§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1)pursuant to his statement of 7 January 2003,Official Report, column 279, which trusts received an increased star rating as a result of the recalculations; [149942]
(2) what assessment he has made of the effect of the removal of the (a)information management and technology and (b) catering criteria from the 2002 star ratings on the scoring methodology; [151720]
(3) which individual NHS trust ratings the Secretary of State queried during consideration of the 2002 star ratings; and what the reasons were in each case; [149943]
(4) on which 3-star NHS trusts at risk of losing a star Ministers raised queries during consideration of the 2002 star ratings; [149944]
(5) how many recalculations of the 2002 NHS trust star ratings took place (a) before and (b) after 15 to 16 July 2002; and what the reasons were for each recalculation; [149945]
(6) which criteria in the 2002 NHS trust star ratings were changed when they were recalculated on 15 to 16 July 2002; [149946]
(7) for what reasons no trust lost a star rating following the recalculation of the 2002 star rating on 15 to 16 July 2002. [151722]
§ Mr. HuttonThe first calculation of provisional 2002 national health service trust performance ratings to be based on a full data set took place on 9 July 2002. Calculations were then checked and, where necessary, refined on a regular basis through to the publication on 24 July 2002, in order to correct any data errors and ensure the results represented an accurate reflection of NHS performance.
The specific change to the criteria used to calculate provisional performance ratings between 15 and 16 July 2002 was the removal of two performance indicators, covering access to catering facilities and information management and technology, which had been proposed as part of the rating system. The indicators were 570W removed following a significant number of concerns raised by NHS trusts over the quality of their construction and the data that would have to be used.
The star ratings system uses the relative position of trusts against a wide range of performance indicators to help distinguish between three, two and one star ratings. So, in principle, a trust's position could be improved or worsened by changes to the indicator scores of other trusts. No trust's provisional rating dropped on 15 to 16 July because other indicator data did not change significantly at that time. However, by the time the ratings were published on 24 July 2002, the removal of these two indicators had contributed to a lower rating for some trusts, aided by the relative position of other trusts having improved as data on other indicators changed. If these indicators had remained part of the 2002 performance ratings, 11 acute NHS trusts would have received a different rating at the time of publication: seven trusts would have had a lower rating; four trusts would have had a higher rating.
Overall, as a consequence of the removal of the two indicators and a number of other data corrections and refinements, there were 23 acute and specialist NHS trusts that had an increased performance rating between the 12 July 2002 calculation of provisional ratings and their final rating for that year. The 23 trusts which increased from their provisional rating were:
- Barts and the London NHS Trust
- Basildon and Thurrock NHS Trust
- Birmingham Women's Health Care NHS Trust
- Brighton Health Care NHS Trust
- Burnley Health Care NHS Trust
- Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust
- Cardiothoracic Centre—Liverpool NHS Trust
- Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust
- Gloucestershire Royal NHS Trust
- Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust
- Kettering General Hospital NHS Trust
- Kingston Hospital NHS Trust
- Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust
- Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Trust, London
- North Staffordshire Hospital NHS Trust
- Rotherham General Hospitals NHS Trust
- Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust
- Royal Liverpool Children's NHS Trust
- Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases NHS Trust, Bath
- South Durham Health Care NHS Trust
- University College London Hospitals NHS Trust
- Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery NHS Trust
- Wirral Hospital NHS Trust.
The then Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Mr. Milburn), raised queries about the provisional rating of nine acute NHS trusts, in the run-up to publication, to satisfy himself that ratings to be awarded were based on robust evidence and represented an accurate reflection of NHS performance. The nine acute trusts whose provisional rating the then Secretary of State queried are listed. Those marked with an asterisk are trusts which had been three-star in the 2001 performance ratings.
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- Barts and the London NHS Trust
- Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Trust*
- Norfolk and Norwich Health Care NHS Trust*
- Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust*
- Northumbria Health Care NHS Trust*
- South Durham Healthcare NHS Trust*
- The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust*
- University College London Hospitals NHS Trust
- West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust*.