Press release: Rise in NHS staff will help deliver reform agenda say health service leaders

27 Jun 2003

Increases in the number of NHS employees, including doctors, nurses, managers and support staff were welcomed by NHS leaders today as crucial to addressing years of under-staffing which has held back the delivery of better services for patients.
Dr Gill Morgan, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation said: "Staff are the lifeblood of the NHS. These increases show we are finally moving on from the years of under-investment which left the service not just short of doctors and nurses, but lacking the management and support staff needed to drive improvement and make the best use of clinicians scare time."
The new figures reveal the discrepancy between public perceptions and the reality of NHS management numbers and costs. An NHS Confederation straw poll of 150 members of the public reveals today that on average people questioned thought that 20% of NHS employees were either managers or senior managers when the actual figure is just 2.6% - down from 3% in 2001. Over 80% of people questioned believed that 20% of the NHS budget is spent on management costs when the actual figure is 4p in every pound - much lower than other health systems elsewhere.
The NHS Confederation publishes the poll results to coincide with its launch this week of a new report, Management Matters, which demonstrates how NHS managers are making a direct contribution to improving patient care.
Dr Morgan said: "There is still a very strong perception that the NHS is full of managers who have been brought in at the expense of clinical staff. Far too often we read reports talking about excess layers of management when this is simply not the case. The Audit Commission has recently highlighted that even well-established NHS organisations are finding their management resources thinly spread."
Dr Morgan added: "Our Management Matters report show how NHS managers are playing a crucial role in tackling the things that matter to patients, from reducing the amount of time spent waiting to see a GP to developing new services in the community that avoid unnecessary hospital stays. This increase in the number of managers, from a low base, will help to ensure the NHS has the leadership it needs to build on this success and deliver the biggest ever reform of the way services are delivered."
Responding to calls from Nigel Crisp, NHS Chief Executive, for each NHS organisation to put the drive for value for money and productivity at the heart of their thinking, Dr Morgan said: "A key management task is to ensure that every penny spent in the NHS is spent wisely for the benefit of patients.  This means ensuring that all staff - doctors, nurses, and managers - are working in ways that maximise their contribution to improving care whilst keeping costs as low as possible."

Ends

Notes for editors

1. The omnibus survey of 150 members of the public was conducted for the NHS Confederation by Cohn & Wolfe on 26 July 2003.
2. In North America, the US spends 17% of total healthcare budgets on management, whilst in Canada the figure is 10%. In Australia, management costs as a percentage of total expenditure are 11% for the private health industry and 4% for Medicare. [Source: Australian Medical Association & Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 'Health care costs: draining us dry']. See attached fact sheet and case studies for further information about NHS management.
3. Copies of Management Matters: How NHS managers are making a difference, are available from the NHS Confederation press office.
4. 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. 

 

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