Strategists, Regulators & Policy Makers

MiP welcomes Sir Gordon Messenger's independent review of health and social care leadership and calls for honesty and investment in implementing its recommendations.

As the UK’s largest employer and a major producer of greenhouse gases, the NHS has a huge role to play in meeting the government’s net zero target for carbon emissions. We report on the scale of the challenge post-COP26 and the transformations in services, attitudes and leadership needed to meet it.

Eleanor recently joined the NHS as a senior manager at an acute trust in England. She’s full-time but has flexible hours and works from several locations, including home.

Hazel has been working flexibly for more than 20 years. After the birth of her first child, she considered putting her career on hold altogether, but “I didn’t think I’d have the confidence to go back after 20 years bringing up the kids,” she says.

Workers increasingly see flexible working as the norm, but it has proved notoriously hard to implement in the NHS. We assembled a panel of experts to discuss how the NHS can overcome the obstacles to offer people the flexible and attractive careers they want.

MiP members have given a cautious thumbs up to the transition to Integrated Care Boards, but a significant number are still in the dark about the how the reforms will affect their jobs, according to an MiP survey.

NHS bodies are now being asked to collaborate rather than compete. But top-down direction cannot foster genuine cooperation, West Yorkshire ICS chief Rob Webster tells MiP. Only through partnerships can health and care staff address the huge challenges they face.

MiP's annual pay survey show that an above-inflation pay rise will help to tackle severe staff shortages and boost the morale of the thousands of managers who are on the brink of leaving the NHS.

NHS managers need to see “significant workforce interventions” – including an inflation-busting pay rise for NHS staff – if they are to manage the staffing crisis in the NHS and lead the recovery from the pandemic, MiP says.

NHS trade unions, including MiP, have called for an “inflation-busting pay rise” to tackle growing staff shortages in the NHS and accused the government of failing to take the pay review process seriously.