Petition The NHS needs managers with a medical background.

Hospitals with higher management scores have better clinical outcomes, shorter waiting times, better financial performance and higher staff satisfaction.

Average management scores in NHS hospitals are lower than in the private sector. The main difference lies in people management and understanding of clinical needs. Ensuring NHS managers have a clinical background could overcome this problem.

Currently, there are limited numbers of managers with a clinical background and they tend to come from the nursing pathway. Though they have a better understanding of healthcare management than lay managers, they are not ideally suited to managing doctors. The NHS needs managers whom are able to understand, communicate with and challenge senior doctors without inciting resentment.

The government should ensure:

1) NHS managers have a clinical background.

2 ) A proportion of NHS managers have a background of medical training.