NHS told to cut diversity jobs in ‘waste and wokery’ report

THE NHS has been told to cut “diversity and inclusion” jobs as a landmark report sets out plans for the biggest shake-up of management in a generation.

Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, had called for “urgent” action to improve the quality of leadership in the service as part of a war on “waste and wokery”.

Yesterday, he said Britain has a “Blockbuster healthcare system in the age of Netflix” and called for radical change. And today, a damning report warns of “institutional inadequacy” in the NHS and calls for sweeping changes to improve how it is run.

General Sir Gordon Messenger, who led the Royal Marines in Iraq, was asked to head the eight-month inquiry into health and social care leadership. His report warns of widespread failings which allow “poor behaviours and attitudes, such as discrimination, bullying and blame cultures” to go unchecked.

Sir Gordon said far more must be done to improve equality in the NHS and stop barriers to progress and this meant equipping all leaders with the right skills and doing away with the plethora of equality, diversity and inclusion roles which have sprung up.

The report calls for major reforms including providing the right incentives to attract the top talent to the toughest jobs. It says new management standards must be set, with mandatory training for anyone advancing to senior roles.

The review was commissioned as part of efforts to ensure that an extra £12billion a year funding boost for health and social care, paid for by a 1.25 per cent National Insurance contribution rise, is used wisely.

It comes as the health service battles record backlogs, with 6.4 million people on treatment waiting lists.

Last night, Mr Javid accepted the recommendations in full. He said: “In my view, there are already too many working in roles focused solely on diversity

and inclusion and, at a time when our constituents are facing real pressures around cost of living, we must spend every penny on patients’ priorities.

“As this report sets out, it should be the responsibility of everyone to encourage fairness and equality of opportunity which is why we must reduce the number of these roles.”

The findings come after warnings of an “astonishing” explosion in central bureaucracy in the NHS in the past two years. Downing Street said Mr Javid told yesterday’s Cabinet meeting that it is “no longer simply an option to stick to the status quo”, and the Government had set the NHS a target of “dramatically improving productivity”.

The review by Sir Gordon and Dame Linda Pollard, chairman of Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, follows meetings with more than 1,000 frontline staff, managers and leaders. It found that “overall there was a lack of consistency and co-ordination – in particular that there has developed over time an ‘institutional inadequacy’ in the way that leadership and management is trained, developed and valued.”

The report “found evidence of poor behaviours and attitudes such as discrimination, bullying and blame cultures ... with some staff, in the NHS in particular, not feeling comfortable to speak up”.

It calls for action to break down barriers to progress, and create a fairer workplace but says this should be achieved by making inclusive leadership the responsibility of “all leaders.”

Mr Javid appointed Sir Gordon after vowing to be “watchful of any waste or wokery” and today’s report says the army of jobs devoted to inclusion and diversity should go – with all leaders expected to enforce equal rights.

Sir Gordon said: “The best organisations are those which invest in their people to unlock their potential, foster leadership and accountability at every level, with good leadership running through the entire workforce.”

Mr Javid said: “The findings in this report are stark; it shows examples of great leadership but also where we need to urgently improve.”

Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of the NHS, said the report recognised its leaders do a “fantastic job” but added: “We are determined to do all we can to ensure our leaders get the support they need to help teams deliver the best care possible for patients.”