Capability of PCTs and acute trusts

The HSJ reports the health select committee opinion that "Primary care trusts are incapable of implementing the next stage review due to "striking and depressing" management weaknesses."

Whilst this was a broad and sweeping statement, few would argue that PCTs (and indeed acute trusts) face a rapidly changing and highly demanding set of expectations, requiring skills and experiences that are in short supply in both the public and private sectors. When one considers the challenge of improving patient experience (not just measuring it) across the whole of the NHS, then it is likely that similar challenges will be faced. Delivering a better experience to our patients requires a thorough understanding of the issues that exist and what matters most to patients; continuous, accurate, granular, real-time data of local experience; and a carefully designed improvement programme to act on this data. A challenge for even the best organisations!