Financial penalties are being lifted from high-profile standards including cancer and elective waiting times, so far without attracting much attention. How is it happening? And... Watch the video
What waiting time target can you achieve? It's a simple question, but it turned out to be surprisingly hard to answer.
A gap has opened up on waiting times, and the Government is papering over the cracks for the Election. (First published at Roy Lilley's nhsManagers... Watch the video
Perverse incentives on 18 week waits would be reduced if CCGs authorised breaches in advance.
The Commissioning Board has made a small, but significant and welcome, change to the penalties for breaching 18 week waits.
The draft NHS Contract penalises hospitals who treat their long-waiters, but not if they keep them waiting. Why?
The biggest task will be keeping up with demand. Beyond that, restoring 18 weeks in one term looks feasible.
An elective shutdown during the covid-19 outbreak is likely to affect the very longest waiting patients most
The CQC are improving their 18-weeks monitoring. It still isn't perfect, but that may not be entirely their fault.
How government targets deter hospitals from cutting waiting times, and what can be done about it.