Testing times for NHS chiefs

They will contend that Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s plan to divert resources to the 11 Trusts that were placed into special measures following the Mid Staffordshire scandal will compromise the sound management at those hospitals that are providing excellent care in challenging times.

That said, Mr Hunt’s approach will provide opportunities to test the capabilities of other managers, the NHS leaders of tomorrow, and lessen the need for significant sums to be spent on business consultants whose theories may not always be compatible with the smooth running of a large hospital.

Take Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, which has been beset by a series of management and financial crises. The bill for employing American-led corporate turnaround experts Bolt Partners is to reach £1.5m as they carry out a landmark overhaul of the troubled organisation.

This comes after four of its executives picked up more than £500,000 in total after agreeing severance deals, including a payment of £260,000 to former chief operating officer Matthew Lowry.

How was it allowed to get this bad – and so expensive to remedy? Could it be anything to do with the fact that Rotherham Hospital was essentially allowed to operate in near-secrecy once it became an elite foundation trust in 2005 and that there was so little accountability?

There need to be far more effective ways to monitor the activities of senior managers – they should not be exempt from the scrutiny which nurses and doctors now face. After all, the most senior NHS executives are now paid more than the Prime Minister and their decision-making needs to be of the highest order from the outset. If such safeguards can be introduced, and it will not be easy when Mr Hunt places such a high premium on the autonomy of NHS trusts, then patients will benefit – and taxpayers will not be so out of pocket.

Winds of change

YORKSHIRE will always be proud of its mining heritage and some still contend that coal should play a greater part in future energy policy to ensure the lights keep burning.

Yet there also needs to be some realism. The UK coal industry now employs just 5,005 people – not even the population of a small town – and no longer has the influence that it had nearly three decades ago when miners staged a year-long strike in protest at the loss of 20,000 jobs.

As new figures show, more people – 6,830 individuals to be precise – are now employed in the offshore wind sector, evidence of the importance of this emerging source of power.

Like it or not, renewable energy is here to stay – it is the future – and the Government’s challenge is to convince its opponents that green energy can produce sufficient power at affordable prices so Britain is less dependent on imported fuel.

As such, it is even more important that Ministers advance two key schemes which will make a lasting difference to this region’s energy industry – and future employment prospects.

First, Siemens is still considering whether to build a turbine factory at Hull that could create 800 jobs and, in the words of Nick Clegg, have a “transformative” effect on the local economy.

Next, the proposed Able Marine Energy Park on the south bank of the Humber; it is now waiting for the green light from Lib Dem Minister Norman Baker.

Yet, if these schemes are to fulfil their potential, sceptical Tories, like Environment Secretary Owen Paterson, need to accept these winds of change. It is a powerful argument which still has to be won.

Pensions poser

ANOTHER week and another devastating report that reveals the extent to which those people who are saving into pension funds for their retirement are being short-changed by a lack of transparency that sees a disproportionate amount of hard-earned money spent on management costs and such like.

The good news is that Steve Webb, the Pensions Minister, has accepted the Office of Fair Trading’s findings and says he will “ensure those already in pension schemes are getting good value for money”.

The bad news is that such fundamental flaws will make it even harder for the Government to persuade people to invest in pensions when they’re already paying the price for the sharp increase in the cost of living and struggling, in many instances, to save enough money to pay for a deposit for their first home.

Until Mr Webb reconciles this point, offers the necessary reassurances and orders the pensions industry to use everyday language that can be understood by all, people are unlikely to take this issue as seriously 
as they should.

The consequence? An even greater financial headache for future governments that could become overwhelmed by the costs of an ageing society, unless action is taken now.