The scores are in and Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has been ranked top in the first ever published league tables highlighting the performance of NHS trusts in England. The highest ranking 8 trusts are all specialist ones, with The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital coming in second, and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust at third place.
The NHS trusts are to be ranked quarterly based on factors such as waiting times for elective surgeries, cancer treatment, ambulance response times, time spent in A&E and mental health services.
The trusts are placed in to one of 4 segments with segment 1 representing the highest overall performers and segment 4 the worst. The intention is for the lower ranking trusts to learn from the higher performing ones.
The trusts are ranked by their average metric scores within each segment. The lower the metric score is the better the ranking.
Sir Jim Mackey, Chief Executive of NHS England, has commented “Letting patients and the public access more data will help to drive improvement even faster by supporting them to identify where they should demand even better from their NHS and by putting more power in their hands to make informed decisions on their choice of provider. The data also supports local NHS trust boards and leadership teams to more easily identify the highest performing services in the NHS and adapt how they deliver care to drive improvement even faster going forward.”
The NHS have warned though against comparing different types of Trust against one another. It also appears that finances will also play a part in the rankings. An NHS Trust could be marked down if in debt when their clinical care is highly rated. If an NHS trust is in financial difficulty they cannot be ranked in the top two segments.
There are concerns that whilst attempting to provide transparency the rankings don’t precisely identify the best performing trusts.
Chief executive Daniel Elkeles has commented "For league tables to really drive up standards, tackle variations in care, and boost transparency, they need to measure the right things, be based on accurate, clear and objective data and avoid measuring what isn't in individual providers' gift to improve."
You can find out how your local trust has ranked here.
If you or a loved one has suffered an injury due to the negligence of a medical or health professional then we may be able to help you pursue a claim for compensation. Our leading team of experts are on hand to offer advice, so please get in touch with us on 0161 696 6165 or complete our online enquiry form and we will contact you directly.
Comments