NHS (Management) (Hansard, 23 July 1987)

§ Mr. Moore

In 1984, the Government announced that they accepted the recommendations of the NHS management inquiry, launched under the leadership of Sir Roy Griffiths. Since then, in a continuing programme to strengthen management at all levels, the following significant achievements have been made over 800 general managers have been appointed at regional, district and unit level with a background embracing all the main disciplines employed in the NHS together with a healthy infusion of outside experience and talent; within a framework of individual performance review and performance-related pay, incentives and rewards for outstanding managerial performance have been introduced; a coherent and co-ordinated planning process has been put in place covering both the short term (annual programmes) and the strategic (10-year plans) periods; accountability review processes have been strengthened and now extend from national through to unit levels; 457W central management in my Department has been strengthened with the establishment of the Health Services Supervisory Board under my chairmanship and the NHS Management Board under the chairmanship of my hon. Friend the Minister for Health. Both boards have an appropriate blend of professional, management, business and Civil Service expertise.

As a result of these and other measures, there have been marked gains in health authority performance and results. amongst the most notable are : record numbers of patients treated for a wider range of conditions; considerably more attention now being paid explicitly to improving the quality of services to patients, and to management development; cost improvement programmes, of some £400 million to March 1987, and increased sales of surplus land releasing funds for other service development.

I am encouraged by the spirit of the new managers, and by what health authorities have achieved so far. I have no doubt that further improvements in performance are possible and that health authority managers will continue to set and achieve new objectives. Within the proper framework of accountability the Government will seek to secure that, through controlled delegation of responsibility, managers will have the freedom they need to run the service efficiently and effectively and bring about the further improvements in the quality of services to patients that we all desire.