New league tables of limited use to patients

Responding to the introduction of quarterly rankings for all NHS trusts in England, Nuffield Trust Chief Executive Thea Stein said:

"With just one in five people satisfied with the NHS, it is understandable that the government are focused on winning back public faith in the health service. Today’s announcement is a major part of this strategy.

“But, while it’s really important that patients have access to high quality information about NHS performance, there are shortcomings in this league tables approach. The calculations only cover certain things, and can’t include many clinical outcomes, such as cancer survival rates. There’s a risk that trusts will focus only on the measures that immediately boost their ranking, even if that’s not necessarily what’s best for patients. As finances have a particular sway on the rankings, this is of limited use for patients trying to choose the best hospital for their care.

“The scheme also risks discouraging people from getting treatment from poorly performing trusts, or staff from working for them. This is a particular concern for small or remotely situated trusts whose ranking may be down to things outside their control, like the quality of their buildings or difficulty in attracting and retaining staff. The league tables approach cannot come at the expense of addressing long-term systemic issues like these.”