To celebrate NHS performance data day, here is a reminder of something NHSE don't pay enough attention to:
hsj.co.uk/daily-insight/… ...

We cover A&E performance - Matt's area - but also ambulance handover delays and whether things will get much better later this year (spoiler: I'm a sceptic).

Today's performance figures marked the end of the NHS winter.

After a catastrophic decline coming out of covid, this year saw a small but welcome improvement in many A&Es and ambulance services.

So how was it achieved and what happens next?

Rapid analysis on our weekly…

Total of 38 acute trusts (around a third) met the 76% target in March

Up from 15 trusts in February.

List below (data on major A&E attends only inc for context)

These trusts saw a >10% rise in A&E performance in the last month of 23-24, as NHSE made last ditch efforts to meet the deadline.

So an uptick in performance of 3.3% points from the 70.9% recorded in February.

But still not enough to meet NHS England and the government's high profile A&E target.

As seen below - no real change in perfomance in the last 3yrs and still below pre-pandemic standards

BREAKING: A&E four hours performance was 74.2% in March - missing NHSE's 76% target

With the Cass review published today, here's HSJ's recent pieces on the still uncertain future of Tavistock & Portman FT

hsj.co.uk/expert-briefin…

hsj.co.uk/service-redesi…

Digitising the Child Red Book (as announced by Wes Streeting MP) was government policy way back in 2014.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7ebce6…

Matt Hancock re-committed to it in the NHS Long Term Plan (2019), with a target of April 2023.

longtermplan.nhs.uk/wp-content/upl…

Easier said than done.

Join us 👇

It's a great place to improve your journalistic skills and there's an endless supply of interesting and important stories.

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🚨 NEW JOB!! A great opportunity here working at one of the best health journalism outlets

HSJ is seeking a new Correspondent to join our award-winning news team - details in the link and feel free to get in touch if you want to discuss the role

linkedin.com/jobs/view/3884…

Just seen the left-hand chart doing the rounds on Twitter

Helpful reminder that starting points matter for time series. The chart on the right starts in 2009 and changes the story a bit!

Pretty bad practice from BBC - it was an active (and disingenuous) choice to start in 2013

Excellent thread Sally Gainsbury on why the use of private capacity to tackle NHS elective backlogs is not the silver bullet some think. It would certainly help some patients but we need to understand the winners and losers or it risks exacerbating existing health inequalities.

In the footnotes, Neil O'Brien MP - a health minister until five months ago - suggests 'a single finance function' across DHSC and NHS England as a way of 'mending the divide' between the two

We don't talk enough about the role of demographics in driving tax and spending.

My new post looks at how demographics helped Mrs Thatcher, but have left politicians since 2010 trying to run up the down escalator financially: A quick🧵:

✨ Donna Hall ✨ Andrew Laird Mutual Ventures Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) Ben Wealthy greg fell FFPH Alice Wiseman Jim McManus OCDS,FFPH 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏳️‍🌈 🇺🇦 LGA Wellbeing Jennifer Williams Andy Burnham Steve Rotheram Debbie Abrahams MP The People's Powerhouse Sarah Woolnough Thea Stein Henry Kippin Jennifer Connolly SalfordMayor Professor Margaret Rowe University of Salford Dean Prof Ruth Patrick Kate Pickett Kate Josephs Jessica Studdert Andy Cowper Dave West Sarah Neville Shaun Lintern LGC The MJ Liam Thorp Sarah Longlands Sarah Lester Jo Bibby Ruth Hussey CB OBE DL Anita Marsland MBE Skills for Care William Roberts Royal Society for Public Health ADASS Robin Tuddenham 💙 Alison MckenzieFolan💙 Wigan Council Warren Heppolette Alison Lee Beatrice Fraenkel Dave Sweeney Dave Boulger Liam Hosie Nigel Edwards And my thoughts …

✨ Donna Hall ✨ Andrew Laird Mutual Ventures Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) Ben Wealthy greg fell FFPH Alice Wiseman Jim McManus OCDS,FFPH 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏳️‍🌈 🇺🇦 LGA Wellbeing Jennifer Williams Andy Burnham Steve Rotheram Debbie Abrahams MP The People's Powerhouse Sarah Woolnough Thea Stein Henry Kippin Jennifer Connolly SalfordMayor Professor Margaret Rowe University of Salford Dean Prof Ruth Patrick Kate Pickett Kate Josephs Jessica Studdert Andy Cowper Dave West Sarah Neville Shaun Lintern LGC The MJ Liam Thorp Sarah Longlands Sarah Lester Jo Bibby Ruth Hussey CB OBE DL Anita Marsland MBE Skills for Care William Roberts Royal Society for Public Health ADASS Robin Tuddenham 💙 Alison MckenzieFolan💙 Wigan Council Warren Heppolette Alison Lee Beatrice Fraenkel Dave Sweeney Dave Boulger Liam Hosie Couldn’t agree more … wisdom from Nigel Edwards 👏👏👏👏👏

The Integrator: Abolishing NHS England
hsj.co.uk/expert-briefin…

“Devolution in GM impacted whole health system.
Population health improved relative to control group.
Gains partially driven by improvements in social determinants.
Public health, primary & hospital care also improved
Impact on OP, MH, maternity, & dental services was mixed”