The government has published new NHS Staff Standards aimed at improving staff experience and working conditions.
The standards will apply to all staff in the NHS in England.
The standards, a commitment of the 10 Year Health Plan, will make NHS employers more accountable for how staff are treated, with employers’ performance measured on six priority areas. The performance of organisations will be viewable in public league tables.
At present the standards will only apply to secondary care organisations, however the government has indicated it aims to extend it to primary care in the future.
The six priority areas are:
MiP supports the introduction of these standards. While not fully co-produced, MiP and trade unions were engaged during the development of these standards through the Social Partnership Forum (SPF), the forum that brings together unions, employers and government.
Employers will need training, resources and national support to put these standards into practice locally. They will also need sufficient management capacity to implement them effectively. MiP told government that introducing standards while simultaneously cutting the management capability needed to deliver them risks their effectiveness before they have even a chance to get off the ground.
The publication of the standards further highlights that ongoing cuts to management in the NHS in England pose a risk to staff experience and the aims of the 10 Year Plan.
Additionally, while MiP welcomes the standards, they alone are not enough to address the NHS’s workforce problems. Pay, terms and conditions, and job security in light of repeated restructuring must also be strengthened to support the workforce.
MiP will continue to engage with government and employers through the SPF to refine the standards and ensure the NHS has the management capacity needed to make them work for all staff.
Alongside the publication of the Staff Standards, NHS England has published the Management and Leadership Framework. The framework applies to both clinical and non-clinical managers in England and sets out the principles, behaviours and skills expected of them.
The framework covers:
The framework will underpin the new NHS College of Leadership and Management, which NHS England says aims to ensure all NHS leaders and managers have access to high-quality development opportunities that support diverse talent pipelines into senior leadership and executive roles.
The framework responds to the 2022 Messenger Review, which examined NHS management and leadership and made a series of recommendations.
NHS England says the framework is intended to provide greater consistency in the expectations placed on managers and leaders, while supporting professional development throughout their careers.
MiP welcomes measures that support the professionalisation of NHS managers and sees the framework as a part of that.
However, for the framework to be effective, the culture around NHS management also needs to change. Managers should be held accountable while being trusted with the autonomy to do their jobs effectively.
Managers need jobs that are doable – not constantly shifting targets and priorities or endless reorganisations and manager-bashing. Giving managers the time, stability and autonomy to lead will be more transformative than any single framework.
MiP has long called for more action to support talent pipelines and to create a proper career structure for management, as was also recommended in Messenger’s Review. We welcome the recognition of this issue, but we need to see much more detail. We have requested to be properly engaged during its development.
MiP has had little engagement on the NHS College of Leadership and Management, an idea not specifically mentioned in Messenger’s review but a commitment made by former Health Secretary Wes Streeting. MiP has been sceptical about the proposed college since it was first announced, and we want NHS England and government to engage with us and other trade unions as its role and responsibilities are developed.
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