Matt Discombe
Matt is a senior correspondent covering performance - especially urgent and emergency care services - as well as the South West region. He also leads HSJ Intelligence’s coverage of the NHS in Wales. Matt joined HSJ in 2019 after previously working for Wales Online and Gloucestershire Live, for which he also covered the health service.
Contact info
- Tel:
- 020 760 89032
- Email:
- matt.discombe@hsj.co.uk
NewsEnd GP partnership model to help A&E waits, says NHSE lead
The NHS needs to take more “radical” steps to improve emergency care waiting times, including making primary care a salaried service, a senior national clinical lead has said.
NewsPerformance management role stripped from ICBs
NHS England — not integrated care boards — will be solely responsible for the performance management of trusts, the chief executive of NHSE has announced.
NewsRevealed: 50 A&Es where most patients ‘could be seen elsewhere’
The emergency departments where more than half of patients “could have been seen elsewhere” are revealed by new figures uncovered by HSJ.
NewsHalf of trusts ‘don’t have good pipeline of leaders’
Half of NHS trusts are concerned about their “pipeline” of future senior managers, amid a “striking” period of turnover in leadership, the acting head of NHS Providers has told HSJ.
NewsBaby death inquiry delayed by leadership confusion
Investigations into serious maternity safety concerns have been delayed by at least six months because national agencies could not decide who should lead the work, HSJ has learned.
NewsWinter pressures funding leads to ‘panic buying,’ says CEO
Last-minute national funding to ease winter pressures often leads to “panic buying” and is “not always well spent”, a trust chief executive has said.
NewsICB accused of ‘attacking patient choice’
An integrated care system has been accused of “attacking patient choice” by allegedly “pressuring” eye care providers to refer more work within the NHS – amid moves nationally to bring more ophthalmology services in-house.
NewsOverhauling CQC ratings ‘could bring greater clarity’, ministers told
Changes to the Care Quality Commission’s one-word ratings “could be beneficial”, Penny Dash has concluded in the final version of her review.
NewsThree new chiefs to ‘reset’ CQC inspections
The Care Quality Commission has been told to scrap its current governance structure and return to specialist inspection teams under the leadership of three new chief inspectors.
NewsCQC ordered to pause ICS inspections
The Care Quality Commission has been ordered to “formally” halt its plans for integrated care system inspections, following the latest criticisms of the organisation.
NewsEmergency performance dips as winter nears
Ambulance response times rose dramatically last month with urgent care performance also worsening as winter appeared to strike early.
NewsTrust ‘could force us out of business’, claims PFI firm
A private finance initiative company has warned it may go bust if a trust imposes any more fines after “severe” fire safety defects were found at its community hospital run by the firm.
NewsFormer executive returns to chair same trust
A mental health trust has hired a new chair, who previously worked as its deputy chief executive and interim CEO.
NewsNHS England director warns ‘we can’t surge beds and capacity’ this winter
An NHS England director has warned the health service will not be able to create the same extra capacity used to get through winter in previous years, adding to concerns about performance and safety pressures in coming months.
NewsRevealed: The trusts struggling most with delayed discharge ‘interface’ problems
The trusts struggling most on the number of delayed discharges caused by so-called “interface issues” between acute and other care services – mostly negotiations over care packages – are revealed by a new dataset.
NewsSystem sees clean sweep of CEO departures in 14 months
The retirement of a long-serving trust chief executive has meant a system has seen all four CEOs of its providers and integrated care board step down in little over a year.
NewsTrusts told to report harm from ‘unacceptable’ corridor care
NHS England has told trusts to monitor patient harm caused by corridor care this winter – admitting it is happening regularly in some areas despite being “unacceptable”.
NewsTrust claims ‘stressed’ staff are quitting over faulty IT system
An acute trust has claimed “experienced and dedicated staff” have quit their roles because of “the stress and anxiety caused by the instability” of its imaging IT system as its row with a private provider intensifies.
NewsAmbulance services hit crucial target
Ambulances reached some of the most seriously ill people within an average of 30 minutes last month – meeting a key NHS England target for the first time in more than a year.
NewsNHS has ‘thrown money’ at unproductive hospitals
Too much money is being “thrown” at hospitals where productivity “has substantially fallen” and not enough is being spent in the community, a major review of NHS performance has concluded.