Show Notes
The HSJ Health Check podcast is tracking development of the government’s planned Health Bill. This week we talk to Ian Dodge, who shaped several major pieces of NHS legislation as a national director at NHS England and the Department of Health. Mr Dodge reflects on the lessons that can be learned from two decades of NHS restructure Acts: They rarely succeed in transforming services, take longer and are more complex than thought, and open the door to a range of unpredictable challenges from outsiders and political opponents. We talk about where these attacks might come, and the dilemmas facing goverment itself about what to include. Mr Dodge says ministers have already missed the chance of sticking to a very slim piece of legislation, abolishing NHS England as straightforwardly as possible. “The 10-Year Plan blew that out of the water with a whole heap of things that the government decided to abolish,” he said. “Already this thing has ballooned.” On timing, NHSE is unlikely to be abolished until “sometime between 1 October 2027 or 1 April 2028… and it will take up a vast amount of time and effort.” Send views and questions to [email protected]. You can listen to HSJ Health Check on this page, or subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and all the other popular podcast platforms.
More from HSJ Health Check
This week, we take a look at how the government’s plans to restructure NHS England and Integrated Care Boards are going.
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This week we bring you the health highlights from the Labour Party Conference, including an ex-minister who said he would sack half of the NHS managers he has met “in a heartbeat” for not being good enough. We also discuss a worrying story about a trust at the heart of a major maternity inquiry, after a review found multiple recent stillbirths may have been avoided with better care. And on the theme of public inquiries, we cover some interesting comments made by Tom Kark KC, when speaking at HSJ’s Patient Safety Congress, who admitted they are often hugely expensive and time-consuming.
This week we talk about why an integrated care board in the north west is risking the wrath of GPs after consolidating its digital offering, in a move that has also raised concerns about its procurement practices. Also on this episode, the NHS has more than £1.6bn earmarked to get more out of digital systems - but trusts say the programme isn’t delivering. With just a week to hit some significant deadlines, we discuss why the Frontline Productivity Programme is being described by tech leaders as a “shambles”, with the centre being blamed, and what its future could look like.