Index | Contacts | HA PIs | Trust PIs
NHS Performance Indicators : February 2002

This is the third set of NHS Performance Indicators to be published by this Government, and the first to include a full range of indicators for NHS hospital trusts. The NHS Performance Indicators are part of an intensive process of publishing information on the performance of NHS organisations in order to provide comparisons and improve performance overall.

The NHS Reform Bill, currently before Parliament, proposes to establish a new Office for Information on Healthcare Performance, as part of the Commission for Health Improvement. The Commission is being given more independence from Government and will publish an annual report to Parliament. The Government's intention is to publish more information on health independently of the Department of Health. In future, the Commission for Health Improvement will also take over the publication of NHS Performance Indicators and the NHS Performance "star" Ratings, which from this summer will be brought together into one annual publication covering not just hospitals but all other types of NHS trust as well.

The publication of the Kennedy Inquiry Report on the Bristol Royal Infirmary has reinforced the need to make more information on NHS performance available in more easily accessible formats. The NHS Performance Indicators are a part of that process. They focus on the things that matter most to patients and the public, and are there to encourage an open and honest debate about the state of our National Health Service.

At a local level this debate will be supported by summary reports on the performance of health authorities and NHS hospital trusts on these indicators. These summary reports have been designed primarily for the benefit of the boards of the new health authorities - and subsequently strategic health authorities - primary care trusts and primary care groups hosted within the existing health authorities and NHS trusts. They highlight for them where their organisations, or their partner organisations, have done well on the indicators and where further improvements are necessary. I expect boards to give these reports serious consideration and to take appropriate action. These summary reports are public documents and are available on the Department of Health's website.

This set of performance indicators has been informed by an extensive public consultation exercise that took place last summer. Many comments were received, particularly from people working in the NHS. I would like to thank them, not only for their contribution to the important work of improving NHS performance information, but also for their continuing dedication and commitment to the health service.