The DHSC has introduced what it is calling “carrot and stick” performance-based pay conditions for NHS leaders, with the potential for bonuses and cuts in pay rises designed to establish stricter accountability and ensure greater financial rigour at both trust and ICB level.
Emerging as part of the government’s Plan for Change, the new measures will see bonuses of up to 10 percent awarded to top performing executives, whilst those whose performance is considered unsatisfactory may face cuts to annual pay rises of up to £15,000. The government will also look to “recruit top talent to struggling trusts” by increasing pay for leadership vacancies in lower performing areas by up to £45,000, and by refreshing pay bands for senior managers.
NHS executives will be expected to spend budgets “wisely” and ensure trusts are not going into debt, the DHSC’s announcement shares, working toward ambitions set out by NHSE’s January planning guidance for NHS organisations to reduce their cost base by at least one percent and achieve a four percent productivity and efficiency improvement in the current financial year.
Wes Streeting, health and social care secretary, has vowed to reward leaders who are successfully reducing waiting times and providing better services for patients, adding: “Some of the best businesses and most effective organisations across Britain and the world reward their top talent so they can keep on delivering. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t do the same in our NHS.”
Sir Jim Mackey, NHSE chief executive, added: “An important element of driving improvements must be strengthening the link between pay and operational performance at a very senior level – this happens in almost every other sector and there is no reason for the NHS to shy away from it, particularly when we rely on money that comes directly from taxpayers’ pockets.”
Looking ahead: the future of the NHS
HTN Now panel discussions have also featured input from key stakeholders and experts from across the health sector, exploring how to translate the findings from Lord Darzi’s report into action, with a focus on the need to offer patients more responsibility in managing their own care and achieving a level of visibility for information across ICSs and regions. An EHR-specific panel discussion considered the best way of achieving a balance between customisation, compliance and scalability, outlining challenges such as cost and the management of complex data flows. And an expert panel also recently joined us to debate the role of digital in supporting NHS reform, looking at examples and best practice around modernising services, shifting from hospital to community, and supporting the move from reactive to proactive care.
An expert panel including Deborah El-Sayed, director of transformation and CDIO at Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB; Dan Bunstone, clinical director at Warrington ICB; Stephen Bromhall, interim chief officer for digitaland data at South East Coast Ambulance Service; and Laura Thompson, director of marketing at The Access Group, joined us late last year to talk about approaches to tackling challenges from an ICS perspective; new models of care and pathway transformation; the role of technology in supporting the move from reactive to proactive care; and how a system approach can accelerate preventative care.
For a recent HTN Now webinar, we were joined by experts from across the primary care sector to debate how general practice, PCNs, and ICBs can utilise data and leverage technology to support operational efficiencies and improvements across primary care. Panellists included Kathryn Salt, assistant director of primary & community care, data and analytics for the Transformation Directorate, NHS England; Dr Shanker Vijayadeva, GP lead, digital transformation for the London region at NHS England; Dr Sheikh Mateen Ellahi, GP and practice partner at ELM Tree Surgery and South Stockton Primary Care Network; and Max Gattlin, digital consultant at X-on Health.
