Just Published: Lord Carter’s review of efficiency in hospitals shows how large savings can be made by the NHS.
Lord Carter of Coles’ final report sets out how non-specialist acute trusts can reduce unwarranted variation in productivity and efficiency across every area in the hospital to save the NHS £5 billion each year by 2020 to 2021. The final report builds on the findings of the interim report and sets out further findings of variation across 32 non-specialist acute trusts.

Interview: Hospitals must ‘take fate into their own hands’, says Carter – Health Service Journal
Hospitals must rapidly find ways to reduce delayed transfers of care by taking more responsibility for post-discharge services, Lord Carter has told HSJ.
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Carter calls for US style ‘meaningful use’ clause to drive tech adoption – Health Service Journal
NHS system leaders should put a US style “meaningful use” clause into provider contracts to require hospitals to meet key digital standards by October 2018, Lord Carter has recommended. E-mail me this article

Tell trusts whether to outsource this year, says Carter – Health Service Journal
Trusts should find out this year whether they will be forced to outsource their administration, pathology and pharmacy functions, Lord Carter has recommended.
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New staffing metric ‘may lead to unsafe nursing levels’ – Health Service Journal
A new headline staffing metric proposed by Lord Carter – which will mix nurse and healthcare assistant numbers – could result in hospitals reducing nursing to unsafe levels, workforce experts have told HSJ.
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Carter Review – final report and recommendations – NHS Employers
The final report and recommendations of the Carter Review have specific actions for the NHS workforce among its 15 overall recommendations.

What the planning guidance means for the NHS: 2016/17 and beyond –  The King’s Fund
At a time when the NHS is planning for 2016/17 and beyond, this briefing considers some of the key publications and policy announcements that have come out in the wake of the 2015 Spending Review and offers a commentary on what they might mean for the future landscape of the NHS.

Managing the supply of NHS clinical staff in England –  National Audit Office (NAO)
Ensuring there are enough clinical staff with the right skills to meet the demand for high-quality, safe healthcare is essential to the operation of the NHS. However, the current arrangements for managing the supply of clinical staff are fragmented and do not represent value for money, according to this report.

NHS workforce plans driven by saving cash – Health Service Journal
NHS trusts’ workforce predictions are driven by the imperative to save money rather than clinical need according to the National Audit Office which has estimated a gap of 50,000 clinical staff in the NHS. E-mail me this article

The Department of Health is to cut up to 650 jobs – Health Service Journal
It will also relocate all its London based staff from its three offices around the city to new premises at 39 Victoria Street. George Osborne announced cuts to the DH’s budget last year
The department is trying to reduce its running costs by 30 per cent over the next five years. E-mail me this article