If the Health Bill passes successfully, all providers of NHS care – with the exception of primary care and community health services – will be required to publish Quality Accounts from April 2010.
This consultation sets out the recommendations for the regulations and guidance supporting Quality Accounts in the first year, and is based on findings from a series of engagement, testing and design exercises over the past year
According to NHS Medical Director Sir Bruce Keogh, this is an additional mechanism by which NHS boards can assess quality and address its improvement, and by which the NHS can be held accountable by commissioners, patients and the public for the quality of care they provide. This consultation asks for views on proposed regulations and guidance to be used in the production of such accounts.
Most of the content will be developed by Boards. However, one of the consultation questions concerns the proposal for a nationally mandated component in every Quality Account, which would have to include:
- statements about priorities for improvement
- the indicators the organisation has chosen to set and monitor in each of the areas of i) safety, ii) effectiveness, and iii) patient experience
- confirmation that the organisation participates in clinical research and uses the CQUIN framework
- confirmation that the organisation participates in clinical audit
- details of what the CQC, LINks, and local PCTs say about the organisation.
In the first year of the operation of Quality Accounts it is proposed that the lead local PCT be required to endorse the provider’s account; in future years this may be augmented with ‘trust to trust’ and other peer reviews of accounts.
The consultation asks specific questions about the viability of each of the above proposals, especially in relation to the nationally mandated content, assurance processes, implementation timetables, and estimated costs of producing accounts (£14,000-£22,000).
The consultation will close on 10 December 2009.
Download the consultation