And it's a wrap - at least for the enxt couple of weeks. Off to explore somewhere remote...not North Oxford.

Says the organisation whose members are responsible for pumping sh*t in rivers and the sea

Oxford politics demonstrate the weakening link between class and voting patterns - and the importance of education and public sector work in influencing support. Take Walton Manor, for example - average house price £1.2m but lots of NHS/uni staff and a scattering of students.

he's auditioning for the cover of a Pink Floyd album

The chief executive of troubled East Kent Hospitals has been away from her post since November on "unplanned leave." Here's what was really going on.

The collapse in recruitment of nurses from overseas laid bare.

Three Kent trusts in this list of savings plans for 2025-26. A lot of people would say this level of savings is not achievable without very significant changes to services/workforce/processes - can that be achieved?.

Once in a while you wonder what is really going on in the NHS.

This is a fascinating graph: ambulance trusts are managing to increase the % of hear and treat cases but this seems to be partly replacement of see and treat. However, the % taken to A&E is slowly declining - great news for pressurised A&Es!.

December was a mixede mnth for ambulance trusts - response times were generally a bit worse but against the backdrop of the highest every number of incidents per day. But good performance on hear and treat and relatively low percentage of patients taken to A&E. Handover times creeping up though....

Why does the NHS struggle to improve productivity? Could it possibly be because of problems like this? One of a long list of equipment issues at a capital-strapped trust.

This - from my story in the HSJ this morning - is horrifying beyond belief. There seems to be growing concern at national level about the disruption that an EPR installation can bring - especially at times when trusts are already under severe pressure from increased demand. .

Downturn in amb response times last month - not unusual for October but I would be surprised if the sector met the gov's 30 min target for category calls this year. Oct's performance was 32m 37s and year to date is now 29m 11s. This is a graph of performance since April 2023

I asked an ICB which had refused to release info under the FoI but did not appear to have applied the public interest test for evidence of when this test was applied. This is what they said. There is, basically, no evidence. @mrosenbaum.bsky.social

Can't vouch for the veracity of this (as was second hand from facebook) but worth thinking about what the march in London 10 days ago must have felt like for NHS staff.

Ahead of the announcements about which trusts will be in the Amos maternity review, I wonder how many of these will feature? All had higher than expected neonatal deaths/stillbirths over the last few years (details from MBRRACE)

Can introducing 45m max handover times work? This - from AACE - seens to suggest they can. LAS introduced them gradually and through working with hospitals to get crews back on the road to reach the next patient. .

How come smoothing out my fuel bills seems to involve me lending @octopus.energy several hundred pounds without interest for most of the year?

Just looked up the departmental boad for DHSC. 100% white and 70% men.

This weekend I've been involved in a small-scale badger TB vaccination programme, organised by Oxfordshire Badger Group. 4.10 alarm on Saturday but worth it for moments like this. #vaccinatedon'tcull

Not a great end of year performance for University Hospitals Sussex. Unfortunately some of the areas where it "overspent" will be just as important going forward.

From the chair of Kent and Medway ICB on planned NHS changes.

Oxford weirdness at 6am

NHSE puts out "good news" stories while South Yorkshire ICB refuses to respond to a query about local services because one of its places has local elections.

Big ambitions from SECAmb for this financial year - improvement on cat 2 response times and breakeven.

Very tough stance on sexual harassment/sexualised behaviour from East of England Ambulance Service. Full story on hsj.co.uk

20% price cut klaxon - this was £15m. A bargain for anyone with £12m to spend.

Hats off to the Oxford Clarion which has done a sterling job in looking at county council candidates and their backgrounds. Increasingly seeing this type of journalism done by independnet media rather than BBC or local papers. Here's a taste.

There is obviously an issue with bank workers in ambulance trusts with so few saying they are good places to work. Anyone know what is wrong? .