Threefold ICS variation in GP phone access revealed
Patients trying to reach their GP are almost three times as likely to fail to get through in the worst-performing integrated care systems than the best, according to analysis of new annual figures.
Exclusive: NHSE begins to claw back funding from ICSs to pay off historic debts
Three-quarters of integrated care systems face funding cuts of up to £20m as a result of NHS England’s insistence they start paying back overspends from previous years, HSJ analysis has discovered.
New £2bn hospital group appoints chair
Two trusts which are forming a hospital group have appointed a new chair.
Revealed: The ICBs most reliant on private hospitals
Up to 20 per cent of NHS elective patients are now being treated by private hospitals in some areas, analysis by HSJ suggests.
Manager and doctor ‘camaraderie’ eroded by strikes, ICBs warn
“Camaraderie” between NHS managers and senior doctors has been eroded during the past year of medical strikes, a review by several integrated care boards has warned.
‘Inadequate’ action on cap-ex changes leading to ‘suboptimal’ decisions
Capital spending plans in some health systems are being adversely impacted by an accounting change that was not supposed to affect operational decisions.
Nearly a third of ICSs admit finance plans will be missed
At least 13 integrated care systems have now admitted they will miss the financial plans they signed up for at the start of the year.
City’s two acutes to share CEO and chair
A city’s two acute trusts have announced plans to share a chair and chief executive.
Rush to reduce elective backlog increasing ‘never events’, report finds
Moving less complex procedures out of operating theatres and into other care settings to free up capacity to support elective recovery has ‘inadvertently’ increased the risk of ‘never events’ at an acute trust, a report has warned.
West Country Chronicle: ICBs learn different lessons from procurement debacle
From Cornwall to the Cotswolds, West Country Chronicle offers essential insight into NHS matters in the South West. Contact me in confidence here.
ICB battling legal challenge over patient transport contracts
The award of two patient transport contracts, worth a combined £42m, by an integrated care board is being challenged in court by the losing bidder.
ICBs must pay £1.7m for competition failure
Three integrated care boards have had to pay £1.7m to a technology firm, after commissioners manipulated a procurement, new figures reveal.
Exclusive: Government and NHS in talks over £1bn funding gap
Government is in talks with national NHS leaders over how to fill an urgent funding gap of at least £1bn this financial year, HSJ has learned, as new analysis shows all 42 local integrated care systems were behind their own plans less than halfway through 2023-24.
Revealed: the ICSs where delayed discharge rates have doubled in a year
More than half of integrated care systems have managed to cut their rates of delayed discharges this year, but performance worsened in 16 ICSs.
Revealed: First ICS digital maturity ratings
HSJ can reveal the first ratings given to every integrated care system for the ‘digital maturity’ of its NHS providers.
Trust leaders using ‘aggressive tactics’ to ‘break’ strikes, BMA claims
The BMA has hit out at a trust after it emerged that striking junior doctors could ‘needlessly’ have eight days’ wages deducted from July’s pay, despite there being five days of strike action this month.
Trust loses £85m contract for local services after winning work 200 miles away
A foundation trust has lost an £85m contract to provide healthcare services in its local prisons to a private company, after taking over the same services from the same company 230 miles away.
Revealed: the tenfold regional difference in access to GP records
Fewer than one in 10 GP practices offers patients access to their records in several areas of England, with significant variation across England, six months ahead of a new deadline.
West Country Chronicle: ‘You know what CEOs are like – they like a challenge’
From Cornwall to the Cotswolds, West Country Chronicle offers essential insight into NHS matters in the South West. Contact me in confidence here.
ICBs hire same tech provider following court order to redo procurement
Two integrated care boards have hired the same tech supplier after a court order to re-procure due to a previous purchasing process being deemed unlawful.