NHS reforms: Government announces new league tables for health providers - how will they work?

• Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting to announce new league table for NHS providers.
• Turn around teams will be sent into struggling hospitals, while best performers will be given greater freedoms over funding.
• The reforms aim to help tackle the NHS crisis and bring down waiting list times for patients.
• It comes after the Lord Dazi Report described the NHS in ‘serious trouble’ in September.

NHS league tables will be introduced as part of a tough package of reforms set to be announced by the Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting today (November 13).

The measures will aim to tackle the NHS crisis, which was outlined in the Lord Darzi Report in September, which found that the NHS is failing to meet waiting targets across all services and described the health service as in ‘serious trouble’.

Under proposed NHS league tables there will be “no more rewards for failure”, with turn around teams supporting those who perform poorly.

Speaking about the reforms 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.”

He continued: “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.”

Adding: “With the combination of investment and reform, we will turn the NHS around and cut waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks.”

How will the league tables work?

The league tables will see NHS providers ranked by their performances, which will be made public and updated regularly so patients, leaders and policy-makers know what improvements need to be prioritised.

Failing managers will be replaced and expert turn around teams will be brought in to help providers that are falling short, offering them urgent, effective support so they can improve their service. Whilst, high-performing providers will be given greater freedom over funding and flexibility and senior leaders who are successfully improving performance will be rewarded.

Poorly performing trusts will be scrutinised by the government and NHS England to identify the most pressing issues and how they can be resolved. NHS senior managers who fail to make progress will also be ineligible for pay increases, whilst there will be financial implications for Very Senior Managers (VSMs) such as Chief Executives if they are failing to improve their trust’s performance, or letting patients down with poor levels of care.

Why are things changing?

The changes are coming in response to Lord Darzi’s investigation into the NHS which found that the health service was in “serious trouble.” It highlighted numerous shortcomings, from people not able to see their GP, to failure to meet formal waiting targets and patients rights not being exercised.

Members of the public are still being invited to have their say and share their opinions on ways to fix the NHS via the Change NHS online platform.

We’d love to hear from you, what do you think about NHS league tables? Share your opinions on the reforms in the comment section.