19.09.13
New leadership for the NHS – ‘buddy system’ and business school
Failing NHS trusts in England are to get help and support from the most successful under a new Department of Health scheme.
The 11 trusts put into special measures under the Keogh Review will have time given over to them by senior managers and clinicians from the top-rated hospitals, who could be given bonuses if they manage to improve standards.
The top hospitals themselves will get extra resources to ensure their own standards don’t slip while they are helping others, health secretary Jeremy Hunt said.
The plan has echoes of the ‘super-heads’ policy in education, in which poor schools were overhauled by proven leaders. But health commentators, such as The King’s Fund’s Chris Ham, have said hospitals are more complex than schools and that the new policy cannot just be about short-term, turnaround chief executives who come in and then disappear.
The Department of Health suggested it would rather see NHS leaders in charge of improving struggling hospitals, not management consultants.
Hunt is also due to reveal more about the NHS Leadership Programme, under which the top tier of health service managers will get the best training possible, including at a top business school, potentially in the US. It is suggested that three-quarters of those going on the programme will be current NHS staff, and the rest from outside, including from business and industry.
Hunt said: “If we want this country to be a world leader, we need a world-leading health service led by the very brightest and best, so I am ambitious about seeking out fresh talent wherever we can find it.
“Mediocre management and lack of clinical leadership were key contributors to the tragedy at Mid Staffs. We are determined to learn that lesson, and train strong leaders to drive up standards across the NHS through this cutting-edge programme.”
NHS Confederation chief executive Mike Farrar said: “A key sign of a first-class leader is being open to every opportunity to learn, from above and below, from within the service and outside it. This new programme shows all the signs of building on the best we already have in the NHS and attracting new talent from other industries.”
The NHS Leadership Academy will be in charge of the programme, to begin next year. It will cost £10m a year and last 10 months, it has been reported, eight weeks of which will be a leading business school.
(Library image of Jeremy Hunt copyright University of Salford)
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