The Big Mac Health Service

Minister says NHS should model its staff training on the fast food giant

THE NHS should learn from the way fast food giant McDonald’s is run, health Secretary Matt hancock said yesterday.

he praised the way the chain nurtures leadership and suggested it treats its workers better than many hospitals do.

the comments, which raised eyebrows among anti-obesity campaigners, came as a review warned of bullying within the health Service.

Mr hancock stressed: ‘there’s a lot that the NHS can teach others, but that doesn’t mean that we should be complacent. Look at what McDonald’s does. they start leadership at shift manager level. they drive leadership training through every level of their company.

‘restaurant managers learn how to develop a culture of continuous improvement, how to hold their teams and themselves accountable, and how to apply best practice for their outlet.’

he added: ‘all that training, all that leadership development – just to sell burgers.

‘Can we honestly say we place as much time and effort and importance on identifying and supporting leaders? that we value it?

‘Surely a life-saving business requires as much emphasis on leadership as the fast food business?’ the NHS had 1.7million staff in 2017, making it one of the world’s biggest employers – alongside McDonald’s. Last night health experts attacked Mr hancock for his comments to the King’s fund think tank in London. Dr aseem Malhotra, a cardiologist in the capital, said: ‘In the middle of an obesity crisis, suggesting the NHS can learn from a junk food company such as McDonald’s is misguided.

‘It legitimises the acceptability of a brand that should have no association with the NHS whatsoever.’

tam fry, of the National Obesity forum, added: ‘I wouldn’t question for a moment the cold efficiency of the McDonald’s leadership system but Mr hancock has a much more pressing problem to address with that chain.

‘the quality of its products significantly contributes to causing obesity and triggering a host of other diseases that the NHS has to spend millions in treating. Our prevention-focused health minister should first sort out the excessive calories and high levels of fat, sugar and salt in the food that McDonald’s sells before flirting with the idea that its business model might work in a hospital and health centre environment.’

Mr hancock also called on NHS trusts to improve diversity, saying just seven per cent of people who sit on boards are from black and ethnic minority backgrounds.

a report on NHS working environments earlier warned of a ‘negative culture in which bullying and discrimination are prevalent and accepted’.