NHS Confederation: New ‘health check’ is step forward

The new annual health check results for the NHS are a positive step forward as they take a risk-based and focus on self-assessment, according to the NHS Confederation.

While representing an improvement over the old star rating-based system, the organisation claims that because the new system is “more comprehensive”, the two methods should not be compared.

The NHS Confederation, which represents 90 per cent of NHS organisation, claims the new annual checks have been able to “uncover” problem areas in the health service.

Nigel Edwards, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, remarked: “The spread of results across different types of NHS organisations is proof that the latest round of reorganisations has adversely affected services.”

He added that people should not believe that ratings like “fair” should mean “failing”, or that “weak” means unsafe.

The previous star-ratings system was controversial as some critics accused them of being unfair and meaningless.

James Johnson, chairman of the British Medical Association, said in 2003: “Nobody should judge how well a hospital is doing by looking at star ratings.”