Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today that trustee bodies administering charitable funds associated with the NHS have made substantial progress in adopting high standards of corporate governance and have adequate controls in place to ensure that business is properly conducted. Sir John concludes that the current arrangements for supervision […]
The new contract for general practice has contributed to improved recruitment and retention of GPs, with numbers increasing from 26,833 to 30,931 since 2003. However, according to a report out today by the National Audit Office, the contract has cost the Department £1.76 billion more than it originally budgeted for. Today’s report found that, in […]
This report reviews developments in the sector and examines whether the Department, along with other departments with responsibility for local services, understands the impact of funding reductions on the financial and service sustainability of local authorities.
Head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn today reported to Parliament on how well prepared the NHS is to respond to disasters. The NAO started this study before September 11 2001 and since then updated its work to take into account progress made by the NHS in this area during the subsequent period […]
This investigation sets out the system for providing vaccinations to pre-school children in England and the levels of uptake.
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, today reported to Parliament on the worsening financial performance of the NHS in Wales and the rising cost of clinical negligence claims. On the financial performance of the NHS in Wales: the underlying cumulative deficit of the NHS in Wales rose by £21.8 million in 1998-99 […]
Head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn today reported to Parliament on the propriety of the Department of Health’s award of a contract to PowderJect Pharmaceuticals to supply smallpox vaccine. The report also covers the procedures followed by the Department in purchasing emergency supplies of smallpox and anthrax vaccine; and the Department’s general […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that hospital acquired infections can have serious consequences for patients, may be costing the NHS in the region of £1,000 million a year but could be reduced by around 15 per cent across the NHS. The report is a comprehensive analysis of […]
The Drug Treatment and Testing Order can be a successful community sentence for some drug misusing offenders who would otherwise have been considered for a prison sentence, according to a report to Parliament today by the National Audit Office. However, only 28 per cent of Orders terminated in 2003 were completed in full or were […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today that the prevalence of obesity in England had tripled over the last 20 years and continues to rise. Most adults in England are now overweight, and one in five is obese. Producing the first authoritative estimates of the costs and consequences of obesity […]
This report outlines how the public service pensions landscape has changed since the Hutton Review and highlights future challenges.
Head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn has given an unqualified opinion on each of the 20 NHS summarised accounts, prepared by the Secretary of State for Health from the accounts for individual health organisations. Today’s report from the NAO draws attention to a number of issues, including overall financial performance, fraud in […]
This report examines government’s progress in securing potential vaccines and determining how they will be deployed to the public.
This investigation builds on our previous work on NHS Property Services Limited and examines the progress the Service has made.
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that many NHS hospitals have made important improvements in the way they admit and discharge patients, and manage their bed stock. But there are significant variations in performance, and some trusts could do more to reduce the number of cancelled operations and […]
In a report to Parliament today, head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn gave the results of his annual examination of the 19 summarised accounts which cover the financial activities of the NHS in England. Sir John’s opinion on each of the 19 summarised accounts was unqualified. The report drew attention, however, to […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that NHS Acute Trusts in England held medical equipment with an estimated replacement value of some £3 billion. In 1996-97 they spent some £220 million on acquiring medical equipment annually and a further £120 million on maintenance. Figures for 1997-98 are similar. Medical […]
The enormous human and financial costs of clinical negligence are highlighted today in a National Audit Office report. The estimated net present value of claims outstanding against the NHS alleging clinical negligence has risen to £2.6 billion, plus an estimated liability of a further £1.3 billion where negligent episodes are likely to have occurred, but […]
Delivering the National Programme for IT in the NHS is proving to be an enormous challenge. All elements of the Programme are advancing and some are complete, but the original timescales for the electronic Care Records Service, one of the central elements of the Programme, turned out to be unachievable, raised unrealistic expectations and put […]