The start of the week was dominated by prime minister Theresa May’s slow-moving Cabinet reshuffle. This ended with health secretary Jeremy Hunt emerging with the enhanced title of secretary of state for health and social care, and the Department of Health renamed the Department of Health and Social Care. The end of the week was dominated by concern about the NHS’ performance this winter. Official figures showed performance against the four-hour A&E waiting time target had collapsed; while emergency department clinicians and NHS Providers warned that the NHS was no longer able to deliver on its constitutional commitments without further funding. On the IT front, a Yorkshire trust announced that it was going to extend its TPP system from mental health to community services, the Berkshire shared care record announced a major step forward, and Southampton’s IT director launched an interesting debate on the future of core trust IT systems.
Healthcare Roundup 12 January 2017
