07 June 2002
In a report compiled from the experiences of trusts, the NHS Confederation said it had found significant failings in the system. These led to misleading information and caused undue worry for staff and patients.
Confederation policy director Nigel Edwards, who wrote the report, said the performance assessment system was retrospective and did not take account of whether trusts were already improving. Nor did it investigate the complex and often long-term reasons for failure.
Also, there was no transparency in the way the indicators were selected, and the assessment criteria were subject to last-minute changes. He added that the quality of the data used was poor and did not take into account the views of either staff or patients.
'Our members expect to be held to account, but the system needs to enjoy the confidence of the NHS and the public. Last year's star-rating exercise could be improved, not just in the way it was done, but also how it was handled,' he said.
He pointed out that some zero-rated trusts were given only four hours to prepare for the announcement and had had difficulty obtaining information about the reasons.
He added that the 'balanced scorecard' approach to performance rating that is being developed would be easier to understand and more meaningful but was still a long way off.
PFjun2002
