Balancing the books has long been a priority for the NHS. As the latest figures according to the Kings Fund suggest NHS Provider trusts are forecasting to overspend by £2.3 billion at the end of March this year. This is approximately 2% of the entire NHS budget.

Not surprisingly, a lot is being done already. The additional £8.4 billion real-terms funding by 2020/21 announced in the recent Spending Review has resulted in an increase of £3.8 billion funding in real-terms in 2016/17. This includes a £1.8 billion Sustainability and Transformation Fund for the provider sector, targeted primarily at emergency care providers. The need to keep quality up and cost down has never been so evident, and the consequences in not bridging the gap more severe.

It’s regrettable, isn’t it? The second junior doctors strike today. Yet, it is a manifestation of balancing increased demand against an NHS that faces a £22bn savings in efficiency by 2020. Successive governments have made pledges within their manifestos to protect the NHS. They have even assured increasing funding, at a time when other government departments have experienced significant cuts. It is in the interest of both sides to reach a compromise -- for government, doing so will reassure citizens that ‘the NHS is safe in my hands,’ and for doctors, it will ensure they can continue providing safe and sustainable care at weekends.

The numerous security breaches involving personal data have only served to raise the level of distrust that citizens harbour towards businesses and the public sector at large. It is therefore essential for government organisations to avoid security lapses and mitigate these risks by putting in place checkpoints such as Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions. IAM solutions are pivotal in addressing security concerns, ensuring that citizen data is secure and used solely for legitimate purposes by authorised individuals.