Regular inspections of NHS trusts to be dropped, in favour of self rep
http://www.100md.com
《英国医生杂志》
NHS trusts in England will no longer be subjected to week long inspections every three years unless there is evidence of a problem, under new rules for assessing healthcare services launched this week by the Healthcare Commission.
Instead all health service providers will have to publish annual figures showing how they performed against standards and targets set by the government. These performance figures will be compared across hospitals to form a league table, although the star ratings that were used in the past may disappear.
During 2005-6 the commission will concentrate on 24 "core standards" describing basic levels of acceptable performance. The standards will cover areas such as safety, clinical effectiveness, focus on patients, and the care environment.
Trusts will be expected to publish their first draft declarations for these core standards in October this year. These will help organisations identify and tackle areas where they are having problems, says the commission.
Under the new arrangements the commission will also introduce 13 "developmental standards," designed to improve the quality of care.
One major difference in the new system is that independent healthcare providers will be expected to use similar standards to report figures over the next two years. This move reflects the way health care is increasingly provided by private and voluntary as well as public organisations, says the commission.
The commission will use a number of strategies to ensure that organisations are making accurate declarations. It will ask patient and public involvement forums, strategic health authorities, and scrutiny committees to corroborate the figures. It will also compare declarations against data on performance collected by regulators; carry out random and unannounced spot checks; and use intelligence from NHS complaints and investigations into serious failures in service.
The aim of the new system is to reduce the regulatory burden and to give the public a more accurate picture of performance, says the commission. For the first time, patients?groups will be given a formal role in judging the quality of services.
The new system is the result of a 12 week consultation that prompted more than 1100 written responses from patients?groups, NHS managers, clinicians, and independent healthcare providers.
Details of the new assessment system are in the Healthcare Commission抯 document Assessment for Improvement: The Annual Health Check, which can be seen at www.healthcarecommission.org.uk(Zosia Kmietowicz)
Instead all health service providers will have to publish annual figures showing how they performed against standards and targets set by the government. These performance figures will be compared across hospitals to form a league table, although the star ratings that were used in the past may disappear.
During 2005-6 the commission will concentrate on 24 "core standards" describing basic levels of acceptable performance. The standards will cover areas such as safety, clinical effectiveness, focus on patients, and the care environment.
Trusts will be expected to publish their first draft declarations for these core standards in October this year. These will help organisations identify and tackle areas where they are having problems, says the commission.
Under the new arrangements the commission will also introduce 13 "developmental standards," designed to improve the quality of care.
One major difference in the new system is that independent healthcare providers will be expected to use similar standards to report figures over the next two years. This move reflects the way health care is increasingly provided by private and voluntary as well as public organisations, says the commission.
The commission will use a number of strategies to ensure that organisations are making accurate declarations. It will ask patient and public involvement forums, strategic health authorities, and scrutiny committees to corroborate the figures. It will also compare declarations against data on performance collected by regulators; carry out random and unannounced spot checks; and use intelligence from NHS complaints and investigations into serious failures in service.
The aim of the new system is to reduce the regulatory burden and to give the public a more accurate picture of performance, says the commission. For the first time, patients?groups will be given a formal role in judging the quality of services.
The new system is the result of a 12 week consultation that prompted more than 1100 written responses from patients?groups, NHS managers, clinicians, and independent healthcare providers.
Details of the new assessment system are in the Healthcare Commission抯 document Assessment for Improvement: The Annual Health Check, which can be seen at www.healthcarecommission.org.uk(Zosia Kmietowicz)