All Health Service Journal articles in January 2025
View all stories from this issue.
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News
Journalist joins DHSC board
A peer who said the NHS needs a “classic management turnaround” has been appointed to the board of the Department of Health and Social Care, alongside two other new directors.
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Daily Insight
Daily Insight: The better Better Care Fund
The must-read stories and debate in health policy and leadership.
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News
Joint working with councils to be ‘less bureaucratic’, promises NHSE
Central intervention in how areas use the Better Care Fund will be more targeted this year, with a “less bureaucratic” process promised for most areas.
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Comment
The NHS needs to make it easier for patients to complain
A new report calls for improvements to the process of NHS complaints to help the NHS develop a stronger listening and learning culture, writes William Pett, head of policy and public affairs at Healthwatch England
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HSJ Partners
18 Week Support and the NHS partnership agreement: A collaboration to achieve the 18-week target
The NHS partnership agreement, unveiled on 6 January 2025 as part of the elective recovery plan, represents an important step in addressing the longstanding challenges in elective care.
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News
NHSE tech boss decries ‘serious’ impact of job cuts plan
A senior NHS England director has written to staff, apologising for the likely impact of the sizeable job cuts announced by the organisation yesterday, warning they create a “very stark picture” for the service’s digital transformation plans.
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Daily Insight
HSJ Weekly Catch-up: Job cuts, care gaps and chemo fears
Your essential update on health for the week.
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Comment
The assisted dying debate must consider the religious beliefs of global majority staff
Imagine a clinician, seated across from a terminally ill patient who speaks of a desire to end their suffering. For the doctor, this moment may represent a collision of duty and conscience – an ethical precipice that grows more formidable as assisted dying legislation edges closer to reality in England ...
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News
ICBs must target ‘coasting’ GPs, says Streeting
Integrated care boards must tackle the minority of GP practices “who are coasting at the expense of those who are striving hard”, Wes Streeting has told HSJ.
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HSJ Partners
The ethics equation: How AI can transform healthcare responsibly
AI is transforming healthcare, but its potential must be balanced with ethical safeguards, including bias mitigation, transparency, and human oversight, to ensure patient safety and trust, writes The Access Group’s Alan Payne.
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News
NHS ‘too focused on cost-cutting, not productivity’
The NHS’s efforts to maximise productivity have been characterised by cost-cutting, rather than a coherent long-term strategy, a leading health economist has said.
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News
Exclusive: Govt abandons commitment to hit cancer, mental health and A&E targets
The government cannot commit to meeting national cancer, A&E, diagnostic, mental health and ambulance waiting time targets by the end of this Parliament, Wes Streeting has told HSJ.
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Daily Insight
Daily Insight: Axe falls again on NHSE headcount
The must-read stories and debate in health policy and leadership.
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News
Trusts to take on ICB responsibilities next year
Some trusts will take over responsibility for the “planning and transformation” of services from integrated care boards by March next year, according to the 2025-26 national planning guidance.
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News
Best-performing systems in line for £30m capital boost
The highest performing systems may be allowed to spend an additional £30m on capital projects over the next two years, under new proposals revealed by NHS England.
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News
New elective care target included in 2025-26 planning guidance
A new target for elective care waiting times has been included in the 2025-26 planning guidance, but several high profile commitments have been dropped.
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News
‘Culture of overspending’ is over, NHS told
Ministers have said they will back NHS leaders to make “tough decisions”, including cutting services, as part of ending a “culture of routine overspending without consequences”.
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News
NHSE to cut a further 2,000 posts
NHS England plans to cut around a further 15 per cent of its headcount — about 2,000 posts — it has told staff this morning.
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Comment
Hospitals are suffering from an identity crisis
The hospital model is outdated and struggling. It’s time to rethink its role, structure, and integration within a prevention-focused healthcare system, writes Rosie Beacon
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HSJ Partners
Consistency and collaboration in our approach to adult vaccination is key to a prevention-focused health system
Pfizer UK’s Gillian Ellsbury on the importance of consistency in our approach to adult vaccination to create a prevention-focused health system