Climate change is a health emergency and along with challenges around workforce, health inequalities and winter pressures, system leaders must also work to meet the net zero target by 2040. Healthcare Leader provides an overview of the current state of play The NHS has done major work on reducing its impact on climate change but […]
The start date for the adult flu and covid vaccination programmes – initially set for 1 September – has been delayed until October, NHS England has confirmed. However, vaccinations for flu in school-aged children and for pre-schoolers will start on September 1, as planned. The Enhanced Service specification for the seasonal flu programme published by NHS […]
Nearly two million patients started paying for private healthcare during the pandemic, including for services that provide quicker access to a GP, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has suggested. The think tank warned that ‘significant disruption’ to NHS services, such as those seen over the last two years, could ‘push’ more patients toward […]
Patients waiting for elective surgery are to be given access to a new platform which aims to help prevent delays to their procedures. The service, called My Planned Care Platform, will provide ‘personalised support’ for patients including information on waiting times and prevention services, such as stop smoking or diet and exercise plans, to ensure […]
The Government will not publish its NHS backlog recovery plan today as planned, amid reports that the Treasury blocked the announcement. Details of the plan were expected to be released today (7 February), but the health secretary has now said it is hoped to arrive ‘shortly’. It comes after reports claimed the Treasury had intervened […]
The DHSC has ‘no plans’ to change the implementation dates for the mandatory vaccine policy despite fears of thousands of dismissals, Healthcare Leader‘s sister title has been told. Current Government plans state that all NHS staff in patient-facing roles must have had two doses of a Covid vaccine by 1 April. Under the current timeline, […]
The Government should immediately delay plans for mandatory Covid-19 vaccination of NHS staff in England if a ‘catastrophic impact’ on services is to be avoided, unions have said. This is according to the RCN and the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), which both warned this week that health services are already facing understaffing – and […]
The target date to grant integrated care systems (ICSs) statutory footing has been pushed back to 1 July 2022, NHS England has confirmed. The deadline was originally set for 1 April 2022, with details about how ICSs would take over CCG’s commissioning functions given last February in the white paper for the Health and Care […]
The transfer of select commissioning powers from CCGs to PCNs will be delayed for the second time until October 2022, NHS England has said. The planned transfer of CCG-commissioned extended access services to PCNs will now be postponed by a further six months, as part of measures designed to support ‘core general practice capacity’ over […]
The NHS has fallen from its top spot to fourth place in a ranking of health services globally due to delays in accessing care, a thinktank’s analysis has judged. In its new report (4 August), the Commonwealth Fund ranked the UK’s health care system at number four: three spots lower than its 2017 ranking. The […]
NHS Digital will no longer collect patient data from 1 September, and has removed the fixed date in favour of a three-point criteria, the organisation has said. Health minister Jo Churchill said yesterday (19 July) that this latest delay to the General Practice Data for Planning and Research (GPDPR) scheme would grant patients more power […]