NHS managers, including ICB board members, could be regulated under new plans from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
A 12-week consultation on the proposals will be launched tomorrow (26 November), which will include options for regulation, including a voluntary accreditation register, statutory barring mechanisms and full statutory registration.
It will also ask whether to introduce a statutory duty of candour which would make NHS managers legally accountable for responding to patient safety concerns.
Those included by the scheme will include ‘at a minimum’ all board-level directors, including ICB board members.
The DHSC said the regulation will come alongside support and development to give managers the ‘tools they need’ to meet the standards. It added that NHS England was developing a single code of practice, standards and competencies for leaders and managers, with a national training curriculum.
Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, said: ‘It is right that NHS managers have the same level of accountability as other NHS professionals, but it is critical that it comes alongside the necessary support and development to enable all managers to meet the high quality standards that we expect.
‘We welcome this consultation and already have a range of work underway to boost support for managers in the NHS and to help set them up to succeed – this includes creating a single code of practice, a new induction process and a new set of professional standards, which will ultimately help drive improvements in productivity and patient care.’
Responding to the proposals, Danny Mortimer, deputy chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: ‘NHS leaders are committed to transparency and accountability. When we consulted NHS boards they were clear that they should be held to the same standards with regards to public protection and safety as their clinical colleagues. We reflected this in the advice we offered the Secretary of State for Health as to any new arrangements might be implemented.
‘We look forward to working with him to ensure that the new arrangements command the confidence of our members and, above all, the public.’
He added: ‘There are important principles to establish regarding the independence of any new arrangements, including investigation against clear standards of professional conduct (as exist already for other professions).
‘In establishing arrangements that apply to all parts of health and social care (including our regulators), we must all ensure that problems of discrimination encountered elsewhere are not replicated.’
Deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery said is was ‘absolutely right’ that managers are held accountable for their actions.
‘With patient safety at the heart of what trust leaders do, they will broadly welcome this consultation,’ she said.
‘While we wait to see the detail of the consultation, it’s clear that any of the proposals on the table must pass a series of litmus tests if they are to have the confidence of patients, staff, and the managers they seek to regulate.
‘Alongside the critical focus on quality of care and patient safety, it is vital regulation is fair and equitable, proportionate and offers support and development for managers.’
She also called for a culture of openness and a focus on accountability ‘rather than blame and punishment’.
‘Given the scale of the task and what is at stake, it is essential that the consultation is thorough and that any outcomes are designed carefully and in partnership with NHS managers,’ she said.
Health minister Karin Smyth, added: ‘To turn around our NHS we need the best and brightest managing the health service, a culture of transparency that keeps patients safe, and an end to the revolving door that allows failed managers to pick up in a new NHS organisation.
‘Earlier this month the Secretary of State promised that as part of our 10 year plan for health we will reform the NHS so that it rewards success and acts decisively on failure.
‘Today’s announcement builds on that promise and help us build a health system that protects patients and is fit for the future.’
It comes as NHS England pledged to save 100,000 days of staff time per year through cutting out repeat and ‘over’ training.
Earlier this month, the health secretary Wes Streeting pledged to ‘manage out’ underperforming leaders within the NHS as part of a package of reforms.
