NHS performance is holding up well, but national statistics mask significant pressures in some local areas, according to a recent report on NHS performance published by The King’s Fund.
The report found that although average waiting times remain within target range, 1 in 4 hospitals failed to meet the target threshold for treating at least 90% of patients within 18 weeks of referral in August. In addition, some 10% of providers are breaching the target threshold that 95% of patients should not have to wait longer than four hours in A&E – nationally, only 3% of patients waited longer than four hours in the first quarter of 2011/12. The King’s Fund further reported that, while levels of hospitalacquired infections have reached a new low, 45 hospital Trusts reported higher levels of C. difficile infections than the same period last year.
