Regulatory bodies agree to streamline NHS inspections in England
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《英国医生杂志》
The main review and audit bodies for the NHS in England have agreed to streamline inspections of organisations providing healthcare services by agreeing shared systems for assessment and data collection.
Their concordat aims to reduce the regulatory burden on frontline healthcare staff, while supporting the improvement of services for patients. It hopes to result in more consistent and coherent programmes of inspection. The signatories, which include the Audit Commission, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, and the Healthcare Commission, have agreed to establish a health and social care inspection forum, which will be the first time they have worked together on a formal basis on healthcare inspection issues. They have agreed to define their remits and to communicate them more clearly to professional and patients?groups and to other inspectorates.
The concordat includes measures to reduce the amount of time that NHS staff spend on providing information for reviews. The measures include an inspection "gateway" to reduce the amount of communication with and requests for information from the NHS. Regulators will also explore whether they can make greater use of existing datasets and will try to develop a shared dataset to avoid duplicating requests for the same or similar information. They have agreed to joint review programmes in several areas, including the national service frameworks for older people, for mental health, and for children抯 services.
The signatories to the concordat intend to develop more joint review programmes and further improve coordination of their visits to NHS establishments. A database of inspection schedules will be developed, to coordinate visits and avoid several visits to an NHS centre taking place in a short period. The signatories will develop an action planning framework so that trusts will have rationalised action plans. To further reduce the regulatory burden on healthcare providers they will even consider inspection "holidays" for providers that perform well.
Anna Walker, chief executive of the Healthcare Commission, said: "Inspections play a key role in ensuring patient safety delivering value for money and drive improvement, and we need to work together to achieve this aim. Our aim is to coordinate inspections and follow up action, share data as far as possible, and reduce the amounts of inspection for those performing well."
Gill Morgan, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, added: "The NHS Confederation has long called for a more streamlined approach to regulation, and we warmly welcome this concordat as a measure which reduces the regulatory burden. This smarter approach to reporting will allow inspection and audit bodies to carry out their valuable role without creating extra workload for NHS organisations who are focused on delivering care for patients."
The concordat currently applies to England. But signatories with a remit in Wales will be working with the Welsh Assembly, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, and other bodies to determine how the practices will apply to their work in Wales.(London Susan Mayor)
Their concordat aims to reduce the regulatory burden on frontline healthcare staff, while supporting the improvement of services for patients. It hopes to result in more consistent and coherent programmes of inspection. The signatories, which include the Audit Commission, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, and the Healthcare Commission, have agreed to establish a health and social care inspection forum, which will be the first time they have worked together on a formal basis on healthcare inspection issues. They have agreed to define their remits and to communicate them more clearly to professional and patients?groups and to other inspectorates.
The concordat includes measures to reduce the amount of time that NHS staff spend on providing information for reviews. The measures include an inspection "gateway" to reduce the amount of communication with and requests for information from the NHS. Regulators will also explore whether they can make greater use of existing datasets and will try to develop a shared dataset to avoid duplicating requests for the same or similar information. They have agreed to joint review programmes in several areas, including the national service frameworks for older people, for mental health, and for children抯 services.
The signatories to the concordat intend to develop more joint review programmes and further improve coordination of their visits to NHS establishments. A database of inspection schedules will be developed, to coordinate visits and avoid several visits to an NHS centre taking place in a short period. The signatories will develop an action planning framework so that trusts will have rationalised action plans. To further reduce the regulatory burden on healthcare providers they will even consider inspection "holidays" for providers that perform well.
Anna Walker, chief executive of the Healthcare Commission, said: "Inspections play a key role in ensuring patient safety delivering value for money and drive improvement, and we need to work together to achieve this aim. Our aim is to coordinate inspections and follow up action, share data as far as possible, and reduce the amounts of inspection for those performing well."
Gill Morgan, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, added: "The NHS Confederation has long called for a more streamlined approach to regulation, and we warmly welcome this concordat as a measure which reduces the regulatory burden. This smarter approach to reporting will allow inspection and audit bodies to carry out their valuable role without creating extra workload for NHS organisations who are focused on delivering care for patients."
The concordat currently applies to England. But signatories with a remit in Wales will be working with the Welsh Assembly, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, and other bodies to determine how the practices will apply to their work in Wales.(London Susan Mayor)