08/03/2010

Hospitals 'Quality Of Care' Slammed

More than half of hospital trusts inspected last year provided the public with incorrect information on their performance and quality of care.

A Panorama investigation will reveal the news tonight in Panorama: Trust Us – We're An NHS Hospital on BBC One, at 8.30pm.

Documents obtained by the programme reveal that of those hospital trusts inspected in 2008/09, 60% had provided inaccurate information to the Government regulator.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) uses this information, on criteria such a patient safety, care environment and public health, to give the trusts a rating – which is used by patients as a guide to their local hospital.

However, the fact some hospital trusts have been wrongly assessing their own performance casts doubt on the accuracy of some of these ratings.

The news follows the high-profile failures of two hospital trusts in the past year – both of which were found to have misled the regulator.

(BMcC/GK)

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