22.03.17
New additions and unexpected announcements
Source: NHE Mar/Apr 17
As NHE went to press, many of us were still recovering from the chancellor’s unexpected health announcements in his last Spring Budget.
While the sector welcomed Philip Hammond’s revelations, centered on capital funding for advanced sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) and A&E triage schemes (page 24), the government failed to address the funding gap still facing the NHS.
Even the £2bn social care windfall, which Treasury has confirmed is ‘new money’, was significantly less than what experts had called for to ease the pressure on a system close to collapse.
While the Budget may have been made close to the meteorological end of winter, the NHS is still facing a cold snap that looks unlikely to thaw out anytime soon.
On a more cheerful note, I would like to introduce readers to two new members of NHE’s Editorial Board: Chris Walters, NHS Improvement’s chief economist, and Claire Lodge, senior lead of engagement and editorial at NHS Leadership Academy. While Chris and Claire have very different backgrounds, I’m sure their vast experience will help us in developing our editorial content and strategy going forward.
In this jam-packed edition, we have some very timely sections focused on sustainability and transformation, training and development and the very complex subject of securing the NHS. In particular, the camera surveillance commissioner talks to us about how trusts could save money and improve the efficiency of their surveillance activity. You can also learn which NHS trust is the only one in the country to have achieved accreditation from his office (page 55).
As has become the norm, STPs get a mention throughout the whole edition. And we learn, from the NHS Leadership Academy, how a new programme aims to support STP leaders and commissioners flourish in the move towards population-health commissioning (page 32).
The Nursing and Midwifery Council’s chief executive, Jackie Smith, discusses the early work and decision for her organisation to regulate the nursing associate role (page 36), and Nicola Perrin, who is leading the Understanding Patient Data initiative, explains why clinicians have a crucial role to play in striking the balance between protecting privacy while sharing information to improve the health of patients and the population (page 50).
David Stevenson
Editor