Commission plans to adopt "a lighter touch"
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《英国医生杂志》
The Healthcare Commission, the independent regulatory body charged with monitoring the quality of health services in the United Kingdom, is to set out proposals for its new assessment criteria at the end of next month. The new criteria are expected to replace or modify the present star ratings system, under which hospitals are awarded stars according to quality.
The proposals, which will be put out for wide consultation, will reflect the framework for NHS standards issued by the government in July this year in a bid to boost quality and simplify the plethora of existing performance indicators.
But the commission抯 chairman, Ian Kennedy, announcing the consultation last week, emphasised that the proposals would embody a lighter touch approach to inspection and audit, with a shift away from performance management and 搊ne size fits all.?/p>
Professor Kennedy was speaking at a conference on improving the safety of health care in the United Kingdom, sponsored by several bodies, including the BMJ Publishing Group and the National Patient Safety Agency.
揜egulation is a word that usually brings doctors out in a rash,?Professor Kennedy told delegates, acknowledging that the profession often saw it as 揵urdensome?and indicative of excessive government interference.
揥e want to be a different kind of regulator,?he said, emphasising that the commission heralded the start of a new collaborative and responsive system, marked out by independence and accountability.
He is also keen to curb the proliferation of data. 揥e抳e got a history of arguing about data rather than looking at what the data actually tell us,?he said.
The new assessment criteria, which will be published on 29 November, would be light on targets, which Professor Kennedy described as having achieved 揺normous benefit?but were 搕oo crude to take account of many things many of you regard as critically important.?/p>
While some targets would be 揵edded in,?the rest would be negotiated, he said, with 搕he emergence over time of local targets.?Rather, the focus would be on standards, with a much greater emphasis on process and not just outcomes, as well as a recognition that organisations are at different stages of development.
Regulation would be mapped out on a sliding scale, with organisations showing 揹emonstrably good performance and sustainable improvement?being effectively allowed to regulate themselves, he said.
Those unable to comply with the standards would be offered help. 揥e are in the business of helping you improve patient care,?he said. 揥e are not in the business of policing compliance with the current status quo.?/p>
The deputy chief medical officer, Aidan Halligan, also speaking at the conference, said that improvements in health care were integral to improvements in patient safety, an issue that was still not being taken seriously enough in the NHS.
揜eally good, highly reliable organisations respond really strongly to weak alarm signals,?Professor Halligan said. But he also admitted that measuring improvements in patient safety posed a considerable challenge.(London Caroline White)
The proposals, which will be put out for wide consultation, will reflect the framework for NHS standards issued by the government in July this year in a bid to boost quality and simplify the plethora of existing performance indicators.
But the commission抯 chairman, Ian Kennedy, announcing the consultation last week, emphasised that the proposals would embody a lighter touch approach to inspection and audit, with a shift away from performance management and 搊ne size fits all.?/p>
Professor Kennedy was speaking at a conference on improving the safety of health care in the United Kingdom, sponsored by several bodies, including the BMJ Publishing Group and the National Patient Safety Agency.
揜egulation is a word that usually brings doctors out in a rash,?Professor Kennedy told delegates, acknowledging that the profession often saw it as 揵urdensome?and indicative of excessive government interference.
揥e want to be a different kind of regulator,?he said, emphasising that the commission heralded the start of a new collaborative and responsive system, marked out by independence and accountability.
He is also keen to curb the proliferation of data. 揥e抳e got a history of arguing about data rather than looking at what the data actually tell us,?he said.
The new assessment criteria, which will be published on 29 November, would be light on targets, which Professor Kennedy described as having achieved 揺normous benefit?but were 搕oo crude to take account of many things many of you regard as critically important.?/p>
While some targets would be 揵edded in,?the rest would be negotiated, he said, with 搕he emergence over time of local targets.?Rather, the focus would be on standards, with a much greater emphasis on process and not just outcomes, as well as a recognition that organisations are at different stages of development.
Regulation would be mapped out on a sliding scale, with organisations showing 揹emonstrably good performance and sustainable improvement?being effectively allowed to regulate themselves, he said.
Those unable to comply with the standards would be offered help. 揥e are in the business of helping you improve patient care,?he said. 揥e are not in the business of policing compliance with the current status quo.?/p>
The deputy chief medical officer, Aidan Halligan, also speaking at the conference, said that improvements in health care were integral to improvements in patient safety, an issue that was still not being taken seriously enough in the NHS.
揜eally good, highly reliable organisations respond really strongly to weak alarm signals,?Professor Halligan said. But he also admitted that measuring improvements in patient safety posed a considerable challenge.(London Caroline White)