CARE QUALITY COMMISSION

Annual Reports and Accounts 2008-09 (20th July 2009)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) was formed following the merger of three previous health and social care commissions:

• The Commission for Social Care Inspection
• The Healthcare Commission
• The Mental Health Act Commission

These reports show the work of the organisations to improve health and social care over their final year in operation. Also published is the CQC six month report and accounts.
Reports

HEALTHCARE COMMISSION

Listening,learning, working together? A national study of how well healthcare organisations engage local people in planning and improving their services (26th March 2009)
According to this report from the Healthcare Commission, NHS trusts are increasing their efforts to listen to patients and the public, but now must go the next step to ensure these views are used to bring about change and improvement.
Report
Briefing
Practice Briefing
Easy Read Version

Tackling the Challenge. Promoting race equality in the NHS in England (30th March 2009)
This report looks at the extent to which the NHS in England is meeting the legal basic building blocks in promoting race equality.
Report

Adult specialist community mental health services. Report of the follow-up to the 2005/06 review (30th March 2009)
This is the report of the Healthcare Commission's follow-up review. The findings show that although progress made by many of the trusts is encouraging, they only show modest improvements in a number os aspects of the services. The recommendations are that all mental health providers look at their performance in this follow-up review and to work on the areas where either performance has deteriorated or shows the need for greater improvement.
Review

Equality in later life. A national study of older people's mental health services (31st March 2009)
This study focused on four themes:

• Age discrimination
• Quality of inpatient care
• How comprehensive are services?
• Working with other organisations

Although this study shows evidence of some good practice, it also shows that mental health services for the over 65's are in need of urgent attention.
Study

Care Quality Commission (1st April 2009)
This is the website of the new independent regulator of health and social care in England. The Care Quality Commission replaced:

• The Healthcare Commission
• Commission for Social Care Inspection
• Mental Health Act Commission

Website

PUBLIC HEALTH

Stepping up. Using health standards to improve public health (1st April 2009)
This report, written jointly by the Faculty of Public Health (FPH) and the Healthcare Commission is based on the experiences of 16 Primary Care Trusts, NHS Foundation Trusts and other healthcare providers. It looks at the legacy of the Healthcare Commission's public health legacy and sets the agenda for the newly formed Care Quality Commission to ensure that public health will be at the core of the healthcare regulator's work.
Report

COMMISSIONING

World class commissioning monthly update March 2009 (10th March 2009)

Commissioning Services and support for people with learning disabilities and complex needs (16th March 2009)
The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), the Healthcare Commission and the Mental Health Act Commission (MHAC), today published a joint report reviewing how councils and PCTs commission services on behalf of people with a learning disability. The watchdogs conducted the review following a series of reports over the past decade that point to poor care for people with a learning disability, particularly those with complex needs. This is the first review to focus specifically on how councils and PCTs commission services.
Report

Health Poverty Index (March 2009)
The Health Poverty Index (HPI) is a web based tool that allows geographical areas and different ethnic groups to be compared in terms of their health poverty.

A group's health poverty is a summary measure of both their present state of health and future health potential or lack of it. The latest update of the HPI was released in conjunction with a new HPI workbook, which guides the user through some of the features of the tool and demonstrates how the index can be used to provide a single visual summary of an area's health poverty.
Information

Commissioning healthcare for people with learning disabilities (16th March 2009)
This briefing, from NHS Confederation, is intended to raise awareness of issues in the commissioning of services for people with learning disabilities that meet their specific needs and enhance the development of mainstream services that are fit for purpose.
Briefing

HEALTHCARE COMMISSION

Investigation into Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust (17th March 2009)
This report, published today, criticises Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust for significant failings in emergency healthcare, leadership and management. There is also a letter from David Nicholson, Chief Executive NHS, drawing the attention of all NHS chairs, chief executives, medical and nurse directors to this report.
Press Release
Report
Summary Report
Terms of Reference
Letter

The Healthcare Commission 2004-2009: Regulating healthcare - experience and lessons (19th March 2009)
The Healthcare Commission today (Thursday) publishes its report on the impact of NHS regulation on healthcare, and identifies areas where lessons can be learned. The report comes as the Healthcare Commission approaches the end of its time as the independent regulator of the NHS. A new integrated regulator of health, mental health and adult social care, the Care Quality Commission, will take over on 1 April 2009. The report considers how independent regulation has contributed to better outcomes and quality of care for people since 2004, as well as highlighting lessons for both regulation and the healthcare system as a whole.
Report

Improving services for children in hospital - report of the follow-up to the 2005/06 review (13th March 2009)
The Healthcare Commission today (Friday) publishes a report detailing progress by 154 NHS acute trusts since it reviewed services for children in hospital in 2005/06. The 2005/06 review showed that services were generally good when children were inpatients in specialist paediatric services. But there was a need for significant improvement in the care of children being treated in other settings.

This latest report focuses on emergency and day case settings, looking at the areas that the Commission had previously highlighted as particular concerns. Results for each trust across 19 indicators of performance are published alongside the report.
Report

Safe in the knowledge: How do NHS trust boards ensure safe care for their patients? (12th March 2009)
This report aims to help the boards of all types of NHS trust to identify and develop the key behaviours and measures that they should review on a regular basis, to determine whether they are truly commissioning and delivering the safest possible care – and if not, what needs to change.
Report

Safely does it: Implementing safer care for patients (12th March 2009)
This study looks at whether NHS organisations have the systems in place, from ‘the ward to the board’, to ensure that the care they provide to patients is as safe as reasonably possible. It is written for the boards of all types of NHS trust, senior managers, clinicians and risk managers.
Report

Commission looks at possibility of checking carbon reduction monitoring in the NHS (23rd March 2009)
The Healthcare Commission has today published a report it commissioned from the NHS Sustainable Development Unit, which looks at the data currently available to support NHS trusts being assessed for carbon reduction monitoring by the regulator. We will be sharing the report's findings and recommendations with the Care Quality Commission, which becomes responsible for regulating the NHS on 1 April 2009.
Report

National NHS Staff Survey 2008 (25th March 2009)
This is the sixth annual national survey of NHS staff, in which almost 290,000 NHS staff were asked for their views on working in the NHS. The aim of this survey is to gather information that will improve the working lives of NHS staff and help to provide better care for patients. Findings of the survey show a decline in the number of workers who say they experienced bullying, harassment or abuse by patients or their relatives and that nine out of 10 feel they make a difference for patients. Many more NHS staff also say they are trained in infection control and that hand-washing materials are always available when they need them. The Commission said the results highlight some real and significant progress that is to be celebrated. However, it said the results also indicate a need to improve the way that leaders in the NHS communicate their vision for the service and how managers act on feedback from staff. The findings also point to a need to improve the structure of teams and to clarify teams' objectives.
Survey

HEALTHCARE COMMISSION

Spotlight on complaints 2009: a report on second-stage complaints about the NHS in England (16th February 2009)

This Healthcare Commission report says that some NHS trusts are still not responding to complaints effectively or learning lessons from them. The commission has made 12 key recommendations to all NHS trusts to improve the way they resolve complaints in the new two-tier complaints handling system which will replace the current three-tier procedure from 1st April 2009.
Report

Actions speak louder (12th February 2009)

The Healthcare Commission and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation (HMI Probation) published this report looking at healthcare services delivered by local Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) in the community and when young people move into and out of custody. Findings from the report include:

• Health assessments of young offenders or those likely to offend, frequently did not contain all relevant health information and young people often did not receive the healthcare they needed.
• The health needs of a young person can affect how they are sentenced.
• 70% of young people in custody with substance misuse problems had appropriate planned support, suggesting that 30% did not.
• Of the YOTs inspected, only two did not meet the statutory requirement of having a PCT health representative on local YOT management boards, however 16% of health representatives did not always attend board meetings and 12% did not contribute sufficiently.
• Ten per cent of the YOTs inspected did not provide sufficient and appropriate healthcare to young people following release from custody
• Primary care trusts did not provide adequate resources in almost half of the YOTs inspected.

Report

Commissioning healthcare in prisons (12th February 2009)
The results of joint work between the Healthcare Commission and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons in 2007/08 - This report gives the findings from the inspections of prisons during 2007/08 relating to the delivery of healthcare and the management of substance misuse. It gives recommendations for primary care trusts on how to improve services.
Report

HEALTHCARE COMMISSION

Improving services for substance misuse - Diversity and inpatient and residential rehabilitation services (29th January 2009)
A report released today by the Healthcare Commission and the National Treatment Agency (NTA) shows how well local areas are meeting the needs of diverse communities and people who require inpatient or residential drug treatment.

The review covered each of the 149 local drug partnerships in England, where drug treatment is commissioned and managed by representatives from primary care trusts, local authorities, the police and the probation service.

Findings reveal widespread good practice with 15% of local drug partnerships rated as "excellent" and 72% "good" overall. Thirteen percent were rated "fair" and no partnerships had an overall score of "weak".
Document
Further information

HEALTHCARE COMMISSION

Emergency Department Survey 2008 (14th January 2008)

The emergency department survey involved 151 acute NHS trusts. Patients were eligible for the survey if they were aged 16 years or over and had attened the emergency department between January-March 2008. Almost 50,000 patient responded - a response rate of 40%. The survey showed:

• overall, patients were positive about the standard of care in A&E departments.
• Improvements in communication with staff.
• Progress with staff helping to control patients' pain, although there is room for improvement
• Improvement in provision of information on discharge, but over a third of people said they left A&E without all the information they needed.
• No significant improvement since 2004 in patients' views on the cleanliness of departments.
• Improvements could be made in some areas relating to respect and dignity.
• A decline in the number of patients who felt they were involved in decisions about their care as much as they wanted to be.
• Respondents felt they waited longer at various stages of their care than in 2004.

Full National Results
Individual Trust Results
Press Release and further information

HEALTHCARE COMMISSION

State of Healthcare 2008 (11th December 2008)
After five years of regulating the sector, the Healthcare Commission is publishing its last report to Parliament on the overall state of healthcare in England and Wales. The independent watchdog applauded improvements in the NHS and called for further efforts to enhance the quality of care and make services more patient-centred.
Full Report
Summary Report
More information on State of Healthcare 2008

HEALTHCARE COMMISSION

Count me in 2008. Results of the 2008 national census of inpatients in mental health and learning disability services in England and Wales (27th November 2008)
The findings from the fourth annual census of the ethnicity of inpatients in mental health and learning disability services continue to show that some black and minority ethnic groups are three or more times more likely than average to be admitted as inpatients in mental health services. As a result, the report calls for healthcare providers, local authorities and other statutory agencies to work together to prevent and better manage mental illness in black and minority ethnic groups.
Census

HEALTHCARE COMMISSION

How well are acute trusts following the hygiene code? (24th November 2008)
This publication describes the Healthcare Commissions findings from 51 inspections of acute NHS trusts (about 30% of the acute sector) to assess their performance regarding cleanliness and infection control. The Healthcare Commission praised NHS trusts for showing increasing commitment to reducing healthcare-associated infections. However, the NHS must maintain the pressure, because the spotchecks revealed gaps in many trusts’ systems.
Publication

HEALTHCARE COMMISSION

With there not being another Bulletin until the beginning of November I thought that I should do an “extra” as the Annual Health Check has been published today.

The Annual health check 2007/08 (16th October 2008)
The results of this year's annual health check showed further improvements in performance by many trusts. In 2005/06 when the annual health check was introduced only 2 trusts scored "Excellent" for both the quality of their services and their use of financial resources. Last year it had risen to 19 and this year 42 out of 391 trusts scored "Excellent" in both categories.
Full Report
North West Regional Summary
Directory of Performance Ratings
Complete Data Set
Raising the Standard
Search for an Organisation
Press Release

HEALTHCARE COMMISSION

Not just a matter of time. A review of urgent and emergency care services in England (26th September 2008)
The Healthcare Commission today (Friday) calls for a new drive to improve the system for delivering urgent and emergency care across England. The call comes as it publishes a major review covering all urgent and emergency services, which for the first time assesses how the whole system works together. The review includes ambulance services, A&E, out-of-hours GP services, NHS Direct, urgent care provided by GPs, and urgent care centres including walk-in centres and minor injuries units.
Report
Press Release
Documents

HEALTHCARE COMMISSION

Survey of users of community mental health services 2008 (10th September 2008)
A Healthcare Commission survey of people using community mental health services, published today, has shown continued improvements in care. A larger percentage of service users say that they have confidence in mental health professionals, receive copies of their care plan and have a number to contact out-of-hours when in a crisis situation. Overall, most respondents continued to rate their care highly, with 78% describing it as "excellent", "very good" or "good", 13% as "fair" and 9% as "poor" or "very poor". These figures remain consistent with previous surveys.
Survey

HEALTHCARE COMMISSION

Services for young people and adolescents - supplementary report to the national audit of specialist inpatient healthcare services for people with learning difficulties in England (21st August 2008)
This is part of a suite of material that the Healthcare Commission has produced to support the findings from the national audit of specialist inpatient healthcare services for people with learning difficulties in England, carried out in 2007. This report provides supplementary details on the findings of the audit that relate specifically to specialist services for young people and adolescents. This should be read alongside the full report of the audit.
Report
National Audit

HEALTHCARE COMMISSION

National Survey of local health services 2008 (31st July 2008)
More patients are saying they are “completely satisfied” with care in GP practices and health centres, with high proportions saying they are treated with dignity and listened to carefully. This is according to a major survey of primary care services, published today (Thursday) by the Healthcare Commission. Between January and April this year, more than 69,000 people in England were asked about their experiences of GP practices and health centres and about access to dentists.
Full Results
More Results

HEALTHCARE COMMISSION

Are we choosing health? The impact of policy on the delivery of health improvement programmes and services (15th July 2008)
Two independent watchdogs are today (Wednesday) calling for a renewed drive to improve public health services after analysing the success of policies over the past decade. A new report by the Healthcare Commission and Audit Commission assesses the impact government policy has had on: narrowing health inequalities; improving sexual and mental health; and reducing smoking, alcohol misuse and obesity. It finds the government’s ambitious public health programme has helped significantly improve overall life expectancy and reduce mortality from the big killers. Between 1996 and 2006, premature deaths in under-75s from circulatory diseases fell 45 percent and those from cancer dropped 15 percent.
Click here for the Report

The pathway to recovery. A review of NHS acute inpatient mental health services (23rd July 2008)
The Healthcare Commission today (Wednesday) said the quality of the services varied widely across the country as it published the most comprehensive assessment of NHS acute inpatient mental health services ever undertaken. The Commission assessed all 69 NHS trusts providing acute inpatient mental health services in England. This covered 554 wards providing almost 10,000 beds for patients between the ages of 18 and 65. Overall, eight trusts were rated as “excellent” (accounting for 843 beds – 9%), 20 as “good” (2,808 beds – 28%), 30 as “fair” (3,985 beds – 40%) and 11 as “weak” (2,249 beds – 23%).
Click here for the Report

HEALTHCARE COMMISSION

Safeguarding children. The third joint chief inspectors’ report on arrangements to safeguard children (8th July 2008)
The report, ‘Safeguarding Children’ is published every three years. It assesses how well agencies are working at both national and local levels to safeguard children and young people. Much has changed in the landscape of children’s services since the previous Safeguarding Children report in 2005. As a result of improved safeguarding arrangements, most children now feel safe in their homes and communities, and are receiving the quality of care and support that they need. But some children and young people are still not well enough served by public services. This is particularly the case for those who are looked after by their local authority, who are in secure settings or are asylum-seeking children, according to the third joint Chief Inspectors’ review of arrangements to safeguard children.
Click here for the Report

Towards better births. A review of maternity services in England (10th July 2008)
The Healthcare Commission today urged the NHS to redouble efforts to improve maternity services by enhancing the quality of clinical care and the experiences of women. This national report on maternity services, contains conclusions and recommendations from a major review involving 150 NHS trusts in England. The Commission has for the first time thrown a spotlight on services from the start of pregnancy, through labour and birth, to postnatal care. The report contains seven recommendations with a checklist for implementation. The recommendations relate to: monitoring standards of care; ensuring that there is sufficient staff; gathering and acting on the views of those using services; encouraging team working; training staff and keeping skills up to date; collecting information on outcomes; meeting the requirements of women from higher-risk groups.
Click here for the Report

Making a difference? An evaluation of the performance of the Healthcare Commission 2004-2008 (14th July 2008)
This report presents the findings of a programme of independent research to assess the Healthcare Commission’s overall impact between 2004 and 2008.
Click here for the Report

HEALTHCARE COMMISSION

Heart Surgery in the United Kingdom (26th June 2008)
The Commission has published the statistics on the cardiac website, which was set up in 2006 when heart surgery became the first speciality to publish information on survival.
Click here for More information
Click here for Website

HEALTHCARE COMMISSION

NHS Trust Declarations on standards for 2007/08 (16th June 2008)
The Healthcare Commission today (Monday) said it would carry out a thorough check of NHS trusts’ public declarations on whether they meet the government’s standards for healthcare. In the 2006/2007 annual performance assessment of the NHS, 33 trusts scored ‘weak’ for quality of services. During the 2007/2008 year, the commission visited these trusts to check on the progress being made to improve standards. Of the 33 trusts, 24 had been rated as 'not met' in 2006/2007 against core standards. All but two of these trusts have declared higher levels of compliance in 2007/2008.
Click here for Full Results Tables
Click here for Briefing Note
Click here for Declaration Spreadsheet