§ Ms LynneTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in establishing a national health service information service for patients.
§ Mr. SackvilleIn April 1992 all regional health authorities established a regional health information service under the patients charter.
On 26 January 1993 my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State launched the new health information service when the regional services were linked together into a national network on a freephone number, 0800 665544.
§ Ms LynneTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in ensuring that comparative information about the health standards achieved by health authorities is available to the public.
§ Dr. MawhinneyAs part of the citizens charter initiative, we will be publishing the first set of national health service comparative performance tables later in the year. The tables will give information to the public about the quality of service offered by individual hospitals and trusts. Achieving consistently high success rates on patients charter standards, for instance, is an indication of a well-managed, patient-focused hospital. The first set of performance tables will include information about performance on five patients charter activities and on selected day surgery procedures.
District health authorities already publish annual reports for the public giving comparative information on the patients charter performance of hospitals and trusts with which they hold contracts.
Comparative information about health authorities has been published since 1983 in the health service indicators. It includes indicators of morbidity, mortality and outcome measures and is available to the NHS and, on request, to members of the public. Copies of the health service indicators are placed annually in the Library.