A brief history of time spent in the hot seat - The Times 27th November 2007

WITH the England football boss Steve McClaren speared by a corner flag just 18 months after being appointed, he may be interested to learn that his tenure at the top was even shorter than that of the average NHS chief executive. Yes, health service managers tend to last a whole six months longer at the top than McClaren managed, even though they have to juggle with life and death while he had only to get a draw. And, like football coaches, NHS managers are first in the firing line. Health Service Journal (Nov 22) says that increasingly NHS boards look for someone to blame as soon as an own goal goes in. “When things go wrong it is expedient to say it was a management failure and there is very little between you and the door,” says Jon Restell, of the union Managers in Partnership.

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