Carrot and Stick' to Raise NHS Managers' Performance

Bosses of hospitals with long waiting times or which overspend their budget will be denied pay rises in a tough new drive by Wes Streeting to improve the NHS's performance.

- Denis Campbell

Senior executives in England's 215 NHS trusts and 42 integrated care boards will also receive bonuses for cutting waiting lists under plans the health secretary has announced.

Streeting said the new "carrot and stick" performance regime would lead to the health service adopting policies widely used in business to incentivise better performance.

But NHS organisations said withholding pay could backfire, be seen as "punishing" NHS leaders, and deter talented bosses from working in trusts facing challenges.

The "very senior managers [VSM] pay framework" will apply to thousands of chief executives but also to deputy chief executives, chief operations officers, chief financial officers and other top-level roles.

The chief executive of a trust that does badly operationally or financially would no longer receive their annual salary uplift, which last year gave VSMs up to an extra £15,000.