§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the 70 indicators of performance used 872W to compare health districts since 1983; and if he will set out a table illustrating the performance of each health district in accordance with each indicator.
§ Mr. NewtonThe Department first published performance indicators (PIs) in book form in 1983. A national summary plus 14 regional books provided values and ranks for 145 PIs for every district health authority in England. Copies of these booklets are held in the Library. The indicators covered activity, finance, manpower and estate management and were based on 1981–82 data. A list of these indicators was given in the reply from my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe, (Mr. Clarke) to my hon. Friend the Member for Halifax (Mr. Galley) on 9 July 1984 at columns408–411. This initial set of PIs was revised and expanded and in July 1985 a new package of PIs based on 1983–84 data was issued to every health authority in England. There are 421 PIs in this new package which cover acute services, services for children, the elderly, the mentally ill, mentally handicapped, support services, manpower and estate management. A table listing them has been placed in the Library.
The values and ranks for these indicators for every district health authority and many hospitals are contained on floppy discs to run on microcomputers. In December 1985 PIs based on 1984–85 data were issued; 1985–86 PIs will be issued this December. Presentation of the indicators on microcomputers allows easy access to the values for any district health authority. Full advantage is taken of graphical displays to facilitate comparisons between health authorities.
Copies of the computer-based PI package are held in the statistics section of the Library.