NHS reforms

‘Archaic’ and ‘absurd’ fax machines banned across the NHS

10.12.18: The NHS has been banned from buying fax machines by the health secretary who has ordered a complete phase-out of the outdated machines by April 2020. Taking effect from January 2019, NHS trusts will instead be required to invest in new tech...

New wave of technologies puts surgery ‘on verge of transformative change’

07.12.18: A new wave of technologies will transform surgery across the NHS with advances in digital technology and human biology improving the treatment of millions of patients, according to an independent commission. The Commission on the Future of...

May promises reform as review reveals ‘outdated’ Mental Health Act infringing on patient rights

06.12.18: Patients with severe mental health problems “should be given more rights over treatments” to ensure better care is provided if they are detained for compulsory treatment, according to a review. The independent review of the Ment...

Staffordshire CCGs to halve hospital beds and sell sites as part of integrated care plans

05.12.18: Four of North Staffordshire’s five community hospitals will lose their beds under controversial proposals for an overhaul of local health services as CCGs look to move to a new model of integrated care. Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffo...

NHS’s longest-serving trust CEO to step down ahead of major merger

04.12.18: The longest-serving chief executive in any hospital trust in the UK has announced he is stepping down after 19 years in the role ahead of a proposed merger of his organisation. Tony Spotswood, the CEO of the Royal Bournemouth and Christchur...

Government set to relax immigration laws to ease NHS workforce crisis

30.11.18: The government is set to relax its immigration rules to allow more foreign doctors to come and work in the NHS in order to help tackle widespread workforce shortages, especially post-Brexit. Ministers have reportedly agreed to expand the cu...

Hancock says NHS should adopt McDonald’s leadership model to create ‘learn not blame’ culture

29.11.18: The NHS should look to McDonald’s to help create a “learn not blame” culture, Matt Hancock has said in a speech about his vision for better leadership in the health service. In his speech at the King’s Fund annual co...

New voluntary drug pricing deal could cut NHS medicine bill by almost £1bn

28.11.18: A new voluntary scheme to control the pricing of branded medicines could provide patients with earlier access to new medicines and save the NHS almost a £1bn on its annual medicine bill. It will introduce an annual 2% cap on the growt...

Prevention is better than cure

28.11.18: Sir Michael Marmot and Dr Jessica Allen, director and deputy director of the Institute of Health Equity, assesses the government’s commitment to prevention and what this means for health inequality, eight years on from the Marmot Review. ...

Prof Sir Malcolm Grant: Globally exporting the NHS

28.11.18: The NHS must export its services and expertise to protect its lead as the global healthcare market explodes, argues Professor Sir Malcolm Grant CBE, outgoing chair of NHS England. We’re at a turning point in history as global healthca...

Turning the tide on antimicrobial resistance

28.11.18: Professor Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive and director of health and social care at NICE, provides her view of the institute’s newly published impact report on antimicrobial resistance. Around 700,000 deaths occur every year worl...

NHS trusts made to publish staff and patient concerns in the wake of Gosport scandal

22.11.18: NHS trusts will be forced to publish concerns raised by staff and patients about their care in the wake of the Gosport patient deaths scandal, the health secretary has announced. In a statement to Parliament, Matt Hancock said he would &ldq...

Twenty-nine trusts and NHS boards have missed every single target this year

20.11.18: A new analysis from the BBC has revealed that 29 hospital trusts and boards have missed every single one of their targets so far this year, while one in five local hospital services “consistently” fail to meet waiting time targets. ...

May’s border control plans will 'cut off the supply of nurses from overseas'

19.11.18: NHS Employers has criticised claims made by the Prime Minister about border control as “of huge concern” to the NHS, and added that it was vital to get a new immigration policy role. Speaking at the CBI conference, Theresa May s...

Sir David Behan appointed new Health Education England chair

16.11.18: Sir David Behan has been appointed as the new chair of Health Education England (HEE). The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced that the former chief executive of the CQC will chair HEE for three years, starting from 1 Dece...