§ Mr. Nicholas BennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement concerning the performance indicators for the Health Service in Wales.
§ Mr. GristThe Welsh Office has since 1982 published a booklet of key statistical indicators for NHS management in Wales which shows comparative information on the district health authorities in Wales over a wide range of services. The latest edition of the booklet (No. 6 1987) was published on 21 January and a copy is available in the House of Commons Library.
The Department has also produced its own version of the DHSS computerised performance indicator package, which enables comparisons to be made between England and Wales at regional, district and unit level. A copy of the first edition of this package relating to 1985–86 data is available in the Library of the House and a 1986–87 edition will be issued during the summer.
Performance indicators are intended for use as a management tool for planning services and reviewing achievement. They help identify variations in the way services and resources are used both between authorities and over time. The indicators are intended to raise questions and provide a means of helping to diagnose problems. They do not, indeed cannot, offer any kind of judgment about the relative quality of the services provided, since it must be recognised that a wide and complex range of factors affect this.
As part of the 1988–89 planning process, district health authorities have been asked to set themselves performance targets, by reference, as appropriate, to published performance indicators. These targets will be reviewed as part of the 1988 annual review process and their achievement will be monitored in subsequent years.