CQC updates trust risk ratings

The Care Quality Commission has published its latest Intelligent Monitoring risk ratings and reports for acute and specialist trusts in England.

The analysis is based on more than 150 indicators including indicators from the NHS staff survey, the national inpatient survey, emergency readmissions and concerns raised by staff in trusts. The reports help the organisation decide where to prioritise its hospital inspections.

The CQC published the first results of its intelligent monitoring in October last year, with every trust banded from 1-6, with one being the most high risk. Each trust also has an individual analysis report.

Since that time, the commission says it has worked with hospitals and other partners to improve the way the information is calculated and presented.

The latest refresh includes: information from the national maternity survey and the Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit; updated results from the NHS staff survey published in February; the inclusion of only ‘current’ cases on the whistleblowing indicator; and changes to the indicators used from the Sentinel Stroke National Audit.

A statement from the CQC says it has found a link between its intelligent monitoring data and its inspection findings.

Chief inspector of hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, said that in the first 18 inspections, the hospitals in the highest risk band one tended to deliver poorer care for patients.

“This shows how our Intelligent Monitoring tool is a good indicator of where problems are likely to be. However, this has not been universal. We must be mindful that indicators are just that, indicators, and are not judgements of quality,” he said.

CQC will inspect all NHS hospitals by December 2015. It is also introducing ‘Ofsted-style’ ratings with all trusts due to be given one of five ratings, from ‘inadequate’ to ‘outstanding’. Three volunteer trusts have been rated so far and another 20 are due to be rated by this autumn.

Read more about the CQC’s Intelligent Monitoring tool and hear from the organisations’ director of intelligence Emma Rourke in Insight.