----- Original Message -----
From: "badri badrinath" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2004 12:41 PM
Subject: PCT star rating map & Lancet open letter
Dear Colleague,
Greetings from the University town of Cambridge.
A researcher at the University of Bath has produced a web based interactive
maps of Primary Care Trust Star ratings for 2003 & 2004. You can click on
any of the PCT and the details of Star rating will pop up. There is also a
search function to find the PCT you want. You can access the
interactive map at this URL. http://healthcybermap.org/PCT/ratings/
For those of you who are technically inclined the research paper is
available from the International journal of health geography @
http://www.ij-healthgeographics.com/content/pdf/1476-072x-3-16.pdf
On a related note Lancet is not obviously happy with the Star rating
process. Last week's the Lancet published an open letter (hard hitting I
think) to the Health Care Commission.
Horton R. Why is Ian Kennedy's Healthcare Commission damaging NHS care?
Lancet 2004, Volume 364, 31 July 2004
To quote the letter " ...., your commission is publishing evaluations that
are obscure, unrepresentative, unreproducible, unaccountable,
anti-scientific, misinformed, tendentious, and unjustified. In a word, they
are untrustworthy".
For those from outside the UK not familiar with star ratings this is a way
of rating the performance of NHS organisations and according to the
Healthcare Commission which undertakes this task is one of the ways in which
health service is held to account, on behalf of the public and Parliament,
for the way money is spent and resources are managed.
http://www.healthcarecommission.org.uk/Homepage/fs/en
Warm regards & very best wishes,
Badri
Dr.P.Badrinath MD, BS, M.Phil, MPH, PhD (Cantab), MFPH
Specialist Registrar in Public Health & Recognised Clinical Teacher,
Southend-on-Sea PCT & University of Cambridge, UK
http://myprofile.cos.com/badrishanthi
_________________________________________________________________
It's fast, it's easy and it's free. Get MSN Messenger today!
http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger
|