NHS Oversight Framework to be updated by next financial year to ensure performance is “properly scrutinised”: Health Secretary

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting has said the NHS Oversight Framework, which sets out how trusts and integrated care boards are best monitored, will be updated by the next financial year to ensure performance is “properly scrutinised”.

This is one of the measures announced by the Government today (13 November) in a package of “tough” NHS reforms, alongside the introduction of NHS league tables, and the deployment of turnaround teams of expert leaders into struggling hospitals.

The Health and Social Care Secretary said that NHS England will carry out a “no holds barred” sweeping review of NHS performance across the entire country, with providers to be placed into a league table.

“This will be made public and regularly updated to ensure leaders, policy makers and patients know which improvements need to be prioritised”, said the Government.

Other reforms include:

• top-performing providers will be given more capital and greater control over where to invest it.
• persistently failing managers will be replaced and turnaround teams of expert leaders will be deployed to help providers which are running big deficits or poor services for patients, offering them “urgent, effective support” so they can improve their service.
• deep dives into poorly performing trusts will be carried out by the government and NHS England to identify the most pressing issues and how they can be resolved.
• NHS senior managers who fail to make progress will be ineligible for pay increases.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, said: “The budget showed this government prioritises the NHS, providing the investment needed to rebuild the health service. Today we are announcing the reforms to make sure every penny of extra investment is well spent and cuts waiting times for patients.

“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."

He added: “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.

“With the combination of investment and reform, we will turn the NHS around and cut waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks.”

Lottie Winson