Health Minister (Karin ): I am pleased to announce today the
publication of the NHS Very Senior Managers (VSM) Pay Framework.
This Government's 10-year plan to reform the NHS will focus on
three big shifts; from analogue to digital, hospital to
community, and sickness to prevention. To do this, this
Government believes that providers and Integrated Care Boards
(ICBs) should be given greater freedom and flexibility to meet
the needs of their patients and communities. We want to move to a
system where freedom is the norm and central grip is the
exception to challenge poor performance.
First class leadership will be essential in achieving this and we
will need to recruit and retain the very best to realise our
ambitions. Accordingly, it is vital that we ensure the way we
reward our very senior managers (VSMs) reflects the challenges
they face and the responsibilities they carry while ensuring that
we act where performance falls below our expectations.
This new pay framework will support the changes that we need to
see in the NHS through the government's Plan for Change, so we
can deliver on the public's priorities to cut waiting lists for
patients and drive-up standards across the NHS. It will bring
together arrangements for trusts and ICBs, further driving
consistency in the approach to pay across NHS organisations. In
doing so, it removes the differentiation between different types
of trusts and introduces pay benchmarks that account for
organisational size and turnover more appropriately.
We need our very best managers to work in the most challenged NHS
organisations to make the necessary improvements and turn them
around. The new pay framework enables employers to apply a
temporary increase to pay as a means of encouraging top talent to
come and work in poorly performing organisations.
Across all ICBs and providers, employers will be able to reward
the highest performing leaders with a bonus of up to 10% where
they have demonstrated exceptional performance in, for example,
cutting waiting times, managing finances or improving services
for patients.
However, as the Secretary of State has made clear, there will be
no more reward for failure in the NHS. Going forward, those very
senior managers who are leading the poorest performing
organisations will have their annual pay award withheld, with an
exemption for those who have been newly appointed to turn things
around.
The new pay framework will use the segmentation derived from the
NHS Performance Assessment Framework (NPAF). The NPAF segments
providers and ICBs ranging from segment 1 to 5 with 1 being the
best performing, based on their performance against published
metrics. From this year those VSMs in organisations in segment 5,
the lowest performing, will not be eligible for pay uplifts
unless an exemption applies.
By introducing a greater focus on performance, this new framework
will ensure that pay is closely aligned with the delivery of
outcomes and will incentivise improvements where these are needed
most.
This government wants to see trusts and ICBs deliver more
efficiency, ensuring patients get more for taxpayers' money being
invested. NHS organisations will be accountable to the public on
very senior managers' salaries, as we will be requiring them to
explain their pay decisions in annual accounts and also submit an
annual pay report to NHS England. The new framework will drive
consistency of pay and ensure greater transparency.
The new VSM framework is part of a broader package of reforms to
ensure we support and invest in NHS managers. This includes our
commitments to introduce professional standards for, and
regulating, NHS managers, and establishing a College of Executive
and Clinical Leadership to help train and develop excellent NHS
leaders.
We are determined to get the NHS back on its feet, and this
framework aims to boost the efficiency and productivity of
providers and ICBs so that they can focus on delivering the care
that people need. I look forward to seeing the leadership of the
NHS rise to the challenge, as we take the NHS from the worst
crisis in its history and make it fit for the future.