbour, South Tees Hospital FT.

The leak in November 2021 was done “with the knowledge that the related information would be used to discredit partners at [South Tees Hospitals FT],” the report says.

The report, which was quietly published last year, also told the two trusts they should pursue leadership merger plans “at pace”.

It follows concerns raised by local politicians that a joint CEO post would lead to a full merger between the two trusts.

North Tees FT has accepted the report and pledged to work with South Tees FT to “evolve our leadership and governance”.

Also on hsj.co.uk today

In comment, Alison Morton warns that many young children are missing out on the government’s promise of the “best start in life”, and calls for a shift towards prevention and early intervention. And in London Eye, with hospital leaders saying the strikes have shown there are a lot of people being brought unnecessarily to hospital emergency departments, Ben Clover asks what could be causing that.