Many NHS trusts need to tackle a range of financial, quality and governance issues if they are to meet the standards required of them to become self-governing foundation trusts by 2014. The Department of Health and the NHS will now have to decide how they will deal with those facing the most severe problems.
Hospital productivity has fallen over the last ten years. There have been significant increases in funding and hospitals have used this to deliver against national priorities, but they need to provide more leadership, management and clinical engagement to optimise the use of additional resources and deliver value for money.
The report finds variations in health outcomes across the four nations, and will help health departments examine how better value for money could be achieved.
In December 2015 a five year contract, worth around £800 million between UnitingCare Partnership and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough clinical commissioning group collapsed after only 8 months because it ran into financial difficulties. NAO examined the design, procurement and operation of the contract and the events that led to its termination.
The financial performance of acute hospital trusts has deteriorated sharply and their financial performance looks set to worsen in 2015-16.
The Department of Health & Social Care’s role in overseeing the adult social care workforce.
A factual briefing on alcohol treatment services in England, informed by discussions with the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, and the Association of Directors of Public Health.
The New Hospital Programme (NHP) has experienced delays and is expected to deliver 32 of the intended target of 40 new hospitals by 2030.
High profile incidents remind individuals and organisations just how important it is to manage potential conflicts of interest. In March 2017, the Court of the Bank of England commissioned a review of the institution’s approach to managing conflicts of interest. The review was prompted by the resignation of Charlotte Hogg who had been Deputy Governor […]
This is our second report on backlogs for elective and cancer care. It examines the design of NHSE’s recovery plan, how the NHS has been implementing the plan and the ongoing risks NHSE has to manage.
The NAO’s report highlights that England’s special educational needs system is not delivering better outcomes for children and young people.
NHS hospitals often pay more than they need to when buying basic supplies. A combination of inadequate information and fragmented purchasing means that NHS hospitals’ procurement of consumables is poor value for money.
Value for money is not being achieved across all trusts in the planning, procurement and use of high value equipment. There are significant variations across England in levels of activity and a lack of comparable information about performance and cost of machine use.
In March 2021, the C&AG submitted evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee inquiry into the Department of Health & Social Care’s White Paper, ‘Integration and Innovation: working together to improve health and social care’. This drew on the National Audit Office’s past body of work to highlight the main risks and opportunities the White Paper presents, both in terms of effective implementation of the proposed reforms and in terms of making progress towards overarching health and social care policy aims.
Patient satisfaction with access to general practice remains high but is declining. Better data is needed so that decisions about general practice are well-informed.
This briefing responds to a request from the Environmental Audit Committee to review sustainability within the Department for Transport.
This report looks at backlogs and waiting times for elective and cancer care in the NHS in England.
The rate at which electronic care records systems are being put in place across the NHS under the National Programme for IT is falling far below expectations and the core aim that every patient should have an electronic care record under the Programme will not now be achieved.
This impacts case study shows how our frequent highlighting of the need for consistent and reliable data and clearer accountability has improved reporting and data assurance in the health system.
It is one example of financial or non-financial benefits realised in 2014 as a result of our involvement, all of which are set out in our interactive PDF.
Our interactive data visualisation gives you a greater insight into the challenges faced by local authorities.