Failing NHS hospitals to be named and shamed as Wes Streeting pledges to sack underperforming managers

13 November 2024, 06:36

NHS managers will be named and shamed then sacked if they fail to perform in league tables, Health Secretary Wes Streeting will announce on today.

Under a new “zero tolerance” approach, Wes Streeting will warn there “will be no more rewards for failure.”

NHS England will carry out a "no holds barred" review of NHS performance across England with the results made public in league tables which are regularly updated.

Trusts will then be ranked under a range of factors, such as finance, services and patient access.

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The Health Secretary will tell the NHS Providers conference in Liverpool: “There’ll be no more turning a blind eye to failure. We will drive the health service to improve, so patients get more out of it for what taxpayers put in.”

The move has riled up NHS leaders, with some claiming staff will be demoralised and accusing ministers of "falling for the appealing notion of a magic productivity tree which will make the NHS more efficient just by shaking the magic tree harder."

Under the Government plans, persistently failing managers will be replaced and turnaround teams sent into trusts that are running big financial deficits or offering patients a poor service.

Meanwhile, the best NHS performers will be given greater spending control to help modernise their buildings, equipment and technology after it was concluded the incentives weren’t high enough for hospitals to do well.

Mr Streeting will say: "The Budget showed this Government prioritises the NHS, providing the investment needed to rebuild the health service.

"Today we are announcing the reforms to make sure every penny of extra investment is well spent and cuts waiting times for patients.

"There'll be no more turning a blind eye to failure. We will drive the health service to improve, so patients get more out of it for what taxpayers put in.

"Our health service must attract top talent, be far more transparent to the public who pay for it, and run as efficiently as global businesses.

"With the combination of investment and reform, we will turn the NHS around and cut waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks."

NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard added: "While NHS leaders welcome accountability, it is critical that responsibility comes with the necessary support and development.

"The extensive package of reforms, developed together with government, will empower all leaders working in the NHS and it will give them the tools they need to provide the best possible services for our patients."

Wes Streeting has already told failing NHS managers they will be denied pay rises if they can’t improve care.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said "the prospect of more 'league tables' will concern health leaders, as these can strip out important underlying information.

"NHS staff are doing their very best for patients under very challenging circumstances and we do not want them feeling like they are being named and shamed.

"League tables in themselves do not lead to improvement. Trusts struggling with consistent performance issues, some of which reflect contextual issues such as underlying population heath and staff shortages, need to be identified and supported in order to recover."

Nuffield Trust chief executive, Thea Stein, added: "We know from the special measures for quality regime that naming and shaming NHS trusts can make it harder to recruit staff, which doesn't help patient care at all.

"It's unclear what new league tables will measure - a table based on general waiting times doesn't add much if you need to know how good heart surgery is.

"Many of the drivers of poor productivity are systemic, from the dire state of social care stranding people in hospital, to crumbling roofs and worsening population health.

"They happen across England. Which trust is worst affected is often a matter of luck and history as much as leadership.

"We need a system that encourages leaders to go to the most difficult and challenged trusts to improve patient care, not one that rewards them for choosing easier places to work.

"Ministers have long warned the NHS against the naive belief in the magic money tree.

"But they themselves are at risk of falling for the appealing notion of a magic productivity tree which will make the NHS more efficient just by shaking the magic tree harder, rather than by changing the drivers of efficiency.

"That can only lead to the NHS being forced back into asking for 'more, more, more', with patients ultimately paying the price."