More managers with decision-making powers lead to better hospital performance

​A recent study, carried out by Warwick Business School and Leeds University, found that hospitals with more managers with decision-making powers enjoy higher patient satisfaction and fewer infections. 

The study compared 150 hospital trusts’ performance over a five-year period from 2007 to 2012. The leader of the study, Professor Ian Kirkpatrick from Warwick Business School, said “Against expectations, we found that higher levels of managers in a trust had a statistically significant relationship with improved outcomes in terms of infection rates and hospital patient experience scores.”

There are currently 40,000 general managers working in the NHS and clinical professionals make up 30% of that figure, with the rest having an administrative role.
In addition, Kirkpatrick said “The findings call into question many of the assumptions about the failure of general managers in the NHS.

“Of course, this is not to suggest that general managers always do a good job. The experience of Mid Staffordshire and other failing hospital trusts is testimony to that fact. Nor do our findings rule out the possibility that the NHS has become overly bureaucratic with too much time devoted to administration and form filling to comply with targets.”

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