Healthcare Commission releases annual NHS audit

Thursday, 18 October 2007 12:00 AM

The Healthcare Commission today released performance ratings for all the NHS trusts in England.

The annual report is the most comprehensive assessment of NHS performance and gives a generally positive health check to the service over all.

This is the second such report and gives analysts their first chance to make comparisons across the whole of the NHS.

All 394 trusts in England were given two ratings on a four point scale, the first for quality of resources and the second on financial management.

Some 16 per cent of trusts were rated as "excellent", with 30 per cent given a "good" rating on the first quality of resources test - a total of 46 per cent.

This compares to last year, when 41 per cent of trusts achieved this standard.

However, as many as 45 per cent were only rated as "fair" and a worrying eight per cent were rated "weak".

Yet, the overall numbers in these poorer categories fell from 59 to 53 per cent.

On the second test, for financial management, 14 per cent of trusts were regarded as "excellent", 23 per cent "good", 36 per cent "fair" and 26 per cent "weak".

In total, one in three trusts improved on their rating for clinical standards and a similar number did so for financial management.

The Healthcare Commissions chief executive Anna Walker said: "This has been a tough year for the NHS, with significant reorganisation taking place, and tougher standards on infection control.

"Many trusts have stepped up to the challenge. They have delivered improvements in areas that really matter to patients, such as waiting times."

But while the overall results were welcomed, there were also concerns.

Ms Walker continued: "The next challenge is to narrow the gap in performance by getting the 'fair' and 'weak' up to the standards of the best.

"It is clear a handful of 'weak' trusts need significant improvement and that too many organisations were 'fair'. We need to see improvement in the performance of all these trusts on behalf of patients."

The health secretary Alan Johnson promised tough action on those trusts found to be failing the public.

Mr Johnson said: "I have asked David Nicholson, the chief executive of the NHS, to urgently meet the four trusts who have been weak on both quality and use of resources for two years running to assess what action they are taking to remedy the situation.

"If this is not satisfactory, we will consider more radical action. Stringent assessments would need to be made regarding the most appropriate course of action, but one of the options could be takeovers by well performing trusts."

The strategic health authorities in the East Midlands and the north-east of England were singled out for praise, both of which had a high percentage of "good" or "excellent" hospitals.

However, the Royal Cornwall hospital in the south-west was found to be the worst performing hospital.

Chief executive of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS trust John Watkinson said: "It is clear that the performances we saw in 2006/07 in relation to these standards are not good enough and we have clearly got to improve."

However, Mr Watkinson stressed changes have already begun to be made: "We have already had the changes in management, they were clearly necessary to get better focus on this.

"My job is to improve the standards and we have already started to do that."

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