NHS England has announced incentives and penalties in a bid to improve the health system’s financial plans, so this week we discuss what the new regime involves and if it will make any difference to the national £3bn deficit.

Also this week we focus on two stories from Birmingham – more bullying concerns at University Hospitals Birmingham and an update on the long-delayed Midland Metropolitan University Hospital, which HSJ revealed is due to open without the funding needed to run it. 

We also take a look at the latest pledges for the NHS by the political parties as the general election draws nearer. 

With Nick Carding, Henry Anderson and Emily Townsend. 

Rishi Sunak has called a surprise election, so we cover what could be in store for the NHS over the next six weeks and the different scenarios it could face if there is a change is government.

Plus, we consider NHS England’s intervention in the ongoing debate about productivity (and how that might affect the service’s ask for extra capital investment) and also the aftermath of NHSE’s massive restructure. 

With Henry Anderson, Annabelle Collins and Dave West. 

Greater Manchester ICS is under huge pressure to reduce its deficit after suffering a recent financial collapse.

And now the ICS must navigate this without its substantive chief financial officer, who has been seconded to a post within NHS England. We discuss if there is a way out of the red and what this will mean for local care quality. 

Also this week, a leaked NHSE review that concluded the NHS has a severe shortage of nurses with digital skills.

The tables have turned for the Care Quality Commission. This week HSJ revealed the government is launching a review of it’s new inspection regime and whether its ratings are properly incentivising care improvements.

We discuss what prompted this review, which senior NHS figure is leading it and what it could mean for the regulator. 

Also this week, a fifth of all of England’s GP premises pre-date 1948 and we discuss how this ageing estate risks hampering the workforce plan. 

We delve into the detail of HSJ's comprehensive survey of integrated care board leaders, as well as new interventions on the future of ICBs from NHS England and Wes Streeting. 

From leaders’ biggest worries, and their achievements thus far, to their plans for the future, HSJ Health Check highlights some of the more surprising findings.

Also, more on the shadow health secretary's recent comments on tensions between ICBs and foundation trusts, and NHS England's new assessment framework.

With Annabelle Collins, Nick Kituno and Dave West. 

This year sets the NHS one of its toughest financial challenges as pandemic cash dries up and funding shortfalls deepen.

We hear how three integrated care systems are already warning of significant consequences from the current financial requirements, and explore how the NHS plans to break even in 2024-25.

With Henry Anderson, Lawrence Dunhill and Nicholas Carding.

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This week guest host Ben Clover discusses alarming developments in urgent care plus the Silicon Valley firm getting established in the NHS, with HSJ reporters Emily Townsend and Joe Talora.

2022-23 was probably the worst ever winter for the NHS, after a steep collapse in performance. This year’s been a little better — new figures confirm — but how was this achieved, and what does it mean for coming months?

This week’s HSJ Health Check podcast reviews the latest figures on emergency care performance — across A&E waits, ambulance delays and response times, discharge and length of stay.

On nearly all measures, services have been better this winter than the year before, but only a little bit, and still well down on 2019 levels, which were already poor. 

We discuss what the service did to claw back performance, and the prospects for the coming year.

With Dave West, Matt Discombe and Alison Moore.

Send views and questions to [email protected].

On this episode we discuss the quality of maternity services in the NHS, which have remained firmly in the spotlight.

We cover a recent HSJ investigation into delayed inductions of labour and cover the broader challenges facing maternity services amid multiple inquiries and more 'inadequate' CQC ratings. 

Also more on why families whose babies died in the East Kent maternity scandal are still having to prove legal liability to get any compensation. 

With one working day left before the new financial year, the NHS’s instructions for 2024-25 have finally been published.

HSJ’s James Illman, Annabelle Collins, and Dave West unpack what's in this year’s guidance and talk more about the sticking points that caused the long delay.