BMJ 2013;347:f6899 doi: 10.1136/bmj.f6899 (Published 15 November 2013)
Page 1 of 1
Views & Reviews
VIEWS & REVIEWS STARTING OUT
Sir David who? Kinesh Patel junior doctor, London But why does any of this matter? Shouldn’t we just go to work, do our jobs, and go back home again, suitably fatigued?
The NHS is going through difficult times, and the changes tearing through it are going to get more painful. Without having at our fingertips at least the names of those in command, who are steering the organisations for which we work, how can we expect to understand the rationale behind difficult decisions—let alone play a part in shaping that change? Of course, this is a two way street. Managers have a duty to know who their staff are and to use them to generate ideas for change. “Have you met our senior manager?” The question was put to the veteran consultant, as an entourage of important looking people swept through the department. “He’s been here for years.”
A polite handshake and the customary pleasantries ensued, and both parties asserted how lovely it was to meet each other. I melted obsequiously into the background a couple of metres away, knowing my place as a junior doctor. A minute later and the encounter was over. “I’ve never heard of him,” said the consultant turning to me, with a slightly puzzled look. “I’ve been here a long time but no one’s ever mentioned him to me.”
It’s a story all too familiar in the NHS: managing is a dirty business best done at arm’s length. There is no need to get too near the grunts on the front line. What proportion of staff working in the NHS know the name of their trust’s own chief executive or that of Sir David Nicholson, boss of the £100bn (€119.5bn; $161bn) NHS in England? I’d bet most don’t. Compare that with household names such as Bill Gates, Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways, or the notorious Michael O’Leary, head of Ryanair.
The reality is, however, that—largely through apathy—we prefer to live in anonymity. Weakly, we rely on our professional organisations to represent our thoughts and then complain when the views they espouse seem detached from our own experiences. The irony is that today technology has enabled us to feel more connected to people thousands of miles away than the leaders of our own institutions. The usual annual staff conference “to meet the management team” just won’t cut it these days: it’s time for a more dynamic interaction. British Airways, for example, has 350 000 people interested in what it has to say each day on Twitter; NHS England has fewer than 17 000. Surely the world’s favourite health service can do better?
Competing interests: I have read and understood the BMJ Group policy on declaration of interests and declare the following interests: Travel and accommodation expenses for conference May 2013, Norgine Pharmaceuticals. Provenance and peer review: Commissioned; not externally peer reviewed. Cite this as: BMJ 2013;347:f6899 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2013
[email protected] For personal use only: See rights and reprints http://www.bmj.com/permissions
Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
Page 1 of 1
Views & Reviews
VIEWS & REVIEWS STARTING OUT
Sir David who? Kinesh Patel junior doctor, London But why does any of this matter? Shouldn’t we just go to work, do our jobs, and go back home again, suitably fatigued?
The NHS is going through difficult times, and the changes tearing through it are going to get more painful. Without having at our fingertips at least the names of those in command, who are steering the organisations for which we work, how can we expect to understand the rationale behind difficult decisions—let alone play a part in shaping that change? Of course, this is a two way street. Managers have a duty to know who their staff are and to use them to generate ideas for change. “Have you met our senior manager?” The question was put to the veteran consultant, as an entourage of important looking people swept through the department. “He’s been here for years.”
A polite handshake and the customary pleasantries ensued, and both parties asserted how lovely it was to meet each other. I melted obsequiously into the background a couple of metres away, knowing my place as a junior doctor. A minute later and the encounter was over. “I’ve never heard of him,” said the consultant turning to me, with a slightly puzzled look. “I’ve been here a long time but no one’s ever mentioned him to me.”
It’s a story all too familiar in the NHS: managing is a dirty business best done at arm’s length. There is no need to get too near the grunts on the front line. What proportion of staff working in the NHS know the name of their trust’s own chief executive or that of Sir David Nicholson, boss of the £100bn (€119.5bn; $161bn) NHS in England? I’d bet most don’t. Compare that with household names such as Bill Gates, Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways, or the notorious Michael O’Leary, head of Ryanair.
The reality is, however, that—largely through apathy—we prefer to live in anonymity. Weakly, we rely on our professional organisations to represent our thoughts and then complain when the views they espouse seem detached from our own experiences. The irony is that today technology has enabled us to feel more connected to people thousands of miles away than the leaders of our own institutions. The usual annual staff conference “to meet the management team” just won’t cut it these days: it’s time for a more dynamic interaction. British Airways, for example, has 350 000 people interested in what it has to say each day on Twitter; NHS England has fewer than 17 000. Surely the world’s favourite health service can do better?
Competing interests: I have read and understood the BMJ Group policy on declaration of interests and declare the following interests: Travel and accommodation expenses for conference May 2013, Norgine Pharmaceuticals. Provenance and peer review: Commissioned; not externally peer reviewed. Cite this as: BMJ 2013;347:f6899 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2013
[email protected] For personal use only: See rights and reprints http://www.bmj.com/permissions
Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
