Performance indicators were published which will be used to assess the performance of acute, specialist, ambulance, mental health and primary care trusts during 2002-03. The indicators were the first to be compiled by the Commission for Health Improvement, the independent regulator for National Health Service performance.
Source: Press release 9.12.02, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: DH press release | Performance indicators
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/4, Digest 124, paragraph 2.1
Date: 2002-Dec
The government published the first 'register of experts', established to turn around poor management of zero-star National Health Service trusts. Of the 71 organisations on the register, 62 were NHS trusts with three-star status. Eight were private sector organisations, including three based outside the United Kingdom. The Royal College of Nursing expressed 'serious concern' over the inclusion of private firms.
Source: Press release 19.12.02, Department of Health (020 7210 4850) | Press release 19.12.02, Royal College of Nursing (020 7409 3333)
Links: DH press release | RCN press release
Date: 2002-Dec
The British Medical Association published a discussion document assessing the impact of clinical negligence cases on the National Health Service. It argued that cases should be analysed individually under one of five possible headings, as a way of managing risk and identifying where the responsibility for different levels of risk lies.
Source: Patient Safety and Clinical Risk, British Medical Association (020 7383 6244)
Links: Report (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2002-Dec
The government published a document codifying the support that all parts of the National Health Service will get to improve the performance of local health services. The government said that its aim is to raise standards everywhere, by means of a framework of clear national standards, open reporting on performance, and a programme of action.
Source: Raising Standards Across the NHS: A Programme of Rewards and Support for all NHS Trusts, Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2002-Dec
The Chief Executive of the National Health Service produced a report on activity levels and service improvements, including preliminary figures for the first six months of 2002-03. For the first time, his report detailed the scale of activity in primary care and local services outside hospitals. He said: 'This report clearly shows that the funding injection the NHS received in April is giving NHS patients faster treatment and higher standards. Health care is improving through sustained investment and reform'.
Source: Chief Executive s Report to the NHS: December 2002, Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Report (pdf) | Letter from NHS Chief Executive | DH press release
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/4, Digest 124, paragraph 2.1
Date: 2002-Dec
Hospitals in the north of England and Midlands have better working arrangements to care for patients than those in the south and London, according to analysis of early inspections by the independent health watchdog.
Source: Emerging Themes from 175 Clinical Governance Reviews, Commission for Health Improvement (020 7448 9200)
Links: Report (pdf) | Press release | Guardian report
Date: 2002-Nov
The Community Care (Delayed Discharges etc.) Bill was published and had a second reading. The Bill is aimed at creating a 'strong financial incentive' for local authorities to assess individuals who are in hospital, and make provision for any community care services they may need, as quickly as possible. The government later announced an additional 100 million in funding to social services departments over three years to help implement the new system. Health service and local authority organisations expressed serious concern over the practical implications of the proposals.
Source: Community Care (Delayed Discharges etc.) Bill, Department of Health, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 28.11.02, columns 501-578, TSO | Press release 28.11.02, Department of Health (020 7210 4850) | Press release 14.11.02, NHS Confederation (020 7959 7272), Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Social Services
Links: Text of Bill | Hansard | DH press release 14.11.02 | DH press release 28.11.02 | NHSC press release
Date: 2002-Nov
The number of English residents waiting over one year for National Health Service treatment at the end of September 2002 was 16,700, 62.2 per cent lower than in September 2001. A total of 20 English residents had been waiting over 15 months. The total number of patients waiting to be admitted to NHS hospitals in England was 1,048,100 at the end of September 2002, 1.2 per cent higher than in September 2001. The government said the figures showed 'continued and solid progress' towards the March 2003 target of reducing inpatient waiting times to a maximum 12 months.
Source: Press releases 15.11.02, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: Statistical press release | DH press release
Date: 2002-Nov
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the problem of delayed discharge of patients from hospital, and agreed that success in tackling delays is vital if the targets underlying the National Health Service Plan are to be achieved.
Source: Government Response to the Health Select Committee Third Report of Session 2001-02 on Delayed Discharges, Cm 5645, Department of Health, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response (pdf) | DH press release | Committee report
Date: 2002-Nov
A survey found that only 52 per cent of patients in England and Wales are able to see their general practitioner on the day they call their surgery or the day after. One in five have to wait five days. (The government target is for a maximum 48-hour wait by 2004.)
Source: Survey in Which? magazine, 3.10.02
Links: Press release
Date: 2002-Oct
A study of 59 inquiry reports into National Health Service failures, between 1974 and 2002, found that many reports highlight similar sorts of failures, suggesting that lessons are not always learned.
Source: Kieran Walshe and Joan Higgins, 'The use and impact of inquiries in the NHS', British Medical Journal 19.10.02
Links: Article
Date: 2002-Oct
Local authorities condemned the government's proposals for tackling 'bed-blocking' as 'costly, unworkable and based on a flawed analysis of the real problems'.
Source: Local Government Association Response to Department of Health Proposals to Introduce a System of Reimbursement around Discharge from Hospital, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: LGA Response (pdf) | LGA press release | DH Consultation Document (pdf)
Date: 2002-Sep
Official figures showed that 8.3 per cent of elderly patients in England were reported as having their hospital discharge delayed in the period April to June 2002, compared to 11.1 per cent in the same period of 2001. But an increase in emergency readmissions of elderly people reportedly led to concerns that the policy of reducing delays in discharge is being pursued too vigorously.
Source: NHS Quarterly Review: A Summary of NHS Performance for the Period April to June 2002, Department of Health (08701 555455) | The Guardian, 18.9.02
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2002-Sep
A committee of MPs said that, on published figures, the government appears to be making steady progress in reducing waiting lists and times. But in a further report the committee highlighted at least 10 hospitals where managers and staff made inappropriate adjustments to their waiting list data and statistics to hide the fact that they were missing government targets.
Source: Inpatient and Outpatient Waiting in the NHS, Forty-fifth Report (Session 2001-02), HC 376, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Inappropriate Adjustments to NHS Waiting Lists, Forty-sixth Report (Session 2001-02), HC 517, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee
Links: Forty-fifth Report | Forty-sixth Report
Date: 2002-Sep
The number of people in England waiting for National Health Service treatment for over a year fell by 25,600 (55.5 per cent) in the year to June 2002. The number of patients waiting to be admitted to NHS hospitals rose by 16,900 (1.6 per cent) in the same period. The government claimed that a clear downward trend in waiting times was emerging.
Source: Press release 9 August 2002, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: DH press release
Date: 2002-Aug
A census of open and staffed adult critical care beds on 16 July 2002 (NHS trusts in England) showed that the target of increasing beds by 30 per cent by 2003 (from the baseline position at January 2000) was already being met.
Source: Press release 30 August 2002, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: DH press release
Date: 2002-Aug
The Scottish Executive announced its intention to scrap deferred waiting lists, in the interests of greater 'transparency', leaving a single list for everybody waiting for inpatient and day care treatment.
Source: Press release 27.8.02, Scottish Executive (0131 244 1111)
Links: Press release
Date: 2002-Aug
An Audit Commission report used non-technical language to examine a range of important aspects of National Health Service performance. It said this was the 'first step in developing a new approach to reporting on NHS performance for the public'.
Source: The Performance of the NHS in England: Developing an Independent Commentary, Audit Commission (0800 502030)
Links: Report (pdf) | Report
Date: 2002-Aug
Total attendances at consultant outpatient clinics increased by 1.1 per cent in 2001-02 (National Health Service trusts in England, compared to 2000-01); attendances in the general and acute sector increased by 1.5 per cent, while new attendances at accident and emergency departments and minor injury units fell 0.8 per cent.
Source: Press release 30 August 2002, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: DH press release
Date: 2002-Aug
The second nationwide assessment of England's hospitals was published, based on a performance ratings system. 47 acute hospital National Health Service trusts improved their rating in 2001-02, 36 received a lower rating, and 75 stayed the same.
Source: NHS Performance Ratings: Acute Trusts, Specialist Trusts, Ambulance Trusts, Mental Health Trusts: 2001-02, Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Report (pdf) | DH press release
Date: 2002-Jul
The number of people at English health trusts waiting over one year for treatment at the end of May 2002 was 45,100: this was 24,300 (53.8 per cent) lower than in May 2001. Those waiting to be admitted to National Health Service hospitals in England rose by 22,600 (2.2 per cent) in the same period, to reach 1,055,500.
Source: Press release 5 July 2002, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: DH press release
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/4, Digest 124, paragraph 2.3
Date: 2002-Jul
A House of Commons report criticised the way the National Health Service deals with claims for clinical negligence.
Source: Handling Clinical Negligence Claims in England, Thirty-seventh Report (Session 2001-02), HC 280, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf)
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/2, Digest 122 (paragraph 2.3)
Date: 2002-Jun
A pilot project was unable to produce reliable estimates of the number of medical errors made each year by National Health Service hospitals.
Source: The National Patient Safety Agency Pilot Evaluation Report, National Patient Safety Agency (020 7868 2203)
Links: Report (Word file)
Date: 2002-Jun
A think-tank report said that linking increased National Health Service funding to tougher performance targets will not deliver the expected levels of improvement.
Source: J. Chapman, System Failure, Demos, available from Central Books (020 8986 5488)
Links: Summary (pdf)
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/4, Digest 124 (paragraph 2.1)
Date: 2002-May