NHS trusts give wrong hospital performance data to public

By Harry Wallop Published: 7:15AM GMT 08 March 2010

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Hospitals in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, London, Leicestershire and tools of the South West have already proposed consulting staff about that wards and services will need to be axed

The infancy of hospitals have been poorly assessing their own performance, withdrawal them open to accusations of dubious the open about levels of studious safety.

The indictment is done in a BBC Panorama programme, to be promote tonight, and is formed on total supposing by the Government"s own sanatorium regulator.

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The Care Quality Commission, that is in assign of inspecting sanatorium trusts, found that seventeen of the twenty-eight it legalised last year had assessed themselves wrongly.

The total come as ascent justification suggests a little hospitals are sketch up plans to cut some-more than 10 per cent from their bill in an bid to save the NHS as infancy as �20 billion over the subsequent 3 years.

Hospitals in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, London, Leicestershire and tools of the South West have already proposed consulting staff about that wards and services will need to be axed.

Barnsley Hospital in South Yorkshire is accepted to be formulation to close 3 wards and 3 handling theatres, whilst there are proposals to close 200 beds at Gloucester Royal and Cheltenham General hospitals. Leicester Hospitals has warned NHS staff that 700 jobs are expected to go, the equivlaent of scarcely 10 per cent of the workforce.

Chesterfield Royal, in Derbyshire has certified that it intends to cut twelve per cent of the bill over the subsequent 3 years, a move that would probably see it hillside the coronary caring facility.

Eric Morton, arch senior manager of the Chesterfield Royal, pronounced the need to have assets showed that the "reality of the monetary plea for the total NHS is starting to take effect."

The Dailyreported last week how thirteen of the 36 hospitals in London were formulation to cut misadventure and maternity units, with fears that if these assets were replicated opposite the nation hundreds of wards are at risk.

Last year, the Government asked NHS authorities to come up with proposals to rearrange the use to save income as a outcome of the recession.

Details have proposed to arise of what is expected to be a rolling programme of cuts but infancy of the inner consultations are being kept still until after the ubiquitous election, antithesis MPs have claimed.

Paul Holmes, the Liberal Democrat MP for Chesterfield, said: "The sanatorium arch senior manager has betrothed there will be no pursuit losses. But when asked will there be fewer or some-more staff in 3 years, he certified there will be fewer.

"There is no disbelief the cuts at my internal sanatorium are piece of a programme to save �20 billion over the subsequent 3 years opposite the country. And you have to take with a splash of salt that this will have no stroke on jobs or on patients."

Unions are increasingly concerned about the scale and abyss of any NHS cuts. A orator for the Royal College of Nursing said: "We don"t have a full design and that is piece of the problem.

"What we are disturbed about is that trusts will take a condense and bake proceed and have short-term cuts to dilettante nursing services. We are not opposite potency assets far from it. But studious reserve has to come first."

Unison, that represents the infancy of the NHS"s 1.7 million staff, pronounced it was "not rebuilt to aspect mandatory redundancies".

The peculiarity of the report since by hospitals about their opening has been pounded as being partly obliged for heading to a fake clarity of security at a little dangerously underperforming hospitals.

Professor Brian Jarman, who grown a complement of measuring sanatorium mankind rates used in the annual Dr Foster sanatorium guide to studious safety, told the Panorama programme the complement is open to manipulation.

The highbrow of epidemiology and open health at Imperial College said: "My perspective is that patients do not realize that hospitals are self assessing. I could frequency hold it until I review it.

"And I unequivocally could frequency hold that they would contend and tell that hospitals are "good" when we"re observant that they are very, really bad, and have been bad for ten years. They (the trusts) are observant that they are great formed on their own self inspection."

A orator for the Care Quality Commission pronounced a new checking system, entrance in to force subsequent month, would safeguard fewer hospitals unsuccessful to give scold information.

He said: "We will be utilizing the interpretation sources to guard trusts" opening on a continual, even day-to-day, basis, and we will have the coherence to lift out unannounced checks at your convenience we feel there is a sold concern."