The Conservative Party met in Birmingham, where leaders made big promises about cancer and genomics services, and health and social care secretary Matt Hancock found an additional £240 million for social care this winter. Away from the conference, the Nuffield Trust warned that small hospitals were struggling with the spiralling cost of services and staff shortages, and that a new model was needed to secure their future. Staff shortages were also blamed by an ambulance trust chief executive for the ongoing failure to meet 999 targets. Former health and life sciences minister George Freeman told a Tory party fringe meeting that the £4.2 billion that ex-health secretary Jeremy Hunt secured for his “paperless” ambitions had come without a plan; and that the service had failed to deliver. Last week’s UK Health Show focused on the current state of NHS IT, and Matt Hancock’s plans to make a great leap forward by introducing “interoperable data standards.” We have an exclusive report.
Healthcare Roundup 5 October 2018
