Health and care sector latest developments
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Ministers ‘misleading’ the public on causes of waiting list reductions
A new analysis from Quality Watch – a joint project between the Health Foundation and the Nuffield Trust - warns that the NHS’s recent elective waiting list reduction that was touted by ministers as a sign of recovery, is misleading.
They say the drop largely stems from ‘unreported removals,’ not increased clinical activity.
These removals, including data validation and software quirks, can obscure true performance.
NHS data shows fewer patients are being treated than referred. The report authors have urged more transparency, warning that waiting list figures remain an unreliable measure of NHS demand and recovery currently.
10 Year health Plan author seconded to Downing Street
Tom Kibasi, NHS England’s strategy director and lead author of the 10 Year Health Plan, is being seconded to Downing Street for two months.
His exact remit is unclear, but he’ll work closely with Prime Minister’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney.
Kibasi, a former McKinsey consultant and director of the IPPR think tank, joined NHS England in April and is believed to be interested in the director general for strategy and health policy role recently advertised, in the reorganised Department of Health and Social Care.
He previously chaired Central and North West London Foundation Trust from 2016 until he joined NHSEngland, adding joint chair positions at Central London Community Healthcare Trust and West London Trust in 2023.
‘40 new hospitals’ will not be delivered until 2046
Data published by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) today shows that the 40 new hospitals project is not due to be completed until 2046.
The programme, announced by the previous government and a key plank of the Conservative Party’s 2019 General Election campaign, was initially intended to be completed by 2030.
In January, the current health and social care secretary announced delays to the project, blaming the previous government for only funding the project up to March 2025.
The data published today also projected the whole-life cost of the New Hospital Programme was at £60billion: more than triple the project’s original £16 billion-£18 billion envelope.
DHSC posts three job ads for director generals
Three new director general (DG) posts have been advertised by the Department of Health and Social Care for their new structure, each commanding a salary of up to £174,000.
The government announced in June that the new NHS centre formed from the merged DHSC and NHS England would have 13 DGs, plus five ‘national priority programme’ leads, and seven regional directors who will have the status of DGs.
The department has published job adverts for the three DG posts covering the ‘people’, ‘adult social care’ and ‘strategy and healthcare policy’ portfolios.
The job summaries describe the latter two roles as ’core members’ of the new joint executive and single departmental executive. They will report to both the DHSC permanent secretary Sam Jones and the NHS chief executive Sir Jim Mackey.
Experts’ warning over ‘slow’ progress in cancer survival rates
A major study reveals widening survival gaps between cancer types, with experts urging a National Cancer Plan to reverse slowing progress.
Led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Cancer Research UK, the research shows ten-year survival rose to 49.8 per cent by 2018, but gains have stalled.
A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are prioritising cancer care as we turn around more than a decade of neglect of our NHS. We’re already seeing progress, with 95,000 more people having cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days between July 2024 and May 2025, compared to the same period the previous year. The National Cancer Plan will set out how we will improve survival rates further and address the variation between different cancer types.”
The study highlighted the fall in ten-year survival for people living with prostate cancer. The UK’s National Screening Committee is currently assessing whether a programme for prostate cancer should be rolled out.
The government opened a call for evidence in February 2025 to inform a National Cancer Plan, which officials at DHSC are currently reviewing.
