Read Jack Serle's latest HSJi Review, which notes how cybersecurity has once again become a high-profile issue for NHS leaders. The 3 June attack on Synnovis, a pathology service provider to two major trusts in south east London and primary care across the system, caused major disruption.

The attack on the pathology service came two years after the attack on IT provider Advanced, which supplies the Carenotes electronic patient record, and was the victim of an attack that compromised the medical records of mental health patients across the country.  Read the full article here.

Latest investigations

Elective Recovery briefing

The Labour government was elected on the promise that the NHS would hit all the main performance standards contained within the NHS Constitution by the end of the parliament. The Constitution states that 92 per cent of patients referred for elective care should wait no longer than 18 weeks for the first hospital appointment or treatment episode. However, with the elective waiting list standing at a record 7.6 million cases (some patients are on more than one waiting list), only around 58 per cent of patients are being seen within 18 weeks. Little wonder then that former Labour health minister Lord Darzi said in September’s Independent Investigation of the NHS in England that it was “unlikely” the RTT target would be met.

Wrightington, Wigan And Leigh Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Foundation Trust appointed Mary Fleming as its new chief executive in spring 2024. Ms Fleming has been at the trust since 2008, serving both as chief operating officer and deputy chief executive. The CEO heads a relatively new senior team. Chief finance officer Tabitha Gardner was appointed in March 2023, chief people officer Juliette Tait in September that year, chief nurse Kevin Parker Evans in January 2024, and chief operating officer Sarah Brennan in September. The new leadership’s biggest challenge is improving the trust’s elective care performance, which is poor when compared to trusts of a similar size. It has, for example, a relatively high proportion of year-plus waits.

Social value in procurement

The NHS incorporated social value and net zero considerations into its procurement processes two years ago. It is now a factor in both individual tenders and qualification for procurement frameworks.

NHS organisations must include an obligatory 10 per cent weighting for contributions to the service’s net zero targets and social value in their tender evaluations. This effectively requires NHS contracts to include requirements for suppliers to deliver social value outputs. You can read HSJi’s latest in-depth briefing on the net zero policy here.

Datapoints

Last week, the following datapoints were updated:

• 12 hour A&E waits, 12 hour A&E waits (% of total attendances), and A&E attendances of Acute for Oct, Nov
• % beds occupied by delayed discharges of Acute for Oct
• Four hours A&E performance (all patients) of Acute for Nov
• 18 week waiting time target of Acute,Sp,Com, PP for Q3 2024-25
• Elective patients waiting more than 18 weeks of Acute, Specialist for Q3 2024-25
• NHS talking therapies of MH for Q3 2024-25
• Year-plus waiters and Providers with 'outstanding' leadership of ICS for Q3 2023-24
• Total population served of Wales for 2023-24
• % Domain rated good or outstanding; % sites rated good or outstanding; % sites rated well led; 18 week waiting time target; Number of Sites; Number of Sites rated by CQC; Sites rated good; Sites rated inadequate; Sites rated outstanding; Sites rated requires improvement of PP for Q3 2023-24
• CQC Rating of Acute, SP, MH, Com, Amb for Q3 2024-25
• Leadership of ICS, Scotland, Wales, PP for Nov