UNISON welcomes Milburn’s faith in public services

UNISON, the UK’s largest health union, today

welcomed Government proposals to share expertise

across the NHS saying successful managers are the

key to turning round failing hospitals.

Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON said:

“UNISON welcomes the Government’s decision to call

in the real experts to turn round failing hospitals. Those

experts are currently working in the NHS providing

beacons of good practice. They know the problems,

they’ve experienced the waiting lists and they have

introduced innovative and imaginative solutions to

overcome them. There is no doubt that sharing these

NHS managers will give a real boost to the hospitals

and staff they are set to manage.

“The Government should now let these managers get

on with the job and prove their credentials before

casting around in the private sector for other so called

experts from outside. UNISON has long argued that it

is simply not the case that there is a wealth of private

sector management expertise out there ready and

willing to turn round failing hospitals, and that the best

managers are NHS managers. Given the right

resources, given the backing, the NHS has the

expertise to heal itself and become a service we can

all be proud of.”