Anger as NHS manager salaries rise by more than £1.1bn – as hospitals fail to meet targets on waiting lists, cancer treatment and response times

NHS managers’ salaries have risen by more than £1.1 billion despite repeated failures to meet targets, the Mail can reveal.

While the healthcare workforce in England has grown by 10,000 in ten years, 1,150 fully qualified GPs have left in the same period.

And as the army of managers grows, hospitals and ambulances routinely fail to meet performance targets on waiting lists, cancer treatment and response times.

It comes as a damning survey found that 83 percent of Britons have major concerns about the state of the healthcare system and do not think Labour’s plans will solve the problem.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has warned that failing hospitals will be named and shamed in the league tables and that NHS managers will be fired if they fail to make improvements.

He told bosses there will be ‘no more rewards for failure’ as he outlined measures to tackle poor performance.

But an analysis of NHS figures shows that the rising salary bill for managers under fire has risen 69 per cent in ten years to £2.8 billion last year.

Helen Morgan, Liberal Democrats’ health and social care spokesperson, said patients were “suffering the consequences” of poor management.

She added: ‘With our healthcare system under more pressure than ever, the previous Conservative government’s failure to tackle NHS waiting times and falling productivity was a shocking dereliction of duty. It is the patients who are now suffering the consequences.

‘The new Labor government must get to grips with why, despite dramatic increases in spending on NHS managers, productivity has fallen.

‘Crumbling hospitals and ancient computers are certainly one of the reasons why managers struggle to implement change, but the Health Minister must dig deeper if patients want to get the care they need.

‘That’s why the Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to launch an investigation into falling productivity within the NHS… and find ways to increase productivity to ensure NHS managers deliver value for money. ‘

The survey of more than 1,000 people found that there are major concerns about the healthcare system and confidence in its future is wavering.

It found that 83 percent of people are concerned about the NHS, while just over half (51 percent) say they do not believe Streeting’s plans to reform the health service will make any difference over the next five years.

This rose to 65 percent who answered ‘no’ when asked if they were confident improvements would be made over the next twelve months.

The NHS has continued to recruit managers in a bid to halt the decline. Their numbers have increased by 36 percent in ten years – from 29,144 to 39,595.

The figures include all employees classified as ‘managers’ or ‘senior managers’, with the latter earning an average of £90,144 a year, up from £77,415 in 2015.

The Office for National Statistics says NHS productivity fell by more than 6 percent between 2015 and 2022, the last time it published its productivity index.

A major review of the NHS, commissioned by Mr Streeting and carried out last year by consultant surgeon Lord Ara Darzi, found that the NHS spent less on managers than other countries’ health systems.

But Lord Darzi added: ‘The problem is not too many managers, but too few managers with the right skills and capabilities.’

He said underperforming managers were causing too many doctors to be withdrawn from delivering care to perform administrative tasks, which was an inefficient use of their time.

He added: ‘We must invest in developing management talent and creating the conditions for success.’

Under Mr Streeting’s plans, persistently failing managers will be replaced and remediation teams will be sent to trusts that have large financial shortfalls or provide poor service to patients.

Matthew Taylor, CEO of the NHS Confederation, said: ‘Managers play a vital role in the NHS, including giving clinical professionals the time they need to treat and care for patients.

‘At 2 percent, they also only make up a small part of the working population.

‘The evidence is clear that the NHS is not over-managed. In fact, our research and other independent research have shown that it is under-managed compared to many international systems – this was also highlighted by Lord Darzi in his report.

‘The NHS will need all its hardworking staff, including managers, if it is to reduce waiting lists and improve productivity – both of which are key priorities for the Government.’

Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, said: ‘Given the enormous pressures on the NHS, we must do more to attract and retain talented managers so that frontline staff can focus on what they do best: delivering high quality patients. concern.’

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: ‘To ensure that our Plan for Change will transform our NHS, we need the best and brightest people to manage the health service.

‘Last month the Secretary of State pledged that, as part of our 10-year health plan, we will reform the NHS so that it rewards success and acts decisively on failure.

‘We’re also investing more than £2 billion in NHS technology and digital improvements to boost productivity so patients can get more out of it for what the taxpayer puts in.’