07 February 2003
Dr Maurice Slevin, a consultant cancer physician at Barts and the London NHS Trust who also has a private practice, claimed in a pamphlet this week that there are more managers than beds in the NHS.
'Far from being bureaucrats or pen-pushers, managers and administrative staff – including receptionists, medical record clerks and secretaries for consultants – all play an essential role in supporting clinicians,' the confederation said. 'These staff are the backbone of the NHS and provide invaluable services.'
In Resuscitating the NHS: a consultant's view, Slevin claimed that there are now nearly as many managers or administrators as there are qualified nurses. Private hospitals have just under two managers for every ten nurses but the NHS has eight managers for every ten nurses.
Dr Slevin warned the health service would implode under the weight of bureaucracy and bad management. 'I have seen at first hand the steady decay of a great public institution,' he said.
Although the government had earmarked £407m to fund cancer services in the current financial year, the money was not flowing through to cancer units, he claimed.
'The problems are clear to anyone who works in both the NHS and the private sector. In the NHS the vast numbers of managers are there to stop things happening. In the private sector, the small numbers of managers are there to make things happen.'
Dr Slevin denied his views were party political, although the pamphlet was published by the Centre for Policy Studies, which, although independent, has strong links to the Conservative Party.
The NHS Confederation said Dr Slevin's claims were 'misleading'.
'Let us be clear – spending on management has actually gone down as a proportion of overall spending, representing 4p of every £1 spent on the NHS. Managers only make up 3% of all NHS Staff,' said policy director Nigel Edwards.
Management was vital to patient care, he added: 'There are just over 26,000 managers in the NHS, many of them doctors and nurses, each one providing vital support so that frontline staff can get on with focusing on patient care. There is only one manager for every 10,000 patients.'
Private sector hospitals needed fewer managers because they were much less complex organisations.
PFfeb2003
