5.04pm:Last chance! We have three Amazon vouchers worth £100 each to give away to anyone who tries the HSJ tablet app. To be in with a chance of winning, simply download the app to your iPad or Android device and sign in with the same username and password you use for hsj.co.uk. We will pick three winning users from random after the draw closes today. If you don’t have an hsj.co.uk username, you can register for free here. More information on the Amazon offer here.
4.56pm: Following an external recruitment exercise, Paul Gray has been appointed director general, health and social care and chief executive of NHS Scotland for the Scottish Government. Mr Gray is currently Scottish Government director general for governance and communities and will take up his new position from 2 December.
4.40pm: Martin Baggaley in the Guardian explains why London and Maudsley Foundation Trust allowed Channel 4 to film their series Bedlam: Anxiety, about the pressure on mental health services, in their wards. The four-part series starts tonight at 9pm.
4.26pm: Organisations in the NHS are growing inorganically, writes Caroline Clarke on hsj.co.uk today. “That is, they are growing as a result of large corporate style transactions − mergers and acquisitions to you and me.” Read her Opinion piece here.
4.04pm: The exchange of information is a key element of effective coordinated care, yet the NHS’s fragmented IT framework creates a host of problems and difficulties, says Veronika Thiel in an Opinion piece that’s new to hsj.co.uk today.
3.20pm: Our story saying Barbara Hakin had been cleared of bullying and endangering patient safety prompted many reader comments. Here’s a sample or you can see the story here to read them all.
You just have to look at the Staff Attitude Survey figures last year to see that this is a real issue in the NHS. The staff have just had enough of this inappropriate behaviour, which we know affects patient care and quality.
It is very easy to throw mud and have trial by media with only one side of the story being told, but what chance does a falsely accused person have when even after the disciplinary process has exonerated them? They are still abused.
Barbara Hakin is a tough manager and leader who expects nothing but the best because it matters for patients.
3.11pm: What are the barriers to achieving a paperless NHS by 2018? HSJ is launching this open letter to Jeremy Hunt, starting on 5 November. Have your say by visiting HSJ on Stand A85 at EHI Live 2013, or visit this page from 5 November to take part in our survey.
2.39pm: HSJ and partner Serco today announced the Commission on Hospital Care for Frail Older People, chaired by Dame Julie Moore. It will be relentlessly practical in its focus on what needs to happen in the short term, while forging strategies for the medium and long term. The commission will meet to hear and discuss witness evidence over two days in late 2013. It will then publish a scoping report in early 2014, with prominent coverage in HSJ. Find out how to get involved here.
2.32pm: Community services trusts are starting work on a national programme to develop indicators to benchmark their performance and value, which could potentially underpin a tariff payment system for the sector, HSJ can reveal. By June 2014 the data from GP practices will be linked to data from all hospitals.
2.05pm: Monitor has revealed its investigation into the commissioning of cancer services in Manchester will focus on whether competition rules were breached. Read Sophie Barnes’ story here.
1.30pm: Gaps in obesity services are preventing some patients accessing surgery, says NHS Clinical Commissioners. A lack of local provision is leaving some obese patients unable to access the essential support services they need to control their weight, according to the organisation. Steve Kell, Chair of Bassetlaw CCG and co-chair of the NHS Clinical Commissioners Leadership Group, says: “We know from many GPs that the specialised commissioning policy for obesity is simply not working. These services should be available in all areas and we should not be placed in a position where we have to deny patients treatment because of this.”
12.05pm: Monitor’s investigation into the commissioning of specialised cancer surgery services in Greater Manchester is to focus on whether NHS England and local providers broke NHS rules, which came into force on 1 April 2013. The sector regulator opened its investigation in August 2013, following complaints by University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust and Stockport NHS Foundation Trust. The two hospitals claimed that NHS England and its predecessor in the North West of England adopted a process for selecting future providers of cancer services that was not based on quality of services, patient outcomes or patient preferences.
11.57am: Accident and emergency departments are under increasing pressure, which is leading to high numbers of patients being admitted, according to a new report from the National Audit Office. The study found many emergency admissions through A&E are avoidable and many patients stay in hospital “longer than is necessary”. Read the HSJ story here.
11.49am: The flagship patient data service, care.data, will be able to “link” data from patients’ GP records to their hospital records by June next year, NHS England has announced. Linking up the data across different care settings will allow the NHS to have “a full picture of all the care that is going on across England”, said NHS England.
10.48am: More than three quarters of health and wellbeing boards believe they have little influence over NHS England, according to a major study shared exclusively with HSJ and its sister title Local Government Chronicle.
10.35am: NHS England is to announce a raft of new measures aimed at increased public participation as part of its on-going pledge to openness and transparency. They include: publishing more clinician level data; publishing more overarching clinical indicators; extending the Friends and Family Test, and linking clinical data from GPs - by June 2014 the data from GP practices will be linked to data from all hospitals.
9.34am: What does regulation mean to you? Does the thought of an enforcement intervention from the CQC keep you awake at night? Then join this free HSJ webinar today at 12.30pm to explore what CQC regulation means and what you can do now to ensure your organisation is prepared. It’s essential viewing, so make sure you register to be able to watch.
9.15am: Good morning and welcome to HSJ Live, on the day that we launch the HSJ Commission to investigate and help improve the hospital care of frail older people. HSJ’s first ever commission will explore how to tackle the most pressing issue facing the NHS. Find out more about this major project in this article by Alastair McLellan. And there’s a piece by the commission chair, Dame Julie Moore, here. There’ll be more details on Live throughout the day.
9.08am: In Resource Centre today, Matthew Custance says that mergers and acquisitions in the NHS are likely to continue amid pressure to address failing trusts and improve services, but figures show few are adding value.
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