NHS maternity care continues to be under the spotlight, so on this week’s episode we unpick the web of different national reviews and how trusts could be asked to improve services.

We cover Baroness Amos’ interim report from the government’s ‘rapid’ review, which has turned out to be less rapid than hoped, and some shocking findings highlighted by newly published national maternity data.

Also, why home birth services could become a thing of the past in the NHS.

Hospitals are being told by NHS England to focus on easy wins to hit this financial year’s A&E targets, so on this episode we unpick what trusts are being ask to do and whether this will get them over the line by the end of March.
NHSE also finally published guidance on its “model emergency department”, which will see under-performing trusts required to open new treatment areas. But, as ever, big questions remain about funding.
And we get under the skin of a recent HSJ analysis that showed the health service has been haemorrhaging non-clinical staff.

This week we cover a mysterious update to the “model ICB” blueprint that hasn’t been formally published or endorsed by NHS England, but instead passed in whispers.

We also talk about the full timetable for merging NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care and one of the biggest stories this week: the unexpected resignation of Ming Tang, NHSE’s chief data and analytics officer.

We discuss her legacy, most notably the federated data platform, and why some of the biggest trusts are yet to start using it.

On this episode we’re joined by Lord Philip Hunt of King’s Heath - who was a minister in the Labour government until last year, and has played a huge role in Labour health policy and in NHS leadership over several decades.

He was a health minister in the Blair government with Alan Milburn, has served in several Labour shadow health teams, worked as a senior NHS manager, and was the first chief executive of the NHS Confederation.

Lord Hunt is an active Parliamentarian and will shape the health bill when it hits the upper house. He tells us about its likely (tight) timings, and where the big clashes and U-turns may come.

On this episode we cover one of the most expensive employment tribunals in the NHS and why a trust must pay its former chief executive £1.4m in damages.

Also this week, an update on the new hospitals programme from the government spending watchdog, which included surprise dates for when rebuilds were likely to reopen - some of which are still 20 years’ away.

We also cover serious concerns raised about the quality of a trust’s medical training and more on the new chief executive of the merging NHS Providers/Confederation.

On this episode we’re talking about the tricky balancing act between cutting waiting lists and keeping finances under control, after Wes Streeting warned this week that some trusts have tried to cut deficits too sharply.

Also this week, two stories from Birmingham, including more on a damning external review into a major trust’s international training programme.

It’s time for the HSJ team to take stock and make their predictions for what the New Year could bring for the NHS, from the survival of Healthwatch, to why the NHS App could be in for a tough year.

Also, the biggest estates challenges facing trusts and why the ‘choice’ row is set to escalate.

Thanks for listening to the Health Check podcast this year and Merry Christmas from all at HSJ.

This week we bring you the latest in our series of HSJ Health Check podcasts tracking the development of the government’s planned Health Bill.

On this episode Dave and Annabelle are joined by Mark Dayan and Sarah Reed from the Nuffield Trust and we focus on the abolition of NHS England, drawing on research the think tank has just published.

We cover how this could be an opportunity to reset how the NHS operates within government, why the dramatic reduction in headcount could do more harm than good, and how officials could learn from historic NHS reforms.