New measures to crackdown on NHS managers who silence whistleblowers or endanger patients through misconduct will be proposed by the Government.

A 12-week public consultation will be launched on 26 November on proposals on banning managers from working in the NHS.

Karin Smyth, minister of state for health, said: ‘To turn around our NHS we need the best and brightest managing the health service, a culture of transparency that keeps patients safe, and an end to the revolving door that allows failed managers to pick up in a new NHS organisation.'

The DHSC will also consult on whether to introduce a new professional duty of candour on managers and making managers accountable for responding to patient safety concerns.

Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, said: ‘It is right that NHS managers have the same level of accountability as other NHS professionals, but it is critical that it comes alongside the necessary support and development to enable all managers to meet the high quality standards that we expect.

‘We welcome this consultation and already have a range of work underway to boost support for managers in the NHS and to help set them up to succeed – this includes creating a single code of practice, a new induction process and a new set of professional standards, which will ultimately help drive improvements in productivity and patient care.'

Danny Mortimer, deputy chief executive, said the NHS Confederation looked forward to working with the secretary of state ‘to ensure that the new arrangements command the confidence of our members and, above all, the public'.

Mortimer said there were ‘important principles to establish regarding the independence of any new arrangements, including investigation against clear standards of professional conduct (as exist already for other professions)'.

He said: ‘In establishing arrangements that apply to all parts of health and social care (including our regulators), we must all ensure that problems of discrimination encountered elsewhere are not replicated.'

Chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery, said the proposals ‘must past a series of litmus tests if they are to have the confidence of patients, staff, and the managers they seek to regulate'.

‘The focus must be on accountability rather than blame and punishment,' Cordery added.

‘Given the scale of the task and what is at stake, it is essential that the consultation is thorough and that any outcomes are designed carefully and in partnership with NHS managers.'