Read Jack Serle's latest HSJi Review, which notes that the Department of Health and Social Care is at pains to tell us at every opportunity since the arrival of its new management that the NHS is broken.

Debating whether or not this new departmental leitmotif is true is the health policy wonk equivalent of arguing over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. The health service is unquestionably beset with an array of deep-seated problems. None of them is more self-evident to the public, patients and staff alike than the state of its estates. Read the full article here.

Latest investigations

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust wants to eliminate all 65-week elective waits by the end of December 2024, which it is on track to achieve as it has the smallest overall waiting list among all acute trusts within the North West. The trust will continue to rely on the independent sector to help reduce waiting times in trauma and orthopaedics at least until its new surgical hub is up and running. Many urology and general surgery patients are also choosing to have their care carried out by private providers. The nearby Beardwood and Lancaster hospitals run by Circle Health Group are the most used.

University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust

University Hospitals Birmingham has suffered well-publicised problems in recent years. Three external reviews into patient safety, leadership, and culture were conducted in 2023. In March 2024, the Care Quality Commission rated the trust’s leadership as “inadequate”. In the same month, UHB recorded the worst scores in the national NHS staff survey for staff feeling bullied and harassed at work, or thinking their concerns would not be taken seriously.

South East London ICS

The ICB’s interface with the system’s hospital trusts and local authorities is still clunky. It is also more comfortable pushing out standardisation across its boroughs than it is delegating decision-making to its six “places”. Only the place directors for Greenwich and Lambeth are joint appointments with the local authority. However, the ICB has achieved one milestone in terms of devolution of power. SEL and its south west London neighbour have taken a step toward assuming responsibility for the commissioning of some specialised services. Although they do not yet control all of the substantial sum spent at Guy’s, King’s and St George’s (in SWL) by NHS England it is a step in that direction.

Datapoints

Last week, the following datapoints were updated:

• Emergency admissions, Elective overnight admissions, and Day case admissions of Scotland in 2023-24