Performance ratings out for English trusts
Last month saw the publication of annual health check ratings for all NHS trusts in England, as assessed from April 2005 to March 2006.
The Healthcare Commission classed 54 per cent of acute and specialist
trusts as “excellent” or “good” for quality of
services, and 7 per cent as “weak”. For their use of resources,
30 per cent of these trusts were classed as excellent or good, and 42
per cent as weak. Strategic health authorities called for action plans
to be in place by the middle of this month for trusts that were weak.
Overall, there were improvements in certain targets. For example, the
percentage of cancer patients treated within two months of referral increased
from 75 per cent in the last quarter of 2004/05 to 91 per cent in the
last quarter of 2005/06. Reported methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus infections were 8 per cent lower than in the 2003/04 baseline
year, but this was less than half of the reduction needed to keep the
NHS on course to meet the target of reducing infections by 50 per cent
by 2008.
The annual health check performance ratings replace star ratings. Scores
can be accessed at www.healthcarecommission.org.uk
|
Hospital Pharmacist