NHS Confederation responds to Health Secretary's package of 'tough' reforms

Responding to the Health and Social Care Secretary revealing a package of reforms and new league table of NHS providers Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said:

“Healthcare leaders share the government’s ambition to improve performance and ensure that every penny of NHS funding gives tax-payers value for money. 

“Our members are committed to transparency and accountability, with the health service already subject a lot of oversight and regulation. The key is making sure that any oversight is intelligent and proportionate so that it empowers and enables NHS leaders to deliver high quality care for the public. While the NHS must be accountable to the government and NHS England, this must not crowd out the space for systems and providers to work more effectively with partners and respond to the health needs of the communities they serve.

“There is already a great deal of performance data across the NHS, and it is right that it is used to maximum effect to further support patient choice and improve standards, particularly in areas that are struggling.

“However, 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.

“The same is true for the government’s proposal to bar senior managers from being eligible for pay increases. The devil will be in the detail around what constitutes “failure” much of which could be beyond the immediate control of a health leader. We look forward to working with the government to make sure that any new measures don’t disincentivise managers from taking on roles in struggling organisations.

“It is critical that both the NHS and patient representatives are involved fully in the design of how these intentions will be taken forward. If the health service is going to achieve the government’s ambitions, then the centre needs to invest in the capacity and capability to support leaders to improve.”