NHS Confederation responds to publication of new NHS league tables

Responding to the Department of Health and Social Care’s publishing new league tables ranking every NHS trust in England, Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, said:

“League tables, when thoughtfully designed and effectively implemented, can be a valuable tool for fostering healthy competition and enhancing local accountability. Many NHS leaders will support their use if they genuinely help drive improvement.

“The priority must be ensuring these tables provide meaningful, accurate information that empowers patients to make informed choices and enables NHS organisations to share best practice and learn from one another.

“However, they must not become instruments of blame. We must guard against the risk of perverse incentives and ensure that the metrics used are transparent, relevant, and presented clearly. Poorly constructed tables could mislead patients or invite misplaced scrutiny from politicians and the media.

“To be truly effective, league tables must be objective, reflect what matters most to the public, and avoid penalising high-performing trusts that are contributing to wider system recovery. Above all, they should support improvement, not undermine it.”