NHS Direct assessed as ‘Excellent’ in NHS Performance Ratings

15 October 2009

NHS Direct has been awarded the highest rating of ‘Excellent’ by the independent regulator of health and social care in England, the Care Quality Commission (The Commission). It has achieved the highest level of compliance in only its second year as an NHS Trust. The rating is up from the ‘Good’ rating it achieved in 07/08.

The highest score

Commenting on the overall results, the Commission says in its report, ‘This score means that the trust received the highest score for all applicable assessments that contribute to the overall quality score’.

Nick Chapman, NHS Direct chief executive, said: “Since becoming an NHS Trust in April 2007 NHS Direct has continued to work in partnership with other NHS organisations - locally, regionally and nationally - to improve the quality of services we provide to patients.

The Trust has achieved this excellent result due to the dedicated hard work and expertise of our staff. Looking forward, we will continue in our efforts to support patients and other NHS organisations to cope with and combat the flu pandemic and the inevitable pressures on services through the busier winter months.”

Within the national picture NHS Direct sits within the top 15% of Trusts rated as ‘excellent’ for their quality of services.

Three factors

Every NHS trust in England is responsible for ensuring that it is complying with the Department of Health's core standards. The Annual Performance Ratings of NHS Trusts published by The Commission are normally based on three factors; Core Standards Assessment, Existing National Targets/New National Targets and Financial Performance.

Within the 24 Core Standards there are 44 individual elements. NHS organisations are required to undertake a self assessment of the level of compliance against these 44 individual elements, of which 34 are relevant and applicable to NHS Direct.

NHS Direct’s performance was assessed in seven key areas of health and healthcare: safety; clinical and cost effectiveness; governance; patient focus; accessible and responsive care; care environment and amenities; public health. The performance rating is not based on national targets, as these are not applicable to NHS Direct. The financial performance of NHS Direct is subject to a separate assessment by the National Audit Office.

The Commission undertakes risk-based and random inspections of NHS Trusts as part of the validation process for the performance ratings. NHS Direct was not subject to an inspection by the Commission in summer 2009.