The government has today launched a review of leadership in health and social care. The review will be led by former Vice Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Gordon Messenger, and will report back to Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Sajid Javid, in early 2022.

The Health and Social Care Leadership Review will look to improve processes and strengthen the leadership of health and social care in England. Working with the health and care systems, retired General Sir Gordon Messenger will have a team from DHSC and the NHS to support him led by Dame Linda Pollard, chair of Leeds Teaching Hospital.

The government is determined that every pound of investment is well spent so that everyone gets the care that they deserve. Strengthening leadership, including clinical leadership, and spreading the best examples of outstanding management is vital in ensuring that every pound of investment is spent well, by driving up innovation and more efficient ways of working. The review will help to reduce regional disparities in efficiency and health outcomes.

The review comes as the government invests a record £36 billion to put health and social care on a sustainable financial footing and deliver the biggest catch-up programme in NHS history. Any recommendations made as the review progresses will be considered carefully and could be rapidly implemented to make every penny of taxpayer’s money count.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid, said:

I am determined to make sure the NHS and social care delivers for the people of this country for years to come and leadership is so important to that mission.

We are committed to providing the resources health and social care needs but that must come with change for the better.

This review will shine a light on the outstanding leaders in health and social care to drive efficiency and innovation. It will help make sure individuals and families get the care and treatment they need, wherever they are in the country, as we build back better.

The review will also look at how to deliver the findings of proposals and commitments made in previous reports on leadership.

The work of the review only applies to England, though other nations will be free to consider its findings, and it will be funded from within existing DHSC budgets. Publication of the review will be followed by a plan committing to implementing any agreed recommendations along with clear timelines.

So far 12 companies in Pakistan are committed – including one after meeting the High Commissioner on his visit. With one month to go until the COP 26 global climate change conference hosted in the UK, the UK Government is looking for more to take the leap. Globally more than 3,000 companies have signed up.

The High Commissioner’s visit was part of an environment and climate-focussed trip to Pakistan’s biggest metropolis to see first-hand some of the challenges – and some of the innovative solutions – Pakistan is offering as part of world action on climate change.

He saw how British and Pakistani expertise has been coming together to harness the power of renewable energy at Zephyr Wind Farm at Gharo. He was accompanied by Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam. There he saw how British funds have helped create green energy investments and have helped Pakistan replace coal power.

Dr Turner was also shown how Pakistan is using nature-based solutions to help repair the environment and protect livelihoods – through the regeneration of a mangrove forest near to the windfarm. Studies have shown mangrove barriers are cheaper and 50 times more cost-effective than concrete barriers when it comes to tidal flood protections.

Later, the High Commissioner took part in litter picking – a personal passion of his – at Clifton Beach to mark World Maritime Day. Eight million tonnes of plastic end up every year in the world’s seas, which is swallowed by or entangles marine animals, causing injuries and deaths and threatening the survival of certain species.

Dr Christian Turner CMG said:

Pakistan is tackling climate change – and protecting the beauty of the natural world – and these are two key areas which the UK-hosted COP 26 conference will be focussing on.

I’m encouraging 26 Pakistani firms to sign a commitment to make net zero emissions commitments in 2050 as part of COP 26. 12 are committed but we need more companies to come forward. Together we can do this.

While on his visit the High Commissioner also met key business leaders from the “Top 6” UK firms in Pakistan – (Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser, SCB, GSK, UBL and Shell) which contribute over 1% to Pakistan’s annual GDP, and rank among the biggest corporate taxpayers. He also met media house owners where he discussed the importance of a free media for accountability in a well-functioning democracy and welcomed the Protection of Journalists and Other Media Practitioners bill passed by the Sindh Assembly in May.

Notes to editors:

• The UK is hosting the global COP 26 climate change conference in Glasgow, in the UK, from October 31 till November 12, 2021. The UK has four core goals for the COP 26 presidency, namely:

• Asking countries to come forward with ambitious 2030 emissions reductions targets that align with reaching net zero by the middle of the century to keep the 1.5 degree global warming target within reach;
• Pushing further support for vulnerable countries to protect and restore ecosystems, build resilience and avoid loss of homes, livelihoods and lives;
• Getting developed countries to deliver on their commitment to mobilise $100bn in climate finance per year. All countries need to act to redirect finance flows, including by mobilising trillions of dollars from the private sector; and

• Collaborating across governments, businesses and civil society, to finalise the “Paris Rulebook” through the climate negotiations and make progress in energy emissions.

• Twelve Pakistani firms are so far committed to net zero. Yunus Textile Mills Ltd was the latest firm to make the commitment when the High Commissioner was in Karachi.

• For more information visit COP26 website

Further information

For updates on the British High Commission, please follow our social media channels:

• Military tanker drivers to start delivering fuel to forecourts across the country from Monday
• Almost 200 military personnel undertaking training at haulier sites
• Additional measures announced to help ensure the stability of the UK supply chain in the run up to Christmas
• Government working with industry to make HGV sector more attractive and improve conditions

Almost 200 Military tanker personnel, 100 of which are drivers, will be deployed from Monday to provide temporary support as part of the government’s wider action to further relieve pressure on petrol stations and address the shortage of HGV drivers.

Demand for fuel has stabilised throughout the week and more fuel is now being delivered than is being sold, however some parts of the country still face challenges.

To help fuel stocks further improve, military personnel are currently undertaking their training at haulier sites across the country and from Monday will be on the road delivering fuel supplies across the country.

This comes alongside a range of measures the Government is taking to ease temporary supply chain pressures in food haulage industries, brought on by the pandemic and the global economy rebounding around the world. In a further step to manage these pressures in the short term, the Government is introducing a bespoke scheme allowing up to 300 fuel tanker drivers to the UK on a temporary basis. In these exceptional circumstances, the Home Office is allowing a number of fuel haulage drivers to work in the UK immediately. Hauliers will find licensed drivers to recruit and will submit applications to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy which will endorse applicants with the necessary license and a contract to work as a fuel driver.

This forms part of the temporary immigration arrangements announced last week to help provide short term relief for the food and fuel industries and ensure the stability of the UK supply chain in the run up to Christmas. These time limited measures will facilitate the recruitment of the following cohorts over the coming days and weeks:

• 300 fuel drivers who will be able to arrive immediately (subject to immigration checks, and endorsement from BEIS) and stay to work until the end of March 2022
• 4,700 food haulage drivers who will arrive from late October and leave by 28 February 2022
• 5,500 poultry workers who will arrive from late October and be able stay up to 31 December 2021

The introduction of these temporary, time-limited visa measures, does not detract from our commitment to upskill and increase the wages of our domestic labour, but is in recognition of the extraordinary set of circumstances affecting the stability of the UK supply chain.

Steve Barclay, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said:

The Government has taken decisive action to tackle the short term disruption to our supply chains, and in particular the flow of fuel to forecourts. We are now seeing the impact of these interventions with more fuel being delivered to forecourts than sold and, if people continue to revert to their normal buying patterns, we will see smaller queues and prevent petrol stations closing.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said:

Across the weekend over 200 military personnel will have been mobilised as part of Operation Escalin.

While the situation is stabilising, our Armed Forces are there to fill in any critical vacancies and help keep the country on the move by supporting the industry to deliver fuel to forecourts.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said:

Thanks to the immense efforts of industry over the past week, we are seeing continued signs that the situation at the pumps is slowly improving. UK forecourt stock levels are trending up, deliveries of fuel to forecourts are above normal levels, and fuel demand is stabilising.

It’s important to stress there is no national shortage of fuel in the UK, and people should continue to buy fuel as normal. The sooner we return to our normal buying habits, the sooner we can return to normal.

However, we want to see employers make long term investments in the UK domestic workforce instead of relying on overseas labour to build a high-wage, high-skill economy.

Visas will not be the long term solution, and reform within the industry is vital. In addition to short term fixes, the Government is also working with industry to find long term solutions to the shortage of HGV drivers and encourage more people to enter the logistics sector through improved testing and hiring, with better pay, working conditions and diversity.

In line with this approach, the Government and freight associations are now collaborating to drive up the standards of lorry parking facilities – helping to make the HGV industry more attractive for prospective drivers, and supporting the wellbeing of those currently working in the sector.

This ongoing work will build on the 24 interventions we have already made to tackle the shortage of drivers, which includes an immediate increase in HGV testing and new skills bootcamps to train up to 4,000 more people to become HGV drivers.

The Governments of Australia, Canada, the European Union and its Member States, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States of America are deeply concerned by the magnitude of the findings of the report of the Independent Commission charged with investigating allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse, and sexual harassment, by WHO staff and partners during the 10th Ebola epidemic in 2018-2020 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

We expect full commitment from the WHO to prevent and address such acts, including through fundamental reforms to the WHO. We respect the courage of the survivors who came forward and spoke out. As Member States, we hold WHO, the wider UN system and partners to account for ensuring: that the individuals affected have access to the necessary physical and psychosocial support they need, that perpetrators are held accountable, and that the appropriate actions are taken to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse now and in the future.

We have been seized by the gravity of this issue and have been in regular contact with WHO on these specific incidents of sexual exploitation and abuse in the DRC from the moment the allegations became known, and we have consistently made our expectations of action and redress clear to the most senior officials of the WHO.

We welcome WHO’s expressed commitment to implement the recommendations in the Independent Commission’s report. We support the WHO’s immediate action to terminate the contracts of presumed perpetrators still in their employment, as well as requiring others to take immediate administrative leave pending further investigations on their roles and responsibilities in these abuses.

As WHO member states, we urge the WHO to initiate an immediate, thorough, and detailed assessment of the institutional policies, operational processes, leadership culture, and circumstances at WHO that allowed this to happen including for cases to go unreported to WHO’s leadership and Member States. We will work directly with WHO on the specific steps WHO needs to take to ensure zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse and to take a survivor-centered approach when responding to such allegations.

In this regard, we welcome the creation of the interim prevention and response to sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment action plan launched in July this year and encourage WHO to make use of the UN system-wide tools on the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. We urge WHO to ensure the implementing Task Team has the resources, capacity, and support needed to carry this important work forward.

We will remain closely focused on WHO’s management follow-up to this report. We will ensure that the WHO leadership’s commitments lead to accountability, increased capability, action, and swift, change. As WHO member states, we are fully committed to support this crucial process going forward without delay.

Published 2 March 2015
Last updated 1 October 2021 + show all updates