Hospital trusts to undergo ‘use of resources’ ratings

11 Aug 17

Health watchdogs will soon grade NHS hospital trusts on how efficiently they use their resources alongside reviews of the standard of care they provide.

From September, the CQC together with NHS Improvement will assess non-specialist acute trusts’ finances as well as a their workforce, estates and facilities. These findings will be released along with a summary of care performance in the CQC’s routine reports.

The finances of specialist acute, ambulance, mental health and community services will also fall under assessment after April 2019.

Appraisals will be carried out by NHS Improvement at the same time that CQC inspectors are looking at the safety and quality of care. Trusts’ use of resources will be rated either: outstanding; good; requires improvement; or inadequate.

The CQC said a further joint consultation is planned for later this year to consider how the 'use of resources' ratings might be combined with ratings on quality.

Ahead of the new tests, NHS Improvement has released the framework for assessment, which outlines the metrics it will use to judge the use of resources by trusts.

A spokesman for NHS Improvement said: “As public sector organisations, NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts are expected to demonstrate to their patients, communities and taxpayers that they are delivering value for money, evidencing both efficiency and effectiveness.

“This is even more important in times of fiscal constraint. NHS Improvement and the CQC believe there is significant potential for more productive use of resources across the NHS, which would improve quality of care for patients.”

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