Chis ratings get mixed response

17 Jul 03
Ministers have been warned to stop playing politics with patient care following the publication of the first independent assessments of NHS services by the sector's watchdog. The Commission for Health Improvement's star ratings for every NHS trust in.

18 July 2003

Ministers have been warned to stop playing politics with patient care following the publication of the first independent assessments of NHS services by the sector's watchdog.

The Commission for Health Improvement's star ratings for every NHS trust in England were unveiled by the organisation's chair, Dame Deirdre Hine, on July 16.

While health minister Lord Warner praised the overall increase in the number of high-performing trusts, doctors, unions and opposition MPs criticised the assessment criteria used.

Overall, 53 out of 156 acute hospitals received the top rating of three stars this year, compared with 45 in 2002. But 14 hospitals received zero stars, the lowest rating, compared with ten last year.

Four trusts that scored three stars last year have been downgraded to two, leaving them ineligible for the government's flagship foundation trust status, which will bestow financial freedoms on elite hospitals.

The four trusts were Essex Rivers, Aintree, Newcastle and Walsall. Public Finance has discovered that Essex Rivers was also one of two foundation applicants whose management was flagged as 'needing support' in an Audit Commission report published in June. The other, it is believed, has remained a three-star trust and could still become a foundation hospital next year.

This year's ratings also include, for the first time, performance assessments for primary care trusts. Overall, 45 PCTs attained three stars, while 22 achieved none.

Ambulance and mental health trusts were also assessed, with ministers admitting to 'concerns' over the one in six ambulance trusts that received no stars.

Warner described the broader results as 'encouraging', adding: 'No-one will claim these results are perfect, but the general trend is one of improvement.'

The results received the backing of the Institute of Healthcare Management, which claimed the assessment process was more transparent than in previous years, when the Department of Health published its own tables.

But criticisms from opponents abound. British Medical Association chair James Johnson said: '[Ratings] measure little more than hospitals' ability to meet political targets, and take inadequate account of the quality of clinical care.'

Dr Evan Harris, LibDem health spokesman, said: 'Ratings mislead patients, demoralise staff and scapegoat the hospitals that are suffering from a lack of doctors, nurses and beds.'

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