Top stories archive

Delayed 2020/21 cost data shows impact of Covid on productivity

by Steve Brown

29 July 2022

The significant impact of Covid-19 on NHS costs and productivity has been underlined by the publication of national cost collection (NCC) data for 2020/21, although there are concerns about the accuracy of the data.

Disagreement over treatment of liabilities

by Seamus Ward

29 July 2022

Northern Ireland auditor general Kieran Donnelly has again drawn attention to a disagreement with the Department of Health and health and social care trusts over the accounting treatment of liabilities.

PAC questions Covid lab contracts

by Seamus Ward

27 July 2022

Commons Public Accounts Committee chair Meg Hillier has accused the Department of Health and Social Care of ‘acting fast and loose’ when awarding contracts worth almost £777m for Covid testing services and goods.

Government slammed over ‘marked reluctance’ to act on workforce shortfalls

by Seamus Ward

25 July 2022

Persistent understaffing and the government’s refusal to carry out detailed workforce planning is threatening attempts to recover the NHS backlog, and poses a serious risk to patient safety, MPs have said.

Pay awards to be funded in full by diverting centrally held budgets

by Seamus Ward

21 July 2022

The NHS in England will be funded in full for the 2022/23 pay awards, but this will mean a ‘reprioritising’ of centrally held budgets, including national technology programmes, NHS England chief financial officer Julian Kelly said.

Systems to be held to planned level of agency spending

by Steve Brown

20 July 2022

System level ceilings have been set for agency spending with the limits derived from the 2022/23 provider financial planning returns, according to new guidance from NHS England.

MPs blast Department over ‘significant’ PPE failings

by Seamus Ward

20 July 2022

MPs have criticised the Department of Health and Social Care for ‘significant failings’ in its management of personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts, concluding that ‘suppliers and intermediaries are likely to have made excessive profits while providing substandard PPE’.

NHS workers given below-inflation pay rise

by Steve Brown

19 July 2022

Unions have warned that the government’s below-inflation pay deal for NHS workers will damage patient care and lead to nurses leaving the profession, while NHS leaders have called for the award to be fully funded.

Costing will prioritise local decision making

by Steve Brown

19 July 2022

The future approach to costing in the NHS will focus on meeting the needs of local trusts and systems, according to NHS England deputy chief financial officer Peter Ridley.

NHS England to monitor emergency demand impact on recovery funding

by Steve Brown

19 July 2022

The impact of non-elective demand on NHS providers’ ability to hit elective activity targets, funded through the elective recovery fund (ERF), will be monitored as the year develops, NHS England said this week.