Good management 'at heart of NHS reform'

19 January 2011

Ahead of the publication of the Health and Social Care Bill, the CMI emphasises the importance of good management in the NHS.

The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) has highlighted concerns about the impact of the changes on standards of management within the NHS – and called for a management and leadership development framework to be put in place for GPs and NHS managers to deal with the new responsibilities that come with the changes.

Despite CMI welcoming the government's commitment to putting the patient at the heart of the NHS system and working with government to improve leadership standards in the NHS, CMI is concerned that the government's planned reforms for the NHS, including the abolition of Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) and Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), will result in staff with key management and leadership experience in the NHS, being lost.

Ruth Spellman, ceo of the Chartered Management Institute, said:

"We understand government's need to save money in order to meet demand and maintain investment in new treatments and technology. However, to do this and deliver major structural reforms, there needs to be a major investment in leadership and management skills. We know that only one in five managers in the UK has a management qualification, and with GPs taking control of an £80bn budget, now is the time to focus on practical ways of improving management and leadership in the NHS.

"We look forward to working with government to support NHS managers and GPs through these major structural changes, in order to realise the business benefits of professional management standards."

CMI calls on the government to show confidence in NHS managers during these major reforms.

Ruth Spellman added: "We believe that good managers lead to good patient outcomes. The key to successfully implementing these reforms will be to retain managers with good skills and to support those with new managerial responsibilities. In the future we need a management and leadership development framework in place to ensure skills are current and to develop the talent pool available to the NHS."

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