NHS Confederation responds to new performance measures for NHS leadership

Responding to the government’s announcement that NHS leaders will face new measures to improve NHS performance and drive progress on cutting waiting lists, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said:

“Managers play a critical role in ensuring the efficiency and effectiveness of NHS services and we therefore welcome the government’s commitment to invest in leaders and ensure their rewards reflect the challenges they face. Effective leadership is crucial for reforming the NHS and ensuring its sustainability, and excellent leaders are going to be essential in achieving the government’s ambitions to improve performance and reform services.

“It is positive that there are plans to incentivise CEOs and senior managers to take on the most difficult jobs. It is vital that the most talented and best qualified leaders are encouraged and rewarded for turning around the most struggling organisations. We therefore welcome the challenged organisation recruitment premium as well as the proposals to recognise exceptional contributions.

“But while we understand there should not be rewards for failure, we are concerned that some of the measures could be seen as punishing NHS leaders. The challenges facing NHS organisations can sometimes be due to historic or systemic issues rather than poor leadership. We must also be cautious when implementing new or existing policies around withholding pay if CEOs are deemed to fall short performance-wise, to ensure we do not undermine new incentives to encourage high performing leaders to take up roles in struggling organisations.”