QIPP, Efficiency & Savings

Routine breech scans could lower mother and baby mortality rates and save NHS money, researchers say

17.04.19: Scanning mothers-to-be late in their pregnancy could prevent 15,000 unexpected breech births, 4,000 emergency C-sections, and the deaths of up to eight babies a year, new research has shown. Breech births, where a baby’s bottom or fee...

NHS Property Services awards Mitie with extension to facilities management mega-contract

16.04.19: NHS Property Services (NHS PS) has awarded an extension to a three-year contract to deliver engineering, landscaping and security services across the health service to Mitie. The contract will see Mitie deliver mechanical and electrical ser...

‘Dishonest’ solicitor struck off for overcharging NHS with ‘unreasonable’ clinical negligence bills

15.04.19: A “dishonest” solicitor who overcharged the NHS whilst pursuing clinical negligence cases has been struck off after the High Court judged he had showed a “serious lack of integrity.” Andrew Good, who founded the Hull...

Going back to school at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

10.04.19: Steve Hams, director of quality and chief nurse at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (GHFT), demonstrates how cultural change has improved care for patients. Staff have gone back to school as part of a ‘social movement&rs...

Improving patient flow in west London

10.04.19: Sonya Clinch, West London NHS Trust’s head of operations for access and urgent care, tells us how her trust dealt with significant pressures in its services. Maintaining good patient flow is challenging in many trusts, often because t...

Woman jailed after trying to defraud the NHS for more than £2m

09.04.19: A woman who tried to sue the NHS for £2.3m in compensation for a botched surgery which she claimed left her in constant pain has been jailed. Lesley Maria Elder from Dorset said the severe pain following a vaginal mesh operation had r...

Extent of NHS’s declining financial health and staffing crisis being masked, MPs warn

04.04.19: Staffing shortages represent “the biggest threat” to financial stability in the NHS and to delivering the Long-Term Plan, as MPs warn that the health service is on course to “rapidly reach crisis point.” The Public A...

Multi-million-pound cuts approved as Derbyshire CCGs enter merger

03.04.19: Derbyshire CCGs have agreed unprecedented £70m cutbacks as they sealed a landmark merger of the region’s health bodies. The four CCGs in Derbyshire – Erewash, Hardwick, North Derbyshire and Southern Derbyshire – have...

£60m worth of out-of-date breakthrough cystic fibrosis drug destroyed in NHS price row

28.03.19: Nearly 8,000 packs of Orkambi, a breakthrough medicine for cystic fibrosis, have been destroyed after exceeding their expiry date during a stand-off between the NHS and supplier over high prices. US company Vertex revealed in a letter to th...

Getting it right first time and reducing variation in the NHS

27.03.19: Mike Hutton, author of the recently-published Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) national report on spinal services and consultant spine surgeon at The Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, looks at how reducing unwarranted variation in...

The NHS estate is more than just 'bricks and mortar'

27.03.19: Claudia Martinez, research manager at Reform, talks about maximising the value of the NHS estate. In his review of NHS property and estates, Sir Robert Naylor argued that an adequate healthcare infrastructure was crucial to achieving the go...

Capturing funds for the NHS estate

20.03.19: Aahsan Rahman, department head of town planning at NHS Property Services (NHSPS), looks at an alternative and perhaps underutilised funding source for the NHS: the town planning system. Developer contributions and the healthcare system At...

The digital revolution for healthcare is now!

20.03.19: Richard Corbridge, chief digital & information officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, focuses on the practices his trust has put in place as part of its digital revolution. After celebrating its 70th year, the NHS is faced with...

Focusing on hand injury prevention would ensure vital benefits for the public and the NHS

18.03.19: Ian McNab, consultant orthopaedic hand surgeon and council member of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand, outlines how a focus on prevention to hand injury could wider benefits for the NHS and general public. The NHS Long-Term Plan...

£3m Shrewsbury hospital ward opening delayed by fire regulations

15.03.19: A new £3m ward designed to help ease winter pressures at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital is not currently in use because it does not meet fire safety and building regulations. The ward, announced last September, was planned to relieve press...