Press release: NHS Confederation responds to the Healthcare Commission Annual Healthcheck
18 Oct 2007
Commenting on the Healthcare Commission's Annual Health Check review, Gill Morgan, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation which represents over 95% of the organisations that make up the NHS, said:
"We are pleased to see the Healthcare Commission confirming that NHS trusts are improving their performance. This is good news for patients, and a tribute to the people working so hard across the service.
"There are three key steps to driving further improvement across the country. First, we must see increased local autonomy for health professionals and staff to focus on local problems, not national directives. The success of foundation trusts clearly indicates that NHS management can rise to this challenge. While targets can be useful, the days of the Department of Health trying to understand the needs of 60 million people are over.
"Second, the service must be allowed to drive improvement without hugely damaging reorganisations that take time, resources and people away from patient care. The comparatively weaker performance of reorganised PCTS must be a wake up call.
"And third, the Annual Health Check shows that the best trusts are improving at a faster rate than the lower performing trusts. This means that we must invest in supporting all trusts to ensure the spread of best practice and to drive up standards.
"Progress has been made in tackling healthcare associated infections and MSRA rates have decreased. However, we must work harder to eliminate healthcare associated infections. The hygiene code is helping boards take control of the problem.
"While the health check reveals that the majority of trusts are in good shape, it is important to remember that many are still financially challenged. Last week's comprehensive spending review poses real challenges for the NHS. Maintaining financial balance while making efficiency savings of three per cent, and responding to the health needs of the population will not be easy.
David Stout, Director of the Primary Care Trust Network which represents the majority of Primary Care Trusts, said:
"The figures show that Primary Care Trusts are still facing challenges as a result of recent reorganisation. Major organisational change midway through a business year has unsurprisingly put a strain on trusts. We need only look at the data to see that PCTs that have not been reorganised are performing at a similarly high level to the rest of the NHS.
"As such, any further upheaval to governance of PCTs would be disastrous for patients. We must avoid knee-jerk reactions which call for unnecessary restructuring, and allow PCT managers to focus on delivering the best quality patient services.
"It is also important to remember that trusts classified as 'fair' are not failing, and that 'weak' does not imply unsafe. Moreover, weaknesses in performance often relate to areas where PCTs have limited influence - tackling obesity, and smoking, for example.
"With 89% of trusts performing as fair, good or excellent, PCTs have strong foundations upon which to build and provide locally led and patient focused care."
Sue Slipman, Director of the Foundation Trust Network, which represents the majority of Foundation Trusts, said:
"We know implicitly that Foundation Trusts are financially robust. The Annual Health Check not only confirms this, but illustrates that Foundation Trusts are also performing to a high standard in quality of care. It is extremely encouraging to see Foundation Trusts delivering excellent services to patients, as well as achieving strong financial management."
Notes for editors
The NHS Confederation represents more than 95% of the organisations that make up the NHS. Its members include the majority of NHS acute trusts, ambulance trusts, foundation trusts, mental health trusts, primary care trusts, special health authorities and strategic health authorities in England; trusts and local health boards in Wales; and health and social service trusts and boards in Northern Ireland.
Contact details
Contact Niall Smith 020 7074 3304 or 077 6777 0309 or Ruth Kennedy 020 7074 3312 or 078 8447 3086. For out of hours media enquiries, please call the Duty Press Officer on 07880 500726.
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