Lansley: Report shows that NHS still faces significant difficulties - under embargo

Embargoed until 00:01, 18 October 2007

The Healthcare Commission will tomorrow announce its NHS performance ratings for 2006 / 2007.

A quarter of all Trusts are not complying with at least one of the three core standards on infection control, the report concludes. In addition, Trusts are not making progress on the reduction of MRSA and the ratings do not even measure rates of C-difficile.

Primary Care Trusts remain overwhelmingly the weakest part of the system with fewer than 20 per cent regarded as good or excellent. Strikingly, reorganised PCTs have done worse than other PCTs on quality of service which shows that constant reorganisation gets in the way of progress.

Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said:

“Many NHS professionals work hard to meet standards and there have been notable improvements like the reduction of cancelled operations.

“But despite extra funding the NHS still faces significant difficulties such as the failure to reduce MRSA.  Patients should be rightly concerned that the report doesn't even measure C-difficile rates.â€