Root & Branch Review
So James Lee, the chairman of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust falls on his sword but not before releasing a “astonishing” letter to Alan Johnson.
“We have been struggling with a state pretty close to bankruptcy,” he said. The trust’s clinical income last year increased by 1.5% in cash terms when staff pay rates were rising by over 5%. “We knew the Treasury was pumping money into the NHS, but quite frankly none of this seemed to be getting to the coalface.”
As income fell, hospital activity rose by 11%. The trust cut costs by more than £40m in an attempt to break even. It struggled to cut maximum waiting times to 18 weeks. But this was “never really achievable”.
“The NHS is run on the basis of command and control. I personally have never experienced such centralised or detailed control … This way of managing things is fundamentally incompatible with the whole concept of independent trusts … I have done my best.”
Not really Mr Lee, your best was not good enough, especially since you did not oppose at the time the unreasonable diktats you decry today.
So do the architects of the “creative destruction” over the past few years have anything to say for themselves? PbR, ISTCs, reconfiguration, PFI, 4 hr waits, targets …… not a lot of room left for clinical standards to play a part.
And for Alan Johnson to stand in Parliament & deny any responsibility on behalf of the DoH was not very edifying, especially when there are 20 trusts in worse straits. Not that there is likely to be such a high death toll in each of them but blaming poor management is only going to go so far.
At this rate, I can’t blame GP’s for threatening to quit. Are we going to see a revival of proposals to set up doctors chambers, especially given the plans from NHS Employers to gain control of General Practice too by creating a sub-GP grade & employed doctors? One would have thought that they would get their own house in order first.