18 June 2004
The Healthcare Commission is to overhaul its approach to inspection and is examining the Comprehensive Performance Assessment model used in local government.
The health service regulator plans to introduce changes by the summer of 2005.
It has set up a stakeholder working party to explore alternative methods, which includes representatives from the Audit Commission. It was due to meet for the first time on June 18.
The commission is thought to be keen to move away from the current data-based approach to awarding star ratings to NHS trusts, and wants to find a more holistic way of assessing performance.
Chief executive Anna Walker is said to be considering taking the elements of the CPA that are based on judgements rather than raw statistics and testing them to see if they can be applied to the health service.
An insider told Public Finance: 'Some parts of the CPA, such as the corporate assessment and its focus on leadership and governance, have proved very useful to councils. The commission will look at whether some version of that could transfer to a health setting.'
Audit Commission officials gave a presentation on the CPA to commission staff last month. Once the working party is up and running, the local government watchdog is likely to be asked to carry out detailed work on specific issues and report back.
The CPA is regarded as a reasonably successful model of inspection. Recently, other public sector regulators have begun to look at its underlying principles, but the commission is the first to express interest in its methodology.
The Health Care Commission confirmed to PF that it is examining the CPA. 'We are in the process of redrawing our methods of assessing health providers and are looking at various different models of best practice,' a spokeswoman for the commission said.
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