Responding to the publication of the 10 Year Health Plan for the NHS in England, Geoff Underwood, NHS manager and MiP National Committee Chair said:

“Much of the ambition set out in the 10 Year Health Plan is admirable, but the challenge is delivering on that ambition.

“Managers have always been essential to driving real change in the NHS. To support them, MiP welcomes the government’s commitment to ‘accelerate’ Sir Gordon Messenger’s recommendations on leadership and management, and to working in partnership to see these changes through. MiP members are a valuable source of insight, knowledge and experience that can help deliver the government’s vision.

“But the elephant in the room remains the scale of cuts our members are facing. NHS managers are the most reform-minded people in the NHS workforce. We are experts in operations, finance, commissioning, technology and transformation. Our unique and varied skillsets in delivering change are exactly what the NHS needs to make this plan a reality, yet our jobs were placed at risk even before the plan was published.

“Wes Streeting’s closing line in the plan is ‘Let’s get to it’. But instead of feeling energised and enthused by the government’s vision, MiP members are worried about their job security. The plan confirmed the leaked news that my Commissioning Support Unit will be closed. Many managers like me now face a year or more of uncertainty and upheaval, and many will lose their jobs before the plan has a chance to get off the ground, severely limiting its potential to deliver the change the NHS needs.

“For the plan to deliver on the vision it sets out, the government must first get a grip of its chaotic reorganisation of the NHS that is harming productivity, damaging morale and leaving patients even less satisfied than before. Failure to do so risks repeating the same mistakes that have already held the NHS back for a decade.”