Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered a low-key spring statement in which he promised an improving economy and public finances, but no let-up on austerity. The BBC reported that ministers are, nonetheless, talking about finding more money for the NHS. While this was going on, the British Medical Journal published an editorial calling for an urgent inquiry into more than 10,000 excess deaths in the first seven weeks of the year, which it suggested were linked to NHS funding. In health IT news, a report from CommonTime suggested that staff are turning to commercial instant messaging apps, and four Scottish health boards announced that they are working on a project to join up health and care records using an Orion Health portal. Also this week: another chance to read all about the general data protection regulation, including an interview with David Stone, @nhs_iggeek.
Healthcare Roundup 16 March 2018
