QEB Hollis Whiteman’s Tom Kark KC acknowledges the Government’s confirmation that legislation will be introduced to enable the disqualification of NHS managers found guilty of serious misconduct—an approach recommended by him in his independent 2019 review of the Fit and Proper Person Test (FPPT).
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced that legislation will be introduced to bring in a set of professional standards and regulation for NHS management and leadership, aiming in particular to ensure that individuals who silence whistleblowers or otherwise engage in serious misconduct will be barred from holding senior roles elsewhere in the health service. The new powers will be given to the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) as the professional regulator.
Unlike doctors and nurses working in senior management roles, other NHS managers are not currently subject to a formal system of professional regulation. The proposed changes will introduce legal standards and an enforcement mechanisms for board-level directors and their equivalents, creating a system intended to prevent repeated misconduct and promote accountability.
Tom Kark KC of QEB Hollis Whiteman and author of the Kark Review, welcomed the Government’s decision to implement this aspect of his report:
“I am pleased that the recommendation made in my report into the application of the NHS Fit and Proper Person Test to create a power to disqualify Board Directors found guilty of serious misconduct is being implemented.
Along with the ongoing implementation of my other recommendations for improving Board competence, this is a positive move to strengthen management in the NHS by weeding out poor leadership.
This is good news for whistleblowers and those looking for accountability in senior management which has long been lacking.”
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the reforms will help end the “revolving door” that has allowed unsuitable managers to move between senior roles without consequence. He reiterated that a culture of honesty and openness in the NHS is essential, and that silencing whistleblowers would result in a permanent bar from senior NHS positions.
The ongoing implementation of other recommendations made by Tom Kark has led to separate NHS England professional standards which set out a consistent, national framework of expectations for management competence and conduct, intended to work alongside the legislative measures to be introduced.
The legislation introduction has been covered in the National Press and by the UK Government:
Tom Kark KC