Hospital league tables to return in NHS reforms

Failing hospitals will be named and shamed in league tables and NHS managers sacked if they cannot improve patient care and take control of finances, the health secretary will say today.

- REBECCA THOMAS JANE KIRBY

Wes Streeting will tell leaders at the NHS Providers conference in Liverpool there "will be no more rewards for failure" as he sets out a package of measures aimed at tackling poor performance.

NHS England will carry out a “no holds barred” review of NHS performance across England with the results made public in league tables which are regularly updated.

NHS leaders and experts have warned the health secretary’s announcements – such as “naming and shaming” NHS leaders, will have unintended consequences and risk getting the health system into a mess.

The move comes after former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn was appointed as a non-executive director for the Department for Health and Social Care. During Mr Milburn’s time as health secretary league tables were also brought into the NHS.

Under the new policies announced by Wes Streeting, NHS trusts can expect to be ranked on a range of indicators such as finances, delivery of services, patient access to care and the competency of leadership.

Under the plans, persistently failing managers will also be replaced and turnaround teams sent into trusts that are running big financial deficits or offering patients a poor service.

Meanwhile, the best NHS performers will be given greater spending control to help modernise their buildings, equipment and technology.