NHS league tables and cancelled pay rises for managers among government health reforms

Published

4 months ago

November 13, 2024

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NHS league tables revealing failing NHS trusts and cancelled pay rises or dismissal for managers who don’t turn things around are to form part of the government’s plans to improve the health service.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting is confirming new measures he hopes will boost failing hospital trusts and encourage successful ones.

The changes form part of the Labour government’s strategy to reduce waiting lists “from 18 months to 18 weeks”.

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Health and the state of the NHS were consistently among the most important issues for voters at this year’s general election – with Labour blaming the Conservatives for “breaking” it.

As health is a devolved area, any reforms proposed in Westminster would only apply to England.

Chief among Mr Streeting’s proposals is a “league table” for NHS trusts.

An announcement from the Department for Health and Social Care said: “NHS England will carry out a no-holds-barred sweeping review of NHS performance across the entire country, with providers to be placed into a league table.

“This will be made public and regularly updated to ensure leaders, policy-makers and patients know which improvements need to be prioritised.”

It also promises to replace “persistently failing managers” – with “turn around teams” being sent in to improve trusts running sizeable deficits or offering poor service to patients.

The government says “senior managers” who fail to make progress will not be eligible for pay rises.

There will be “financial implications” for more senior figures such as chief executives if their trust does not improve.

On the flip-side, those trusts that are deemed to be “high-performing” will get “greater freedom over funding and flexibility”.

Senior leaders at these trusts will also be “rewarded”.

The government says the current system is not incentivising trusts to run a budget surplus, as they cannot benefit from it.

Mr Streeting said: “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.”

Concerns from health representatives

Amanda Pritchard, the chief executive of NHS England, said: “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.”

Further plans on how monitoring will be published by the start of the next financial year in April 2025, the government said.

Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation – a body that represents all NHS trusts – said healthcare leaders welcome the “government’s ambition”.

However, he said he was concerned league tables and reducing pay may “strip out” the nuance of what’s going on.

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Mr Taylor said: “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.”

Politics

Britain must ‘lead from the front’ in Ukraine and ‘tough choices to come’, says Sir Keir Starmer

Published

4 hours ago

March 3, 2025

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Britain must 'lead from the front' in Ukraine and 'tough choices to come', says Sir Keir Starmer

There are more tough choices to come on Ukraine and Britain must “lead from the front”, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

The prime minister gave a statement in parliament after he unveiled proposals for a “coalition of the willing” to enforce any peace deal in the war-torn country, and announced a plan for Kyiv to use £1.6bn of UK export finance to buy 5,000 more air defence missiles.

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He said the “tough choices that we made last week are not done” and a “lasting peace” in Ukraine “has to be our goal”.

“Britain will lead from the front for the security of our continent, the security of our country, and the security of the British people,” he said.

It follows a hectic week of diplomacy for Sir Keir, during which he held talks with Donald Trump in the White House on Thursday, hosted Ukraine’s president in Downing Street on Saturday and then a wider summit of world leaders on Sunday.

Sandwiched in between his Washington DC trip and busy weekend back home was Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s extraordinary row with the US president in the Oval Office, which cast more doubt on America’s support for Kyiv.

Sir Keir said the showdown is something “nobody wants to see” but he would not pick a side.

He called America an “indispensable” ally, adding: “We will never choose between either side of the Atlantic

“In fact, if anything, the past week has shown that that idea is totally unserious because while some people may enjoy the simplicity of taking a side, this week has shown with total clarity that the US is vital in securing the peace we all want to see in Ukraine.”

In front of the world’s cameras on Friday, Mr Trump accused the Ukrainian president of “disrespecting” the United States and “gambling with World War Three” after he expressed scepticism that Vladimir Putin could be trusted to honour ceasefire agreements.

It has intensified fears among some Western leaders that the US cannot be relied upon to continue supporting Ukraine, or provide a security guarantee to deter the Russian leader if a peace deal is struck.

After the PM’s statement, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the UK needs to “reduce our dependency on the United States” as he fears President Trump is “not a reliable ally with respect to Russia”.

However, many other opposition politicians have praised Sir Keir’s diplomacy this week, with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch backing the prime minister for “working with allies in Europe and with the United States to bring peace to Ukraine and not a surrender to Russia”.

Sir Keir has been positioning himself as a peace broker between the US and Europe following Mr Trump’s ascension to the White House and his clear indication he no longer wants to bankroll NATO’s defence.

He has suggested a coalition of European allies could step up and defend a potential deal for Ukraine to “guarantee the peace” and indicated some EU nations could follow in the UK’s footsteps and increase defence spending.

However, he argues that while a security guarantee should be led by Europe, it needs US backing.

Mr Trump has not committed to such a guarantee and previously suggested a minerals deal between the US and Ukraine could act as one.

In response to a question from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, Sir Keir told the Commons this would “not be enough on its own”.

In any case, the deal has been put on hold following Mr Trump’s row with the Ukrainian president.

Shortly after the PM finished speaking, Mr Trump hit out at Mr Zelenskyy once again, saying the US would “not put up with him” for much longer after he said the end of the war with Russia is “very far away”.