Managers of poorly performing hospitals will be “looking over their shoulders” as league tables on hospital performance have been published, the Health Secretary has said.
Wes Streeting said that the new tables could lead to “friendly rivalry” between hospitals which will drive up standards.
League tables of the best and worst performing NHS trusts in England have been published by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) for the first time.
Speaking about the new rankings at an event at The King’s Fund think tank, Mr Streeting said: “Why would I have a problem with the idea (of) some competitive spirit and a desire to do better because of the scrutiny?
“Let’s be honest, because they are competitive people, NHS leaders, they are going to be looking over their shoulders, they are going to be looking at their peer group.
“They are going to be talking to their mates, and there is going to be some friendly rivalry, and that will help to drive up standards.”
However, experts have questioned the helpfulness of the tables, warning that hospital performance is “not as simple as good or bad”.
Danielle Jefferies, senior analyst at The King’s Fund, warned that “a single ranking cannot give the public a meaningful understanding of how good or bad a hospital is”.
“Whether NHS trust league tables will be helpful to the public is questionable, because hospital performance is not as simple as good or bad,” she said.
Responding, Mr Streeting added: “The Kings Fund have said league tables are not meaningful and over simplistic, I’m sorry, but that just doesn’t wash for me.
“Your researchers trawl through the data. They know exactly which hospitals are doing well and which are falling behind the pack, so why shouldn’t the public?
“The public pays for the NHS. They own it. They deserve to know how it’s performing, and I believe fundamentally, in giving all patients information, choice and voice, not just the well off or well informed.”
The rankings score hospital trusts based on a range of measures, including finances and patient access to care, as well as bringing down waiting times for operations and A&E, and improving ambulance response times.
Trusts are categorised in four segments, with the first reflecting the best performers and the fourth showing the worst.
Top performers will be given greater freedoms and investment, DHSC said.
The majority of the top 10 best-performing hospitals were specialist trusts.
Number one is Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, followed by the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust, and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.
The best-performing large hospital trust is Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which came in at number nine.
Among the worst-performing trusts are Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and Devon Partnership Trust.
Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust was ranked bottom of the table.
Under the plans by the DHSC, higher standards will also be set for leaders, with pay tied to performance.
Senior managers at trusts that are persistently ranked poorly could see their pay docked, while NHS leaders will have extra pay incentives to go into challenged trusts and turn them around.
Meanwhile, those in the middle will be encouraged to learn from trusts at the top to help them improve their rankings.
Mr Streeting added: “I’ll always be transparent about the state of the NHS, where it’s improving and where it still falls short of the standards patients deserve.
“Because honesty is the first step on the road to recovery, and with these league tables comes action to address the postcode lottery of care across the country.
“Good performance will be incentivised and rewarded – top trusts who run surpluses will be able to reinvest in new kit and buildings, and they’ll be first in line for the new wave of Foundation Trust freedoms next year; those at the bottom will receive more support and interventions to help turn them around.”
From next summer, the tables will be expanded to cover integrated care boards, which are responsible for planning health services at a local level, and wider areas of NHS performance.
Elsewhere Mr Streeting vowed to stand up to powerful lobby groups after the Government announced a number of public health measures.
“The Kings Fund and Health Foundation have highlighted the excessive influence that the food, alcohol and tobacco lobbies have on public health policy,” he said.
“We know we’ve got some great allies in our food and drink industry, including some of the biggest supermarkets, brands and suppliers who really do care about our nation’s health.
“But we also know in those industries, particularly in tobacco, there are powerful vested interests who, too often, have got away with calling the shots.
“I will continue taking on these vested interests where they work against the health of our people and the interests of our nation.”
Mr Streeting also announced the first tranche of neighbourhood health services.
Some 43 services from “Cornwall to Nottingham to Sunderland” will be the first new services which will offer “vulnerable patients with multiple long term conditions will get more joined up services closer to home”, he said.
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