§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will review the clinical indicator data for Northern Devon Healthcare Trust for 1997–98; [88071]
(2) what assessment he has made regarding Northern Devon Healthcare Trust's clinical performance in relation to that of other trusts; [88072]
(3) if he will make a statement about the quality of discharge data for 1997–98 clinical indicators for Northern Devon Healthcare Trust. [88070]
§ Mr. DenhamThe capture of data and information is highly complex, and this is the first time National Health Service clinical indicators have been published at trust level, supporting one of the Government's main commitments to modernise the NHS and to improve the quality of the services delivered by hospitals and community and primary care services. Some data from some trusts and health authorities were more robust than others.
It is every trust's responsibility to ensure data are sent and received in good order. The Department will be working with all trusts to review the quality of the data provided and to agree actions for continuing improvement. A toolkit is also being developed with a clear purpose to support the interpretation and use of the indicators.
We do not propose to re-publish 1997–98 data this year. However, the 1997–98 data tables will be re-published in 2000 as part of the 1998–99 clinical indicator set.