The new government has an ambitious ten-year plan to transform the NHS by shifting care closer to home and tackling the UK’s poor record on public health and prevention. But with multiple short-term challenges and little money to spend, ministers will need more than goodwill and good intentions if they’re to turn those ambitions into reality.

Agenda for Change, introduced 20 years ago, was supposed to put an end to inconsistency and unfairness in how NHS staff are paid. But staff shortages and tight budgets mean many staff are now graded below the level of the work they’re doing. It’s time to modernise the system, says Rhys McKenzie.

Meet Your Reps: Jenny Owen, nurse, MiP health and safety rep and a manager in NHS England’s North West region, talks to Craig Ryan about championing the underdog and why she still needs a “clinical fix”.

Doctor, comedian, broadcaster, writer, health campaigner and politician manqué, Dr Phil Hammond is now drawing up a manifesto to rescue the NHS and boost the nation’s health. On the eve of a watershed general election for the UK, he spoke to Healthcare Manager’s Matt Ross.

ELECTION 2024:We look at what the experts say about six key challenges facing the NHS: waiting lists, workforce, social care, reform, buildings and technology. Do Labour or the Conservatives have the policies to meet them?

Under pressure from political demands and relentless organisational change, many board-level NHS managers are feeling the effects of burnout and contemplating leaving the NHS, according to MiP’s ’Sounding Board’ of senior members and the union’s evidence to the pay review body.

With constant upheaval in the health service, new mothers working for the NHS are often anxious about going back to work. Jo Seery explains the rights women have when returning after maternity leave.

The last party conference season before the general election showed that UK politicians still have to get their heads round what the NHS needs and what it can be expected to deliver.

The NHS is still struggling to recover from the pandemic, but studies show productivity was falling even before the Covid shock. We asked the experts: what’s driving this, does it matter and why are managers vital to turning productivity around?

Disabled managers often feel more at risk of losing their jobs during organisational change, despite legal protection under equality legislation. Jo Seery looks at the obligations on employers and explains what to do if you’ve been treated unfairly.