Top-level support for Foundation Hospitals
NHS chief executives are generally supportive of the idea of Foundation Status Hospitals, according to new research from MORI Social Research Institute. The research, commissioned by the NHS Confederation for its annual conference, was among 102 Chief Executive across a range of NHS Trusts, Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities.
NHS chief executives are generally supportive of the idea of Foundation Status Hospitals, according to new research from MORI Social Research Institute. The research, commissioned by the NHS Confederation for its annual conference, was among 102 Chief Executive across a range of NHS Trusts, Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities.
Almost two-thirds are positive about the possibility of their organisation becoming a Foundation Trust, though 92% believe other changes will have a bigger impact on the health service.
Topline Results
- MORI interviewed 102 Chief Executives across a range of NHS Trusts, Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities in England
- Fieldwork conducted by telephone between 3-11 June 2003
- Quotas were set on the type of respondent and on region to ensure a representative sample of Chief Executives were interviewed
- Data are not weighted
- Where results do not sum to 100 this may be due to multiple responses, computer rounding or the exclusion of don't knows/not stateds
- An asterisk (*) denotes a value of less than half of one per cent, but greater than zero
- Results are based on all respondents answering each question, unless otherwise stated
- Where fewer than 40 respondents have answered, responses are shown as numbers (N) rather than as percentages (see question 5a)
Q1 What do you think is the biggest management challenge facing your organisation over the next two years?
| % | |
|---|---|
| Financial stability/management/balance | 36 |
| Meeting/achieving targets | 29 |
| Redesigning the service around patient needs/choices | 18 |
| Recruitment and retention | 10 |
| Local development/reorganisation | 7 |
| Building capacity | 7 |
| GP contracts | 6 |
| Agenda for change | 5 |
| Foundation trust status | 4 |
| Meeting public expectations | 4 |
| Commissioning arrangements | 4 |
| Don't know | 1 |
| Other | 10 |
Q2 To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
| Strongly agree | Tend to agree | Neither agree nor disagree | Tend to disagree | Strongly disagree | Don't know | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| Negative perceptions of NHS management are making it difficult to attract clinicians into leadership roles | 22 | 47 | 7 | 20 | 5 | 0 |
| The NHS is at risk of losing its best leaders because of the stresses of the job | 25 | 41 | 8 | 22 | 5 | 0 |
| The role of the Chief Executive is becoming unattractive to the next generation of NHS managers | 18 | 44 | 10 | 23 | 5 | 1 |
Q3 What are your priorities for strengthening management skills in your organisation?
| % | |
|---|---|
| To develop skills in existing management/develop managers of the future | 32 |
| Focus on personal development/improving appraisal process | 25 |
| More engagement of clinicians | 19 |
| Developing leadership skills | 17 |
| Developing management skills in team building | 6 |
| Better use of IT/information to improve performance | 6 |
| Developing management skills in patient/public involvement | 4 |
| Developing management skills in finance/commissioning | 4 |
| People management | 4 |
| Increase number of managers | 4 |
| Partnership working/networking with other organisations | 4 |
| Retention | 3 |
| Help maintain work/life balance | 2 |
| Increase job satisfaction | 2 |
| Developing management skills in patient choice | 1 |
| Encourage people to take risks | 1 |
| Don't know | 2 |
| Other | 4 |
Q4 What is the most important thing that the Department of Health and its agencies could do to support management excellence in your organisation?
| % | |
|---|---|
| More autonomy and devolution/less interference | 32 |
| Reduce/move away from targets | 29 |
| Be more supportive | 24 |
| Develop/expand training opportunities/personal development programmes | 13 |
| Focus more/clear strategy | 9 |
| Manage expectation in timescale for delivering change | 6 |
| Less monitoring | 3 |
| Increase funding | 3 |
| Reduce the amount of literature/requests sent to Chief Executives | 3 |
| Reduce/review external audits | 3 |
| More cross-sector working | 2 |
| Don't know | 0 |
| Other | 7 |
Q5a How positive or negative do you feel about the possibility of your organisation becoming a foundation trust in the next five years?
Base: Acute Trust CEOs (31)
| N | |
|---|---|
| Very positive | 6 |
| Fairly positive | 13 |
| Neither positive nor negative | 10 |
| Fairly negative | 2 |
| Very negative | 0 |
| Don't know | 0 |
Q5b If foundation status is granted to [PCTs/mental health trusts/ambulance trusts] how positive or negative would you be about the possibility of your organisation applying for foundation status?
Base: PCT/Mental health/Ambulance Trust CEOs (67)
| % | |
|---|---|
| Very positive | 27 |
| Fairly positive | 39 |
| Neither positive nor negative | 27 |
| Fairly negative | 4 |
| Very negative | 3 |
| Don't know | 0 |
Q5b [Combined 5a and 5b] How positive or negative do you feel about the possibility of your organisation becoming a foundation trust in the next five years? / If foundation status is granted to [PCTs/mental health trusts/ambulance trusts] how positive or negative would you be about the possibility of your organisation applying for foundation status?
Base: combined Acute/PCT/Mental health/Ambulance Trust CEOs (98)
| % | |
|---|---|
| Very positive | 24 |
| Fairly positive | 40 |
| Neither positive nor negative | 29 |
| Fairly negative | 5 |
| Very negative | 2 |
| Don't know | 0 |
Q6 To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
| Strongly agree | Tend to agree | Neither agree nor disagree | Tend to disagree | Strongly disagree | Don't know | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| Foundation status will give managers more freedoms | 10 | 39 | 21 | 23 | 6 | 2 |
| Foundation status will help to improve patient care | 7 | 29 | 41 | 21 | 2 | 0 |
| Foundation status will improve the health service's accountability to local communities | 20 | 34 | 13 | 28 | 4 | 1 |
| Foundation status will help to drive up standards across the NHS | 11 | 21 | 29 | 29 | 8 | 2 |
| Foundation status will make co-operation between different parts of the NHS more difficult | 16 | 49 | 14 | 17 | 5 | 0 |
Q7a Over the next five years, how much impact, if any, do you think the following policy changes will have on the NHS?
| A great deal | A fair amount | Not very much | No impact at all | Don't know | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | |
| Diversity of provision (nb: increasing involvement of private and voluntary sector providers in delivering NHS services) | 27 | 52 | 19 | 1 | 1 |
| Foundation status | 18 | 41 | 36 | 3 | 2 |
| National information strategy | 33 | 51 | 13 | 1 | 2 |
| New staff roles and contracts | 32 | 48 | 16 | 2 | 2 |
| Patient choice | 53 | 39 | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| Payment by results (nb: funds flow) | 26 | 44 | 24 | 5 | 1 |
Q7b And of these policy changes, which one do you think will have the greatest impact over the next five years?
| % | |
|---|---|
| Patient choice | 39 |
| New staff roles and contracts | 20 |
| National information strategy | 15 |
| Payment by results | 11 |
| Diversity of provision | 7 |
| Foundation status | 7 |
| None | 1 |
| Don't know | 1 |
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