TREATMENT-CENTRE LEAGUE TABLES
Action plan by ‘healthcare watchdog’ will start 4 February
“They are not league tables,” insists Peter Burkinshaw (pictured above with Marilyn Major of the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse), when discussing joint reviews by the Healthcare Commission and the NTA of alcohol- and drug-treatment providers, in order to identify and promote improvements where needed. The results are not due until autumn – but already providers are describing them as league tables.
“If I came top, I’d be boasting about it,” said the chief executive of one treatment centre, as others nodded in agreement.
The assessments cover only treatment providers contracted by the statutory sector. But when the results and points system on which each is scored are made public late this year, providers which have been omitted can score their own organisations for comparison. If a low score, they can improve their services – if a high one, it is a strong selling point to attract potential patients, in both the private and public sectors.
ASSESSMENT STAGE
Drug/alcohol Action Team partnership and provider leads have four weeks, from Monday 3 to Friday 28 March 2008, to complete online web-based forms. These forms might take only 15 minutes – but it will require more time for the partnerships and providers to compile an evidence portfolio to support their data submission.
Data will then be checked – if there are consistent errors, for example, perhaps a question was misunderstood. This will be followed by ‘spot checking’ where the inspectors will visit some treatment centres. Then provisional assessment results will be released.
WHO, WHAT DATA, WHEN...
Before that, local drug partnerships will nominate Tier 2 and 3 service providers (click here for explanation of Tiers) for diversity and Tier 4 service providers – namely inpatient and residential rehabilitation – for their Tier 4 offering. Partnerships and nominated providers (those under contract) will get an individual code and links to web-based questionnaires. The nominations should be submitted between Monday 4 to Friday 15 February.
The release of anonymised results is scheduled for September 2008 latest.
Ratification: October 2008 latest.
Plan improvement: September-December 2008.
RELATED INFORMATION:
Healthcare Commission service review home page
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