Press release: NHS leaders call on new health secretary to give NHS managers his backing

25 Jun 2003

NHS Confederation chief executive, Dr Gill Morgan, today called on the new Secretary of State for Health to give NHS managers his full support, as part of a drive to recognise that first-class management is essential if we are to transform the health service.
The call comes as the Confederation launches a new report - Management Matters - which highlights how NHS managers are making a real difference to patient care.
Dr Morgan, giving a keynote address to the Confederation annual conference in Glasgow said: "We are faced with a debate which on the one hand calls for radical reform whilst on the other writes off the managers leading this improvement and the administrative staff supporting it as bureaucrats and pen-pushers.
"Our Management Matters report challenges the myths surrounding NHS management and shows the reality of committed, talented individuals working with their teams to improve services for patients."
Leaders from across the public, private and voluntary sector have endorsed the new report and backed the importance of first-class management in delivering a modern health service.
The importance of supporting health service managers is underlined by the Confederation's MORI poll released earlier today. Nearly 70% of the NHS chief executives surveyed believe that negative perceptions of NHS management are making it difficult to attract clinicians into leadership roles. Two-thirds think the NHS is at risk of losing its best leaders because of the stresses of the job, while 62% feel that the role of the chief executive is becoming unattractive to the next generation of NHS managers.
Dr Morgan said: "We need to challenge the unfair attacks on the integrity and competence of NHS management. Our poll suggests they are having an impact on our ability to attract and retain high calibre managers. Unless we move the debate forward we can't have a sensible discussion about how we support and develop the leaders needed to deliver the next stage of health service reform."
The Management Matters report sets out what must be done to ensure NHS managers are ready to meet the challenges ahead. Its recommendations are backed by the Confederation's MORI poll which asked NHS chief executives to identify the most important thing that the Department of Health could do to support management excellence. The top three responses were: more autonomy and devolution (32%); a reduction in the number of targets (29%); and greater support (24%).
Dr Morgan said: "The message to the new Secretary of State is clear: support your managers and leaders. You need us to catalyse and ensure delivery. Challenge us and expect the best. Give us time and space to innovate; give us structural stability so we can focus on the important not the urgent; negotiate a set of clear and manageable targets; and help us to shift the culture away from blaming management to recognising that an investment in high quality management is an investment in patient care. We can and will deliver for the patients we serve."

Ends

Notes for editors

1. A copy of the Management Matters report is enclosed. Further copies can be obtained from the NHS Confederation press office,
2. The NHS Confederation annual conference runs from Wednesday 25th-Friday 27th June at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in
3. The Rt Hon John Reid MP will deliver his first major speech as Secretary of State for Health on Thursday 26th June at 4.30pm.  Other speakers include Sir Ian Kennedy of the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection, and Sir Nigel Crisp, NHS Chief Executive.
4. MORI interviewed 102 Chief Executive across a range of NHS trusts, primary care trusts and Strategic Health Authorities. This represents approximately a sixth of all Chief Executives in England.  Interviews were conducted by telephone between the 3rd and 11th June 2003. 
5. The NHS Confederation represents the organisations that make up the NHS. Our members include the majority of NHS trusts, primary care trusts and health authorities in England; trusts and local health boards in Wales; trusts and NHS boards in Scotland; and health and social services trusts and boards in Northern Ireland.

Voices of NHS chief executives
The MORI survey asked chief executives to identify the most important thing that the Department of Health and its agencies could do to support management excellence.

A selection of responses:

• "Stop trying to micro-manage the health service" 
• "Trust us to get on with it" 
• "Allow managers to manage, reducing the number of conflicting targets, and listen to chief executives" 
• "Reduce the amount of targets by focusing on a small number of important issues" 
• "A reduction in the number of targets and genuinely supporting risk" 
• "Reduce some of the requirements to give people a bit more space" 
• "Raise the profile of the quality of NHS management" 
• "Be more positive about us - recognize that we manage complex organisations in a highly political environment" 
•  "Stand by us more in the challenges we have to meet"

Contact details

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