Terms of reference for the Healthcare Commission’s review of the quality of care provided by independent sector treatment centres
Following the Health Select Committee's inquiry into independent sector treatment centres (ISTCs) on April 26th 2006, the Secretary of State, Patricia Hewitt announced that the Healthcare Commission would carry out a review of the quality of care provided by ISTCs to patients in the NHS under contracts with the Department of Health. This work will be carried out and an interim report published by the end of 2006, and a final report will be published by March 2007. The terms of reference for this review are asfollows.
Quality of clinical care and clinical governance
• To review the evidence on the extent to which the quality of clinical care provided by ISTCs is in line with recognised professional and regulatory standards
• To examine the systems and procedures that ISTCs have in place to ensure the quality of the care that they provide
• To review the extent to which the quality of care in ISTCs can be compared with the NHS
The experience of patients
• To review the extent to which patients offered care from an ISTC are able to gain access to information to help them make informed choices about their care
• To review patients’ assessment of quality of clinical care and their overall experience of care provided by ISTCs
The impact and interaction of regulatory requirements and the terms of the relevant contracts
• To review the current framework for regulating ISTCs and its impact on the assessment of the quality of care provided by ISTCs
• To review the interrelationship between the regulatory system and the systems that the Department of Health and PCTs have in place for monitoring compliance with contracts
The project team will be inviting key stakeholder organisations to submit evidence to contribute to the review. Comments on these terms of reference should be sent to:
Beverley.fitzsimons@healthcarecommission.org.uk
Source: Healthcare Commission, 2006
