The Humber region’s two NHS trusts have been named among some of the poorest performing in England in a new Government league table. The Humber Health Partnership have said they are “disappointed” with the rankings.
In a bid to raise standards across the country and tackle a ‘postcode lottery’, every trust in England will be ranked quarterly on a number of issues including emergency care and mental health services. As well as creating an element of transparency and accountability, the rankings will also lead to trusts being treated differently as top performing trusts will be rewarded with greater freedoms and investment, while underperforming trusts are to receive targeted support.
The first rankings of this kind have now been released and are less than pleasant reading for the trusts in the Humber region. Out of the 134 acute trusts that are ranked, the Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust ranked in 123rd place whilst the Northern Lincolnshire And Goole NHS Foundation Trust fared even worse, ranked in 125th place.
In response to the poor rankings, a spokesperson from the Humber Health Partnership, which is made up of the two trusts, said: “We are disappointed with our position in the latest NHS league tables. They highlight areas where we must do better for the communities we serve.
“We know that getting good NHS services is the most important thing to more than 1.5 million patients, carers and families in the Humber region and beyond who depend on them. It is also the most important thing to everyone who works at the Humber Health Partnership. That is why we are now working to strengthen and improve the services we deliver by empowering our doctors, nurses and other clinical professionals to deliver and shape the care our communities receive today and tomorrow.
“To do this, we are going to empower our experienced clinicians, through a clinically led improvement plan, to make more of the decisions about how we how we manage our resources and deliver care across our hospitals and services. This plan will focus on tackling immediate problems, strengthening services, and supporting our clinicians to deliver safe, effective and compassionate care now and for the future. We know that actions speak louder than words though which is why we will continue to provide updates on our progress so our patients and communities can see what we are doing and hold us to account.”
Explaining the introduction of the league tables, the Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “We must be honest about the state of the NHS to fix it. Patients and taxpayers have to know how their local NHS services are doing compared to the rest of the country.
“These league tables will identify where urgent support is needed and allow high-performing areas to share best practises with others, taking the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS. Patients know when local services aren’t up to scratch and they want to see an end to the postcode lottery, that’s what this government is doing. We’re combining the extra £26 billion investment each year with tough reforms to get value for money, with every pound helping to cut waiting times for patients.”
However there are fears that those serving poorer or more isolated areas will be stigmatised. Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents hospital trust leaders, said: “There’s more work to do before patients, staff and trusts can have confidence that these league tables are accurately identifying the best performing organisations.
“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. Anything less could lead to unintended consequences, potentially damaging patient confidence in local health services, demoralising hardworking NHS staff and skewing priorities.”
By: Andrew Spence, LDRS
