Underperforming NHS hospitals to be outed in league tables

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Underperforming NHS hospitals will be publicly shamed in league tables and failing health bosses will be sacked, UK health secretary Wes Streeting will warn in a speech to sector leaders on Wednesday.

Addressing the NHS Providers conference, Streeting will tell health chiefs there will be “no more rewards for failure” as the government launches a “no holds barred” review of performance in England.

The ratings of how individual trusts manage hospitals across the country will be set out in league tables for the first time, he will say at the event in Liverpool.

Under the plans, NHS trusts will be ranked and judged by the quality of the services offered to patients, financial management and senior leadership.

Managers who continue to underperform will be fired and health experts will be deployed to support struggling trusts, the minister will say. Those with the best ratings will be rewarded with greater spending powers.

“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,” Streeting will say.

“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.”

The speech follows scrutiny of the government’s decision to pour more money into the struggling health system before setting out a clear package of reform.

In last month’s Budget, chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a £22.6bn rise in the day-to-day budget for the NHS over two years, and a £3.1bn increase in capital spending. A 10-year plan for the NHS will be published in the spring.

On Wednesday, Streeting will insist that the cash injection demonstrated how the Labour administration “prioritises the NHS” and is willing to provide the investment needed to “rebuild the health service”.

But he will also tell NHS leaders that the money must accompany reform to ensure “every penny of extra investment is well spent and cuts waiting times for patients”.

The government has vowed to achieve health targets that have not been met for close to a decade. These include that patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks to start non-urgent hospital treatment or four hours in A&E by the end of the parliament.

Streeting will also announce that NHS managers who fail to make progress on improving their trust’s performance will be ineligible for pay increases.

The crackdown comes after a 142-page review of the NHS by Lord Ara Darzi, published in September, found the only criteria by which the pay of trust chief executives is set is “the turnover of the organisation”.

Amanda Pritchard, NHS England chief executive, responded to Streeting’s announcement that it was “critical that responsibility comes with the necessary support and development”.

She added: “The extensive package of reforms, developed together with government, will empower all leaders working in the NHS and it will give them the tools they need to provide the best possible services for our patients.”