Let’s hope Stuart Rose makes the NHS more like M&S

All hail former Marks & Sparks boss Sir Stuart Rose for taking on the challenge of turning around the NHS.

Why, I can already see the queue of patients clamouring for treatment; after all, these aren’t just ordinary appendectomies – these are M&S appendectomies. Cue sighs of relief.

And yes, I can confirm there’ll be a Rosie Huntington-Whiteley designer hospital gown for every satisfied customer and a no-quibble refund policy on hip replacements.

Of course, Rose’s premier league skillset is as smoothly transferable as Lionel Messi on a bad day.

None the less, it will be genuinely fascinating to see how he gets on in a culture that ought to be all about patient welfare, but, alarmingly, often isn’t.

He (Sir Stuart, not Lionel) is currently chairman of upmarket delivery firm Ocado, but it was the way in which he transformed M&S from an ailing behemoth to a fashion-conscious brand that sealed his credentials.

His new job will be to advise the government on how to overhaul poorly performing hospitals by recruiting better talent at the top and instigating a seismic shift in culture at grassroots level within 14 NHS trusts that have been put into “special measures”, amid concerns over high mortality rates.

A separate review will examine proposals to create “superheads”, as has happened in education, whereby successful leaders take struggling organisations under their control.

Drafting in Sir Stuart sets a thought-provoking precedent; why not put up Lord Kitchener-style posters in every boardroom in the land?

Perhaps not with a headshot of Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, however; he barely looks old enough to grow a milk moustache, never mind emulate Kitchener’s luxuriant whiskers.

Instead of the usual suspects, appointed via the established route of old-school-tie cronyism, government departments might actually be headed by people who could do the job.

Given a choice, flooded householders would far prefer a site visit from bish-bash-bosh Pimlico Plumbers boss Charlie Mullins, who knows what he’s talking about, than Eric Pickles wringing his hands.

The economy? Give it to that nice Peter Jones of Dragon’s Den. Rural affairs? Cath Kidston, your country needs you.

Justice would be Judge John Deed, Wales can have Gavin and Stacey, Andy Murray can armwrestle Alex Salmond for Scotland and, for everything else, there’s John Lewis, who isn’t a person but ought to be.

Never knowingly undersold on the world stage, we could all be stakeholders, a buzzword that once upon a time was constantly used in connection with the NHS, but seems, like giving patients enough water to drink and treating the elderly with dignity, to have slipped off the agenda.

But I have high hopes for Sir Stuart, who has always struck me as a can-do sort of chap. He started on the shop floor and worked his way up; swept the warehouse, folded the pyjamas, emptied tills and served customers.

The business of bringing the NHS back to full health will be a unique challenge, but the fact he didn’t go to school with the PM is a vote-winner in my book.

Given his hands-on approach, before he starts hiring and firing the generals, it might be an idea for him to go undercover – join the infantry as a health-care assistant and discover what’s really happening on the wards and why standards of care are nosediving in too many hospitals.

Of course, the NHS is not about profit margins, although costs are crucial in determining the quality and extent of care; people are at its heart. But as executive chairman of M&S, Sir Stuart’s achievements were remarkable, and he is very much a people person.

I wish him luck – lives depend on him. In particular, the lives of those within an ambulance ride of Colchester Hospital University, Sherwood Hospital, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals or any of the other failing trusts, where, by way of bitter irony, trust is just about the last thing patients feel when they are wheeled in the front door.

Source The Telegraph