MORE experts have rubbished the government’s top-down NHS reforms as a report warned on Wednesday that a “lack of staff voice” was a key reason behind worsening patient treatment.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting was urged to axe “bullying” plans for NHS trust league tables and stop threatening to sack “poorly performing” managers, as researchers revealed staff turnover was costing thousands of patient lives a year.

Now a new report has warned that the NHS is “struggling to get firing on all cylinders” and that the “return on public investment has weakened since the pandemic.”

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said more money for the service is “not leading to many more patients being treated overall” and at the same time workers are “calling it quits.”

The report authors said a “lack of staff voice” is behind these two issues.

“It is why decision-makers spend money on locum doctors when what is needed are computers, purchase new software before a discharge co-ordinator and top up winter crisis funding, but not community services, to keep people well,” they wrote.

Giving workers a greater say is “key” to boosting productivity and increasing staff retention, the IPPR said.

IPPR research fellow and NHS doctor Dr Annie Williamson said: “After years of mounting pressures, the NHS is facing two major challenges: high levels of frustration among staff, and low productivity which is taking a toll on patients.

“By addressing these issues, we could unlock billions worth of better healthcare.”

IPPR associate director of democracy and politics Dr Parth Patel added: “We all know the NHS needs reform, but we keep getting distracted by the same red herring debates.”

The Department of Health and Social Care was approached for comment.