NHS league tables could lead to wealthy people driving to find better services and staff recruitment struggles

A Derbyshire Labour councillor fears NHS “league tables” could lead to wealthy people driving around to obtain better services and hospitals struggling to recruit staff.

Cllr Anne Clarke, Labour group leader, made the comments in a Derbyshire County Council health scrutiny meeting on Monday, September 29th, about her own party’s plans for the NHS.

Councillors were discussing the Labour Government’s 10-year plan for the NHS, which will include publishing “league tables that rank providers against key quality indicators” in order to “allow patients to search and choose providers based on quality data, including length of wait, patient ratings and clinical outcomes”.

Cllr Clarke said: “This will channel resources to those performing better and people who are more financially comfortable could make a choice and travel somewhere else and people who do not drive or use public transport will have less choice.

“More successful organisations in terms of performance will see staff follow and go to those hospitals or providers and that will see them move further up the rankings, just like we have seen in education.

“The GP surgeries and hospitals that don’t do as well will not be able to recruit staff and the challenges those areas and their patients face will then increase, their problems will become greater.”

Jenny Appleby, head of adult mental health commissioning at the NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board, said: “Patients will need to be protected from the proposed disincentives and any unwanted disadvantages.

“There will be quality impact assessments for any communities or geographical areas that would be unfairly impacted.”