Editor's Comment

The Benefits Of Redesign

There is a new look and fresh feel to National Health Executive – as I am sure you will have already noticed.

We wanted a redesign to ensure our great content – news, views, comment, analysis, interviews, features, updates, events and investigations – is as engaging and attractive as possible. Hopefully the new design, inside and out, will make it easier for readers to find the articles that most interest them, and ensure a great read.

We still have our regular sections, of course: News from page 6, your views and letters in Inbox on page 15, Comment from page 17, Events on page 79 and the Last Word on page 80.

Overleaf, you will see some of the highlights of this edition, as well as a thorough run-down of all the sections, topics and special features we have for you.

There have been many developments for both provider trusts and commissioners since our last edition, with most trusts going for the ‘voluntary tariff’, as well as all the confirmations and approvals for co-commissioning. We have reaction and analysis throughout the edition.

It has become a truism that the NHS cannot go on as it is – doing so would be financially and clinically unsustainable. So transformation and integration is vital, as are other new approaches. We examine a number of these and their potential impact in this issue, including progress made with The Cumberland Initiative and its data-driven approach to health modelling, a vast pooled budget in Sheffield, the devolution agenda in Manchester, health coaching in the East of England, and the investment in electronic medical record resources to achieve improvements in mortality and patient experience.

We also concentrate on workforce issues, with updates from some of the major pilot sites for nursing and midwifery revalidation, and a contribution from Ian Wheeler, head of research, labour market intelligence and evaluation at Skills for Health, who says the case for investing in the skills of the UK’s health support workers has never been stronger.

Healthcare assistants are also the topic for Jagtar Dhanda, head of inclusion at Macmillan Cancer Support, who discusses their role in improving the patient experience for people with cancer on page 46.

That’s not to mention our focus on procurement and supply chain issues from pages 56 to 63 (including an interview with Lord Carter of Coles, chair of the NHS Procurement Development Delivery Board, speaking to NHE’s David Stevenson at the Houses of Parliament), and on digital innovation from pages 32 to 37.

 We’d be delighted to receive your feedback on our new look, or any of the articles in this edition. Inbox on page 15 has all our contact details for feedback.