It is clear that Andrew Lansley, Secretary of State for Health, did not read my blog of 2 Feb as I cautioned him on the difficulties of leading change in the NHS. At the time I referred him to John Kotter’s 8 steps for leading change and in particular step 2: forming a powerful coalition for change.
From events in recent weeks it is clear that he has not done a brilliant job in getting all the stakeholders and interested partners on his side as he attempts to get his Health and Social Care Bill 2011 through parliament. In fact he has dismally failed to get the backing of his boss, David Cameron. Even someone at an early stage of their leadership development would surely realise that getting the Prime Minister’s support for the changes would be a smart move.
Space does not suffice for me to discuss the merits of the 405-page bill but I do feel somewhat concerned that handing budgetary control of the NHS funds to local GP’s, without a great degree of oversight, will end in tears. Call me cynical but I am somewhat suspicious of the intentions of my own GP surgery. This is an organisation that won’t allow you to book a doctor’s appointment a week in advance as it spoils their performance figures. You can only book appointments within 3 days so they have nice figures to show how responsive a service they provide! So much for putting patients first, particularly when the patient has to plan non-urgent surgery visits well in advance due to work commitments.
It will now be very hard for Andrew Lansley to get back on track. I am given to understand that the NHS is the largest bureaucracy in the free world, with more employees than Estonia has people (source: Daily Telegraph). On this basis, Andrew’s only hope is to put all his energies into another attempt at building a powerful coalition for change. If he does not achieve this by the autumn then I suspect there will be a new Secretary of State for Health come 2012.
By Jon Davies | Righttrack’s Interim International Business Development and Marketing Manager