Commenting on excerpts trailed ahead of the Secretary of State's
speech to the NHS Providers conference, Nuffield Trust Chief
Executive Thea Stein said:
“It is right that politicians are
focused on extracting as much value as possible from the NHS at a
time when taxpayers are being asked to dig deeper to fund public
services and patients are feeling the pain of a health service
under pressure. Finding ways to attract and retain top quality
leaders, at the same time as clamping down on unnecessary waste
in the system, are unarguable.
“But there is a danger the actions
announced by the Secretary of State will worsen some of the
patterns that got us into this mess. 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.”
