The mythbuster: Pessimism on NHS productivity is a result of ignorance of its causes (HSJ, 15 July 2026)

Summary

If the NHS focused on removing ‘failure activity’, it could transform its productivity

One common theme in discussions about NHS productivity is a pervasive pessimism about the impossibility of big improvements. Some, such as NHS Alliance chief executive officer Sir Ciaran Devane, believe the NHS would be lucky to eke out marginal improvements in the rate of productivity growth, and even that might depend on significant additional investment.

That pessimism is misplaced. There are huge opportunities to drive big leaps in productivity. To understand why this is the case, we need to consider the misleadingly named concept of Failure Demand, writes Steve Black in this HSJ article.