An independent evaluation system that will give ratings on the
Government’s progress against its pledges on health and social
care targets is to be piloted. The process will be carried out by
an expert panel established to evaluate a specific policy area,
the Health and Social Care Committee has announced.
The CQC-style process will offer independent and objective
evaluation of ministerial pledges within a system designed to
develop and enhance the Health and Social Care Committee’s core
task of holding the Government to account. The findings of the
panel are expected to feed into on-going inquiries carried out by
the Committee and be complementary to its work.
The Committee has announced that the initial pilot will examine
progress against targets in maternity services, an area where
evaluation is expected to be of particular value.
Rt Hon MP, Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee said:
“We are piloting a new CQC-style ratings system to provide an
expert independent assessment of the government’s record on key
pledges. This will mean the government is held to account by an
evaluation process similar to that used across the NHS and social
care system which gives not just an absolute score but key
pointers as to how to improve that score next time round.
“We hope it will focus attention on areas such as cancer, mental
health and patient safety where a number of vital commitments
have been made.”
ENDS
Independent process:
The select committee-led independent evaluation of progress on
Government commitments in health and social care is designed to
develop and enhance that core task of holding the Government to
account.
The panel will be chaired by Professor Dame Jane Dacre, Professor
of Medical Education at University College London and former
President of the Royal College of Physicians. She is also
President of the Medical Protection Society. Two further experts
will be recruited to the core membership, joined by up to six
additional members co-opted for their expertise in the area being
examined including service users, clinicians and policy experts
or campaigners.
With an agreed a list of commitments in the chosen topic area,
the panel will issue an open call for written submissions
specifically addressing the question of the extent to which the
chosen targets have been met.
Against each commitment selected for evaluation, the panel will
consider how well the Government has met its overall target or is
online to meet it, how well funded it was, whether the target
achieved a positive impact for patients and whether it was an
appropriate target. The Government will be invited to provide
its own evidence of achievement or progress towards the chosen
targets, with analysis and testing of the evidence at the centre
of the expert panel's work.
Ratings ‘outstanding’ to ‘inadequate’:
The panel will produce report with a rating against each chosen
target, using the scale used by the Care Quality Commission -
Outstanding/Good/Requires Improvement/Inadequate. It will also
make an overall rating of the Government's progress towards its
commitments in the chosen policy area.
A judgement of poor performance by Government against its
commitments in a particular area, such as inadequate or requires
improvement, is expected to galvanise action by the Department
and its arm's-length bodies. The panel would expect to repeat
the independent evaluation exercise in future to assess the
effectiveness of measures aimed at improvement.
A full description of standards represented by each rating can be
found in the Annex to the report.
Further information:
Committee membership:
Rt Hon MP (Chair) (Conservative, South West Surrey); (Conservative, Peterborough), (Labour, West Lancashire), Dr (Conservative, Vale of Clwyd), Dr (Conservative, Bosworth),
(Scottish National Party, Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath),
(Labour, Worsley and Eccles South), (Labour, Coventry North West), (Labour, Luton North), (Conservative, Watford),
(Conservative, Sevenoaks).
