§ 21. Mrs. Ann CryerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to tackle wide variations in treatment in different parts of the country. [115169]
§ Yvette CooperTackling unacceptable variations in performance and treatment is one of the key challenges we have set the National Health Service. We have already established new mechanisms; we are setting standards across the NHS through the National Institute for Clinical Excellence and the National Service Framework programme; ensuring delivery of these locally through clinical governance, and monitoring delivery through the performance assessment framework, the Commission for Health Improvement and a programme of national patient surveys. Over the next few months we will work with key professionals and frontline staff to see how we can improve NHS performance and productivity so that we make the best use of the record increases in NHS funding announced in the Budget.