Bids are open for NHS England’s new £480m national data platform – will it make the NHS better connected and more efficient, or is it a national vanity project? We also discuss who the successful bidders might be.

And in recent weeks the NHS has been given its marching orders for the next financial year, in the form of the planning guidance and integrated care systems’ financial allocations. We discuss what this tells us about ministerial ambitions for the health service and how the guidance connects with the ongoing Hewitt Review.

Featuring Nick Carding, Dave West and Annabelle Collins.