NHS managers who silence whistleblowers face being barred from the profession under Government plans.
A new statutory duty of candour making health bosses legally accountable for responding to concerns about patient safety could also be introduced as part of proposals made by the Health Secretary.
A public consultation will be launched on Tuesday seeking views on the plans, designed to tackle what the Government described as a “culture of cover-up”.
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
Measures being considered include “statutory barring mechanisms,” similar to systems used for teachers, which could see people who have been deemed to be unfit to practise appearing on a centrally held list.
Tens of thousands of clinical and non-clinical managers work in the NHS but there is no single existing framework to regulate them in the same way as there is for doctors and nurses, the Department of Health said.
The consultation will run for 12 weeks, after which the Department of Health will consider responses and set out the next steps.
Health minister Karyn Smith said the proposals were part of the Government’s plans to end “the revolving door that allows failed managers” to continue working in the service.
She said: “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.
Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of the NHS, said it was right for managers to face the same level of accountability as other staff, but insisted reforms should come alongside “the necessary support” for them.
“We welcome this consultation and already have a range of work under way 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,” she said.
Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: “We welcome this public consultation on government proposals to regulate health service managers.
“Patients tell us that accountability and transparency is often lacking in their healthcare journeys.
“We encourage everyone who has experienced NHS care, especially those who have felt unheard by the system, to contribute their views.
“We will support patients to engage with this consultation as genuine partnership with patients builds a safer healthcare service.”
