The NHS is under water… drowning in demand and not enough people to cope.
The sooner we admit it, the more likely we can get it back in its feet.
No19 is in denial;
Pretending £250m of existing funding, spread around 8,000 GP practices, (less than £600 a week) is going to fix queues, telephone systems and hiring Locums.
Pretending, more staff in 5 years has any meaning, now.
Pretending 40 hospitals will be built, is dreamland.
Pretending yer-granny is going to get a new hip in her lifetime…
… it’s delusional.
More than that, No19’s on the run. Scheduled to attend the RCGP conference in Liverpool last week, he pulled out… that's gutless.
In management speak, this is denial. No19 has the 5, classic symptoms;
1.Denial of what we all know
The NHS is swamped, we know waiting list are unmanageable, we know it’s too late for money and we know there’s nothing he can do, in the short term.
2.Denial of what's needed
Honesty, that acknowledges the predicament. We do not need Army Majors, the Daily Mail or dissembling press officers making things worse.
3.Denial that he's in control of events
Throwing £millions here and £billions there, is not ‘control’ and won’t fix people waiting 7 hours for an ambulance or hospitals declaring Opel 4. We know, there is nothing he can do.
4.Denial about trust and respect the NHS has for politicians.
Everyone recognises it’s, effectively, Number 10 running the NHS.
5.Denial that people working in the NHS, for years, with a huge experience, know better than he does.
All the money in the world, all his bullying and shouty-headlines, won’t work.
He can fill his diary with visits and speak plastic words of praise but …. from a man who will join forces with a national newspaper to kick GPs and do a runner from their conference…
… as a Secretary of State for health, he’s finished.
There are three steps to try and deal with an in-denial-boss:
show them the facts and the data. There’s a welter of it, No19 knows and choses to ignore it;
ask leading questions; ‘…you do know people are likely to die waiting for a new hip and for that matter, an ambulance’. He’ll repeat DH press office rubbish about money, recruitment and 40 hospitals;
tell them where all this is leading to. The consequences. ‘You do understand the NHS is imploding and the consequence is, people will lose their lives?’ Expect more press palaver.
I know what you’re thinking… none of this is going to work.
You are right. He has no insight and is dangerous.
When the boss gets out of their depth, they can...
... accept the situation, bring in help, acquire new skills and ask people working in the organisation what to do.
... or; do-a-Javid, point the finger, bully the organisation and set pointless targets.
Nothing looks like it's going to work. What's gone wrong?
This type of management crisis was first identified in 1969, by a Canadian teacher, Laurence Peter. He identified foolish behaviour in politics, journalism, the military and law.
The NHS is a +£100bn-a-year ‘business’, in crisis.
Aside from the banks, the only companies bigger, in the FTSE 100 are Shell and BP. If the NHS were a country it’d be around the 30th largest in the world.
Put simply; No19 is out of his depth. Nothing in his career, as a middle-rank-banker and trader, has prepared him for this task.
He holds office thanks to his predecessors infidelity and BoJo’s patronage.
If he were wise he’d say;
‘… the NHS continues to be buffeted by events and is struggling.
We won’t have the level of service we are used to. We must all play our part in helping the NHS to come through this winter and recover.
I will do three things
First, I’m putting-in all the funding I can get.
Second, now I will create a period of stability.
Third, this is a national emergency and workforce is the key.
With experts, I will generate an innovative plan to accelerate recruitment and training, invite retired colleagues back and prevent people leaving.
I will deliver the outcome in 14 days and together, we will get the NHS on the road to recovery.’
I think we all know, this will need an honest acceptance of reality and guts.
>> I'm hearing - The chair of Gloucestershire Hospitals FT, Peter Lacheki, will step down earlier than planned to allow his successor to start the role when integrated care systems are formally established.
>> I'm hearing - Ian Smith, who was also previously executive chair of Four Seasons Health Care and chief executive of the General Healthcare Group, has been appointed chair of the Surrey Heartlands ICB.
