Award winning journalist. Bureau chief at Health Service Journal. Popbitch's favourite health reporter (see banner pic). DMs open or james.illman@hsj.co.uk
Joined May 2009
- Tweets 18,251
- Following 3,461
- Followers 5,950
- Likes 4,205
1,047 Photos and videos
James Illman retweeted
May 15
Why is it that @BBCNews - of all media outlets - is so reluctant to credit stories to the journalists who originally broke them. Happens again and again. Witness this grudging 'sort of acknowlegment' of @zoetidman 's shocking southport exclusive bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgmp…
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James Illman retweeted
May 15
Shocking and astonishing exlcusive from @zoetidman reveals that survivors of the Southport mass stabbing attack had their care records inappropriately accessed by NHS staff hsj.co.uk/liverpool-universi… 1/2
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May 15
An astonishing (and deeply depressing) exclusive story here from @zoetidman . An excellent piece of public interest journalism which we've made FREE to read here:
hsj.co.uk/liverpool-universi…
May 15
🚨Nearly 50 staff checked medical records of Southport attack victims without good reason
🚨Patients not told until @HSJnews discovered breach
🚨 Teacher Leanne Lucas says she is 'absolutely devastated' and calls decision not to inform her for nearly 2 yrs 'a new low'
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James Illman retweeted
NHS England's board is meeting now. Stay tuned for updates...
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James Illman retweeted
@HSJEditor calls for Wes Streeting to go (he will eventually but it suits Starmer to keep him in a role from whch no modern politician has made the leap to PM and where failures are more obvious than successes - and there are always failures)
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Feb 18
Hospitals are being forced to postpone large numbers of hip and knee operations for the coming months after NHS England’s main cement supplier suffered a major production failure in what has been described as a “crushing blow” for patients, by Jack Serle £ hsj.co.uk/patient-safety/wid…
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Feb 18
Attention surgeons/hospital leaders!
There r warnings NHS will have to ration hip & knee ops for months after main cement supplier suffered major production failure. More info here/in attached tweet thread:
supplychain.nhs.uk/icn/suppl…
How much will this impact will this have?
Supply Issues Heraeus Medical Bone Cement Products
Situation overview Next steps:
supplychain.nhs.uk
Feb 18
So the latest medical disaster - the factory that makes Palacos cement for hip and knee replacements has had a major software failure and so can’t supply cement for the next few months - elective orthopaedic surgery is now screwed for the next while
@ShaunLintern
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James Illman retweeted
Feb 18
Bang goes the government's plans to fund a 'sprint' in elective orthopaedic work before the year end (in March)
Feb 18
🚨 BREAKING: Hip and knee ops across England will be rationed by the NHS as a major supplier of cement used in orthopaedic surgery has suffered an outage that could last months. To protect emergency trauma patients hospitals will be told to prioritise patients by NHSE today:
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James Illman retweeted
Feb 12
Delighted to be shortlisted again alongside these journos for the @PressAwardsuk Health Journalist of the Year 2026
And hugely deserved nom for the powerhouse @Beltrew for foreign reporter of the year
@Independent
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James Illman retweeted
Jan 15
Someone fix the y-axis... Must be some ai tool that can do that 🤔
Jan 15
NEW: For too long, patients were promised change in the NHS but saw little of it.
Today, waiting lists are down by more than 312,000 since Labour came into government - with an 86,000 drop in November alone.
That's the second biggest drop in 15 years. 🧵
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James Illman retweeted
A satisfying little win here for FOI buffs....
(& for a reporter with no legal counsel going up against specialist lawyers)
UK tribunal judge has sided with me in a long-running FOI case against the Information Commissioner's Office, a Govt body that oversees the Act
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James Illman retweeted
Jan 6
Over 40 beds to close across @UHMBT hospitals, with stark warning (below) over money this year
Trust says winter timing is not ideal - but necessary given financial challenge
Move will save c. £850k this year:
uhmb.nhs.uk/news-and-events/…
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James Illman retweeted
15 Dec 2025
This feels like a big moment in the dispute. The two positions are now so entrenched it is hard to see either compromising further. I'd lay good money on the dispute continuing for much of 26.
15 Dec 2025
BREAKING - BMA confirmed strike will go ahead later this week, after snap poll of resident doctors rejects latest proposal to suspend the action
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James Illman retweeted
11 Dec 2025
This is v bleak. Oct was a strike-unaffected month and there are tailwinds at this time of year - waiting lists shouldn't be going up at all, even in a steady state (let alone if you're targeting 18w)
11 Dec 2025
England's RTT waiting list grew in October - growth is never consistent with restoring 18 week waits by March 2029, regardless of seasonality.
The wait list change was 6,002, worse than the latest trajectory for restoring 18 weeks which required -86,941. #nhswaits
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James Illman retweeted
12 Nov 2025
"We all feel desperately uncomfortable" about how individuals have been treated through redundancy processes, Mackey tells #NHSP25
Says £1bn bill will be footed through savings (from leaner workforce) in future years
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James Illman retweeted
12 Nov 2025
NHSE CEO says "wants to do a reasonable shift" to support transition but adds: "I'm not in it long term, there is no secret about that"
#NHSP25
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James Illman retweeted
12 Nov 2025
Sir Jim Mackey says leadership pipeline has 'diminished' over last 10 years #NHSP25
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James Illman retweeted
9 Oct 2025
The government has made just ONE promise on NHS performace: to shrink the elective waiting list. So far, whatever it might say, that is not happening
9 Oct 2025
The waiting list change was 11,998 in August, worse than the latest trajectory for restoring 18 weeks which required -67,159. The waiting list size was overall 230,438 worse than the latest trajectory.
As a simple rule, the wait list must shrink every single month. #nhswaits
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9 Oct 2025
This graph (red dots actual performance v the grey line trajectory needed to hit the government's waiting list target) shows why NHS leaders are concerned about the waiting list ambition veering off track
9 Oct 2025
The waiting list change was 11,998 in August, worse than the latest trajectory for restoring 18 weeks which required -67,159. The waiting list size was overall 230,438 worse than the latest trajectory.
As a simple rule, the wait list must shrink every single month. #nhswaits
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9 Oct 2025
BREAKING: Fresh setback on gov's main NHS priority - English NHS waiting list grows for 3rd month in row while NHS performance on main elective waiting time measure (patients starting treatment within 18 weeks of referral) worsens for 2nd month in row england.nhs.uk/statistics/st…
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9 Oct 2025
@NHSEngland insists it is only "one days' worth of activity behind delivering on our targets for elective care" and says NHS dealt with "record 4.6m elective cases between June - August - up 138,000 on last year (4.46
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