NHS performing well but worries over tougher times ahead: NHS performance is continuing to hold up well, but there is concern that quality of care may suffer as financial pressures bite from next year, according to the latest quarterly monitoring report on NHS performance published by The King’s Fund.
A survey of 45 NHS finance directors undertaken for the report found that a majority are confident of delivering average cost improvement targets for this year of just under 5 per cent. However, 2013 is seen as a potential turning point, with savings becoming more difficult to deliver and most directors sceptical that the NHS will be able to meet its target of finding £20 billion in productivity improvements by 2015. Significantly, 40 per cent of the finance directors expect the quality of care to worsen over the next few years.
The main findings from the survey were:
However, analysis of A&E waiting times for the first quarter of the current financial year highlights growing pressure in emergency care – although the proportion of patients spending more than four hours in A&E fell compared with the two previous quarters (as expected at this time of year), it is at its highest level for this quarter since 2004/5. The national figures also mask variation in local performance with 35 hospitals breaching the government’s target that no more than 5 per cent of patients should spend longer than 4 hours in A&E.
The main findings from our analysis of key performance indicators are:
Professor John Appleby, Chief Economist at The King’s Fund said: ‘The NHS continues to perform well in the second year of the productivity challenge. But there are signs that future years will be harder. The end of the public sector pay freeze next April may add to financial pressures and increase the strain on services. The difficulty for local providers will be finding ways to absorb these costs without compromising the quality of care for patients.’
Read the September 2012 quarterly monitoring report
How is the NHS performing? is the sixth of The King’s Fund’s regular quarterly monitoring reports and is published on 27 September 2012. For further information or to request an interview with John Appleby, please contact the Press and Public Affairs team on 020 7307 2585 (if calling out of hours, please ring 07584 146 035).
The survey of finance directors aims to provide a snapshot of opinion and is not intended to be a representative sample. Of 119 finance directors invited to join the panel, 45 were available to give their views, which were collected via an online survey between 16 and 30 July 2012. The majority of the panel were from acute trusts, with others from mental health trusts, primary care clusters, ambulance trusts and community trusts.
In June 2010, the target for time spent in A&E was eased from no more than 98 per cent waiting longer than 4 hours to no more than 95 per cent.
A survey of 45 NHS finance directors undertaken for the report found that a majority are confident of delivering average cost improvement targets for this year of just under 5 per cent. However, 2013 is seen as a potential turning point, with savings becoming more difficult to deliver and most directors sceptical that the NHS will be able to meet its target of finding £20 billion in productivity improvements by 2015. Significantly, 40 per cent of the finance directors expect the quality of care to worsen over the next few years.
The main findings from the survey were:
- 35 of the panellists expect to end this financial year in surplus, with only 3 anticipating a deficit
- 33 are confident of achieving their cost improvement programme targets for 2012/13, while only 5 expressed concern
- 27 panel members believe there is now a very high or high risk that the NHS will not meet its target to deliver £20 billion in productivity improvements by 2015; just 4 judged there to be little risk of failure
- 19 of the panel said that they expect patient care to worsen over the next few years, with only eight anticipating improvement; this compares with 14 who felt care had improved in the last 12 months, and just 7 who believed care had got worse.
However, analysis of A&E waiting times for the first quarter of the current financial year highlights growing pressure in emergency care – although the proportion of patients spending more than four hours in A&E fell compared with the two previous quarters (as expected at this time of year), it is at its highest level for this quarter since 2004/5. The national figures also mask variation in local performance with 35 hospitals breaching the government’s target that no more than 5 per cent of patients should spend longer than 4 hours in A&E.
The main findings from our analysis of key performance indicators are:
- 7 per cent of inpatients waited more than 18 weeks for hospital treatment in July, compared with a peak of more than 10 per cent in March 2011
- 0.93 per cent of patients waited more than six weeks for diagnostic tests in July, a fall from 1.26 per cent in June, bringing it back within its 1 per cent target range
- 3.4 per cent of patients spent longer than four hours in A&E in the first quarter of the current financial year compared to 4.2 per cent in the last quarter of 2011/12; this is within the government’s target range that no more than 5 per cent of patients should spend more than four hours in A&E
- the number of patients waiting between 4 and 12 hours for admission to hospital from A&E – so-called ‘trolley waits’ – also appears to be increasing, although this is at least in part explained by the relaxation of the A&E target in June 2010
- year-on-year reductions in health care-acquired infection rates continue, with a 35 per cent drop in C difficile and a 22 per cent drop in MRSA monthly counts.
Professor John Appleby, Chief Economist at The King’s Fund said: ‘The NHS continues to perform well in the second year of the productivity challenge. But there are signs that future years will be harder. The end of the public sector pay freeze next April may add to financial pressures and increase the strain on services. The difficulty for local providers will be finding ways to absorb these costs without compromising the quality of care for patients.’
Read the September 2012 quarterly monitoring report
How is the NHS performing? is the sixth of The King’s Fund’s regular quarterly monitoring reports and is published on 27 September 2012. For further information or to request an interview with John Appleby, please contact the Press and Public Affairs team on 020 7307 2585 (if calling out of hours, please ring 07584 146 035).
The survey of finance directors aims to provide a snapshot of opinion and is not intended to be a representative sample. Of 119 finance directors invited to join the panel, 45 were available to give their views, which were collected via an online survey between 16 and 30 July 2012. The majority of the panel were from acute trusts, with others from mental health trusts, primary care clusters, ambulance trusts and community trusts.
In June 2010, the target for time spent in A&E was eased from no more than 98 per cent waiting longer than 4 hours to no more than 95 per cent.
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