Friday Edition

On 20 May, the NHS Modernisation Bill was announced. NHS England ceases to exist as a separate body. Functions transfer to the Department of Health and Social Care. Also in the bill: a single patient record system, changes to ICB duties, Healthwatch abolished, and the Health Services Safety Investigations Body absorbed into the CQC. Revenue funding rises 3% real terms to GBP 226 billion by 2028/29. Capital spending GBP 14.6 billion by 2029/30. This is the biggest structural change to the NHS since 2012. [King's Fund, Parliament Library Briefing, NHS England Medium Term Framework]

7.11 million. Down from the 7.77 million peak. That is 515,000 fewer people waiting, the largest annual drop in 16 years. Long waits over one year fell 48% in twelve months to approximately 94,000. The 18-week referral-to-treatment target has been met. The 65-week target is slipping in some trusts. Streeting's "cut by 40% by 2029" pledge is no longer fantasy - but it requires sustained throughput that the current workforce cannot deliver without productivity gains or additional capacity. [NHS England RTT, Kings Fund, Nuffield Trust]

NHS England confirmed on 12 May that Palantir staff have "unlimited access" to identifiable patient data via the GBP 330 million Federated Data Platform. The BMA called for doctors to reject it. Medact published a briefing. Parliament debated it on 16 April. Forty-one ICBs adopted the platform. Greater Manchester said no - the only one. Their FOI response: "No compelling evidence that the value proposition from FDP has materially changed in favour of adoption." [The Register, BMA, Medact, FOI]

NHS England confirmed the reduction from 42 integrated care boards to approximately 26, effective April 2027. Some mergers are voluntary. Others are being encouraged. Every merger means a new Chair, a new CEO, a new digital strategy, and 18 months of distraction. The people who know how the systems work are the ones most likely to leave during the transition. [HSJ, NHS England, Kings Fund]

Epic Systems secured two major NHS EPR contracts: Somerset and Dorset health systems awarded GBP 222 million for a unified enterprise-wide EPR (10-year contract, full implementation April 2028), and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust awarded GBP 52 million (10-year, starting February 2026). Eight NHS trusts now run Epic. The EPR market is consolidating around larger enterprise solutions. Meanwhile, 40% of acute trusts still run legacy systems older than their medical registrars. [Hospital Management, Digital Health, Verdict]

The Care Quality Commission is moving from one framework to four: adult social care, hospitals, primary care, mental health. Traditional ratings return (Outstanding to Inadequate). Numeric scoring removed. Structured supporting questions replace the old KLOEs. Targeting 9,000 assessments published by September 2026. Draft frameworks open for feedback until 12 June. The promise: less burden, more real-time insight. The risk: trusts that gamed periodic inspections now need to sustain quality continuously. [CQC, CMS Law, CareTutor]

Junior doctor strikes are over (22% pay deal phased over two years). But GP training applications fell 7%. Nursing vacancies still at 34,000. International recruitment running at 16,000 per year but visa rules tightening. Streeting signalled pay rises capped at 2.5% - below inflation. Over GBP 1 billion needed for ICB corporate redundancies alone. Newly qualified nurses cannot find posts. Retention, not recruitment, is the binding constraint. [BMA, NHS Workforce, NHS Confederation, NHS Providers]

93% of NHS trusts have an EPR deployed. Only 30% report fully integrated, bi-directional data flows. Survey of 541 Royal College of Physicians members: 70% cite inability to integrate AI tools with existing EPRs as the main barrier to adoption. Ambient scribing is the gateway - at least 15 trusts piloting, 15-20 minutes saved per outpatient clinic. But who owns the transcript, where is it stored, and what happens when it gets it wrong? No national framework yet. [HTN, Digital Health, RCP]

Kings Fund analysis: 69% of NHS provider trusts ended 2025/26 in deficit. Total provider deficit approximately GBP 4.5 billion. ICB deficits add another GBP 2 billion. The capital budget is being raided to cover revenue gaps - meaning buildings, equipment, and digital infrastructure are delayed to pay salaries. The NHS Long Term Plan capital commitments are 3-4 years behind schedule in most regions. [Kings Fund, NHS Providers, NAO]

Greater Manchester's care record (GMCR, Graphnet) serves 2.8 million residents. 86% of patients with an EPaCCS summary die in their preferred place of death. Without it: 44%. Bolton care teams can now access GP correspondence digitally for the first time. Named HealthTech Project of the Year. GBP 7.5 million additional funding awarded. Five other ICSs evaluating the model. That is not a technology metric. That is a dignity metric. [Graphnet, Health Innovation Manchester]