§ Lord Clement-Jonesasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why, of the 40-plus performance indicators announced by the Minister of State, John Hutton MP, on 31 March, none relates to specialised service provision or commissioning. [HL3154]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner)The performance ratings system provides a high level overview of National Health Service Trust performance across the full range of trust functions. Acute and specialist, mental health and ambulance trust performance indicators are based around capacity and capability, clinical and patient focus including attainment of key targets. Primary care trust performance is assessed across the full range of primary care trust functions: service provision, access to quality services and improving health and attainment of key targets. The 2003 performance 39WA ratings contain a number of indicators, which relate to specialised services across all NHS Trusts with the exception of ambulance trusts. These include the reduction of waiting times for cancer services, 24-hour access to specialist mental health services and expansion of revascularisation services.