Failing NHS Managers' Pay Clampdown

12th November 2024

Health and Social Care Secretary to set out measures in speech at NHS Providers annual conference.

‘No more rewards for failure', with senior leaders to be denied pay rises if key improvements are not made.

Wes Streeting to address health leaders in Liverpool and unveil wider package of radical reforms to ensure every penny for NHS is well spent.

Senior NHS managers who fail to improve patient care could be denied pay rises as the Health and Social Care Secretary prepares to tell senior leaders there will be no more rewards for failure.

NHS senior managers who run big deficits or poor services for patients will be ineligible for pay increases under new plans by Wes Streeting.

Addressing healthcare leaders at the NHS Providers Annual Conference and Exhibition in Liverpool this week, the Secretary of State will announce there will be financial implications for Very Senior Managers (VSMs) like Chief Executives if they are failing to improve their trust’s performance, preventing staff from doing their jobs, or letting patients down with poor levels of care.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said, "I’m prepared to pay for the best and I will defend financial incentives to attract and keep talented people in the NHS. It’s a big organisation that should be competing with global businesses for the best talent.

But there will be no more rewards for failure. We have got to get a grip on runaway spending and make sure every penny going to the NHS benefits patient - changes will not be popular but it’s a case of reform or die.

The Budget made the investment that the NHS needs. The reforms I’m announcing will make sure taxpayers and patients see results.

In his review of the NHS, Lord Ara Darzi found the only criteria by which chief executive pay was set is the turnover of the organisation. Neither the timeliness of access, quality of care or effective running of the organisation factored into pay. NHS integrated care systems had built up deficits totalling £2billion in just the first four months of this financial year, leaving the incoming government with a financial blackhole which had to be dealt with at the Budget.

A new pay framework for VSMs will therefore be published before April 2025. This will clamp down on poor performance, while rewarding senior leaders who are successfully turning their services around.

The Health and Social Care Secretary will also unveil a wider package of radical and tough reforms this week to cut wasteful spending and ensure the health service delivers greater value for money. This follows the Chancellor’s historic investment in last month’s Budget to mend crumbling wards and bring healthcare tech into the 21st century.

Kicking off the biggest ever conversation on the future of the NHS last month, the Health Secretary announced how reforms in the 10 Year Health Plan will shift healthcare from hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention.

Addressing the nation’s health leaders at the NHS Providers Conference in Liverpool on Wednesday, he is expected to announce a series of rigorous measures to make sure the investment announced in the Budget delivers shorter waiting times for patients.