Devolution is in full swing. We have news today, for instance, about a major step forward in bringing the Olympics to the North - something unthinkable until we had regional mayors.
Which makes what is happening in our health service so politically puzzling. “What’s going on with Local Healthwatch,” asks our columnist Bob Hudson.
Local Healthwatch, in case you don’t know, is the independent, statutory champion for people who use health and social care services in England. There’s one in every local authority area, 153 in all, supported nationally by Healthwatch England.
And they’re facing the chop.
At a time when there are so many complaints and concerns about health care, it makes no sense to get rid of the voice of local independent scrutiny, says Bob. Handing their role over to NHS providers and commissioners is tantamount to letting them mark their own homework.
Is it a done deal? Maybe not. The NHS Modernisation Bill was introduced by the Starmer government not Andy Burnham’s. As Bob writes: “Having gambled on the merits of placing decision-making closer to the people affected by them, what does he now do about a Health Bill pulling the NHS in the opposite direction.”
Another decision in Burnham’s in-tray is who should get the next contract to build and operate British military satellites and communications through the 2040s. The choice rests between a Franco-German company (the holders) and an American company (who would create jobs in County Durham).
We have shocking statistics about the age people die - a North-South gap that has widened alarmingly in the past four decades.
Coatings are big business but remain among the least sustainable components of products in modern life. Now Newcastle and Northumbria universities, working with Sunderland Software City, are leading a new national network to change that.
The Recommended reads at the end of this edition includes an interview with a woman whose accent used to enrage one of her teachers. She is now devoting her energies to supporting and reviving the rich vein of dialects in our region.
Mortality gap triples
Death rates among adults aged 25-49 were 13% higher in the North than the South in 1981. By 2024 the gap grew to 42%, according to a study published in The Lancet Public Health.
The study, led by researchers from Liverpool and Manchester universities and Health Equity North, shows the relative North–South gap in this age group has more than tripled over four decades.
Dr Luke Munford, Senior Lecturer in Health Economics at the University of Manchester, said: “Our study reveals a deepening of the North–South mortality gap, with worrying long-term trends among northern working-age adults and women in early to mid-life, which is particularly concerning given their role in shaping the health and life chances of the next generation.
“These are trends that government cannot ignore. They need to invest in health, specifically in areas that have poorer health outcomes, to build a healthier, more resilient society and a stronger economy.”
Hannah Davies, Chief Executive of the Northern Health Science Alliance and Executive Director of Health Equity North (HEN), said: “Targeted action is needed in the hardest-hit communities, informed by robust research and combining prevention and healthcare with action on the wider social and economic determinants of health.”
On track for Olympics
Not sure if this counts as a ‘leak’ but Chancellor John Healey is to announce a £7m fund for a full feasibility study on bringing the Olympics to the North in his Budget on Wednesday, according to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.
North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said: “When Northern Mayors first came together to champion a Great North Olympics and Paralympics some said it could never happen, that we were being too ambitious. They were wrong. It can happen, the North can deliver and this is another huge step forward.”
Defence jobs dilemma
Andy Burnham is refusing to sign off a £2 billion deal to hand Lockheed Martin control of a contract to build and operate British military satellites and communications - one that could generate 500 jobs in County Durham.
A tender to upgrade the Skynet system, which would cover building new satellites, managing ground stations, and delivering secure communications for the British Armed Forces through the 2040s, kicked off in 2023. The competition pitted Franco-German aerospace and defence giant Airbus against US rival Lockheed Martin.
Airbus has been involved with the Skynet since 1974. It directly employs 650 people at sites in Stevenage and Portsmouth and supports a further 2,500 roles. Lockheed Martin is planning to build a new factory in Durham and hire about 500 people to design, deliver and operate the contract. It is thought that roughly 2,000 jobs will be supported.
Lockheed Martin is said to be the preferred candidate, according to the Sunday Times. But Unite, the country’s second-biggest trade union, is against and the decision has now been passed to No 10 for final approval.
Lockheed Martin said concerns were overblown. “Lockheed Martin UK, a British company, will establish facilities to develop an ecosystem alongside our regional partners in northeast England to provide the UK with a sovereign space capability. It will create jobs, supply chain opportunities, and the potential for exports. It will have a UK design authority and a UK chief engineer.”
North East leading the way
Coatings are everywhere, from giant wind turbines aeroplanes and cars to frying pans, spectacles and mobile phone screens. The sector supports more than 635,000 jobs and contributes an estimated £45 billion to the UK economy.
But coatings remain among the least sustainable components of modern products - they are rarely designed to be repaired, removed, or recycled. Now Newcastle and Northumbria universities, working with Sunderland Software City, are leading a new national network to change that.
Surfaces for a Sustainable Future (S4SF) has won £1.38 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and already has 20 partners including AkzoNobel, Procter & Gamble, Walker Subsea, the Royal Society of Chemistry and Durham and Teesside universities.
The project is led by Professor Elizabeth Gibson of Newcastle University, with Northumbria’s Professor Matt Unthank as co-lead. It will bring together the UK’s scattered expertise to develop safer alternatives, cut the energy used in manufacturing, and design coatings that can be repaired or recycled.
The potential gains are significant. Better anti-corrosion coatings could extend the working life of offshore wind turbines by 10 to 20 years, for instance. Repairable coatings could cut waste in refurbishing high-value components by up to 70%.
Unrepeatable
While researching his independent review into anti-Semitism in schools, Sunderland University vice chancellor Sir David Bell encountered several students who were so traumatised by the verbal abuse they had received in the classroom that they were unable to repeat the slurs.
“Can you imagine what that must feel like?” he asked in an interview with The Telegraph. “It really brought home to me what it must be like to be a member of the Jewish community in Britain right now.”
Sir David’s report set out 27 recommendations, including dedicated anti-Semitism training for teachers and strengthened safeguarding for Jewish students. All have been accepted by the Government.
Another Mercury moment for Newcastle
Eight hours at the Utilita Arena Newcastle, including two spent shoulder to shoulder with fellow content gatherers in a back room masquerading as a red carpet arrivals area, and I was still smiling on the journey home. That should tell you something about the Mercury Prize 2026, says Sam Wonfor.
For the second consecutive year, the eyes of the music world were on Newcastle as the great, the good and the groovy gathered to celebrate 12 of the best albums released in Britain and Ireland over the past year. It was quite the night and you can read Sam’s feature for Cultured. North East by clicking here.
Something to celebrate
Robson Green was always a “cheeky bugger” says David Whetstone. The pair go back a long way - to the days when Robson was performing in productions at Live Theatre and the Newcastle Playhouse (before it became Northern Stage).
David caught up with the actor again as his latest TV series, set in some of Northumberland’s fabulous locations, made its debut on the BBC. The Northumbria Mysteries was made by Newcastle production company Lonesome Pine - and that’s something to celebrate, said the actor.
“How many times have you heard it said that we need to make more drama in the North East and how do we do that? It’s about getting the writing talent up here and getting the commissions, and now we have a local commissioner, Helen Munson (of the BBC), living here and she’s getting things done. She really is.
“And the money’s there to get those things done and I think it’s important that a local production company in the North East is making quality, classy drama that’s going to be shown around the world and watched by millions of people.
“But what you’re also doing with things like this is creating an infrastructure so there’s enough work here for people to stay, and to train other people. Hopefully this will become a self-sustaining thing.”
A quick word
Alan Shearer paid an emotional visit to Morpeth to personally thank Keith Dungait who defied the odds to raise money for the Move a Mile fundraising challenge organised by the Newcastle United legend’s foundation. Keith was paralysed from the waist down eight years ago after diving into a swimming pool in Majorca and hitting his head on the bottom. Shearer said: “To go through what he has and then take on a challenge like this to help other people is just incredible. Move a Mile was always about showing that anyone can get involved, no matter their ability or circumstances, and I don’t think there’s a better example of that than Keith.” Northumbrian Water’s Louise Hunter has become the first person to be awarded the Institute of Customer Service’s Mini-MBA in Strategic Service Leadership, a new qualification designed to help organisations deliver better services for customers. A Reform councillor in Newcastle has been criticised after reposting an image which said: “Stop using THEIR barbers. Stop eating THEIR takeaways. Stop using THEIR taxis. If you want them out of YOUR town, stop putting money in their wallets. Hit them where it hurts!!” Deputy council leader Mark Mitchell said: “Reform in Newcastle need to stop liking racist tweets and Facebook posts. Or else they need to accept that they will continue to be seen as condoning racists and the far right.” A blood donor centre is set to open in the Faber building at Riverside Sunderland. NHS Blood and Transplant will take space on the ground floor of the building for a dedicated blood and plasma donor centre.
We’ve started: what now?
You could have been sat in the audience as we revealed the launch of The Source on Tuesday. Or you could have read the news in our special edition I’ve Got News For You which was published that afternoon.
What’s going on with Local Healthwatch?
By Bob Hudson
Nigel Lawson wasn’t too far wrong when he asserted that ‘the NHS is the closest thing the English have to a religion’. But what can we do if our faith is shaken? When things go wrong, as they inevitably will on occasion, it exposes the Achilles’ heel of the NHS – accountability to patients and the public. And it’s a weakness that is about to get worse.
Here in the North East we aren’t short of high-profile health scandals. The deaths of three teenage girls under the care of Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust has been under investigation for years, and is now the subject of a public inquiry. The North East Ambulance Service has come under investigation over allegations of a cover-up linked to patient deaths. And currently County Durham & Darlington NHSFT stands accused of a monumental neglect of duty of care in relation to its breast cancer service, with the Prime Minister pledging an inquiry to ‘get all of the answers’.
While these cases garner headlines, there are thousands of individual episodes where patients have a grievance, or where the public have wider concerns that risk going unheeded. Typically, the first recourse for those seeking redress is via one of the 153 branches of Local Healthwatch (LHW) across England, of which there are 12 in the North East, matching our local authority boundaries. Yet now, under its mammoth NHS Modernisation Bill 2026, the Government is proposing to abolish these organisations. What’s going on?
What Is Local Healthwatch?
LHW is only the most recent of several attempts to enshrine patient and public accountability into the NHS. The best example of these initiatives was Community Health Councils (CHCs), introduced in 1973 with a directly elected element, and holding genuine powers over individual patient complaints, inspections of local hospitals, and curbs on major local service reconfigurations. CHCs lasted 30 years until the then Health Secretary Alan Milburn (we’ll come back to him) abolished them, to widespread dismay.
A changing cast of replacements has followed such as Patient Advice and Liaison Services (PALs) and – since 2013 – Healthwatch England (HWE) and LHW. HWE is the national statutory committee that supports LHWs, and the latter have a statutory duty to promote and support the involvement of the public in health and social care services. They operate as social enterprises, funded by and accountable to, local authorities and - despite lacking the more wide-ranging powers of CHCs - are an important voice for patients and the public.
The NHS Modernisation Bill – the brainchild of former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, aided and abetted by Alan Milburn (yes, him again) - proposes a massive centralisation of new powers for the Secretary of State. In this scenario, HWE/LHW (along with the requirement for foundation trusts to have elected councils of governors), will disappear. Replacement arrangements are unclear: HWE functions will go into central government and LHW functions will be transferred to hospital trusts or the main NHS commissioning bodies, Integrated Care Boards.
The Response to Abolition
The official objective of abolition is said to be a simplification of the patient safety landscape, but LHW branches in our region (and elsewhere) have responded with horror. LHW Sunderland has expressed ‘deep sadness and disappointment’ and said it does not understand the implication of the proposals. LHW Newcastle argues that abolition will weaken accountability, transparency and genuine public involvement across health and social care. In a hard-hitting rebuttal of the threat to their existence, the 14 LHW branches across the North East and Cumbria have laid out the impact of their work. This includes hearing from over 85,000 people; 3800 residents helping to shape NHS dentistry research; 4500 people contributing to work on women’s health; and 2500 people sharing views and experiences on access to GP services.
Abolition of the local voice in healthcare is politically puzzling. First of all, at a time