Department of Health takes a dose of its own medicine
pharmafile | October 29, 2003 | News story | |
The Department of Health is to open itself up to the same adical transformationit is overseeing in the NHS by inviting management consultants to downsize its operations.
The Department is now talking tough on reforming itself to help complete the shift in the balance of power to the NHS frontline, and expects to see its size reduced by a third within eighteen months.
The now-departed Alan Milburn signalled in 2002 that the NHS could not be governed by diktats from the top, and now NHS Chief Executive Sir Nigel Crisp is leading a change in management programme that will see the DoH concentrate on "steering, not rowing."
In a briefing entitled 'The New Vision for Health and Social Care' Sir Nigel remarks: "We have to do a very different job. Our core purpose is the same. Our constitutional role is the same. But the context in which we are working has changed dramatically and faster than anticipated at the time of the last Departmental Review."
The programme continues the changes already begun to bring together health and social care, shift the balance of power by decentralising authority and decision-making, and creating a new system of independent inspectorates and performance management.
The Prime Minister's delivery unit will provide the template for the Health and Social Care Delivery Unit, which will be at the heart of the new streamlined DoH, overseen by a delivery board and working with a special Intervention Unit to troubleshoot and fix hold-ups in the system.
Sir Nigel said there was "an urgency" to these changes, as the old DoH structure was at odds with the new NHS under its direction. "Carrying on working as we are is putting significant strains on staff in all parts of the Department and is causing uncertainty about how we transact business with the NHS and social services and other bodies," he admitted.
PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG are thought to be two leading candidates to be given the job of leading the change management, with the DoH asking for consultants with experience of providing similar services for two public bodies.
The DoH says it will cut itself down to size by moving staff into strategic health authorities or PCTs where appropriate, as well as using "fierce internal scrutiny" in looking at what work it really needs to hold onto.
The next significant milestone for the project is a major stocktake in August after a full eedbackexercise with staff and unions on its plans to set up a recruitment pool for staff displaced by the changes.
One crucial new role Group Director, Health and Social Care Delivery has yet to be filled after an advertisement was placed in the Sunday Times for someone to lead the greater integration of the NHS and social services.
The DoH may be hoping to bring in a big-hitter from the private sector for the role, as it did with the Director General of IT, Richard Granger, a former partner at Deloitte Consulting appointed last September.
Two further posts on the Health and Social Care delivery board, Director of Access and Director of Performance, are also currently vacant, but are expected to be recruited internally.
