Performance

NHS South of England has a number of measures in place so we can check that we are providing a good quality service, and, if we are not, we can see where we need to take action. Below is a grid with some of the key measures and how we are doing against them.

Measure	Period	Expected standard	Central	East	West	South of England	England
Accident and Emergency waiting times	From 2 April 2012 to 6 May 2012	95%	95.1%	95.5%	96.8%	95.9%	96.4%
Emergency ambulance response times	From April 2011 to March 2012	75%	76.1%	76.8%	75.9%	76.3%	76.0%
Referral to Treatment Time for people who need to be admitted to hospital for treatment	February 2012	90%	91.5%	90.7%	93.0%	91.9%	91.2%
Referral to Treatment Time for people who can be treated as an out patient	February 2012	95%	96.9%	94.2%	97.7%	96.1%	97.1%
Suspected cancer – referred and seen within 2 weeks	March 2012	93%	97.5%	96.1%	95.9%	96.4%	96.2%
Breast symptoms (where cancer is not initially suspected) – referred and seen within 2 weeks	March 2012	93%	97.7%	94.8%	97.7%	96.7%	96.2%
Blood clot risk assessment	February 2012	90%	90.0%	92.5%	92.0%	91.6%	92.5%
MRSA infections in hospitals	From April 2011 to March 2012	As planned	-21.8%	-7.4%	-17.8.0%	-15.0%
C Diff infections in hospitals	From April 2011 to March 2012	As planned	10.9%	-4.0%	24.7%	11.9%
Mixed sex accommodation breaches	March 2012	0	29	102	34	165	456

What is being measured?

Accident and Emergency (A&E) – % of patients who spent less than four hours in a hospital A&E department when they visited. This shows how we are doing so far this quarter.

Emergency Ambulance response times – % of emergency calls where the ambulance service arrives at the scene within 8 minutes of the call being connected to the control room. This is measured monthly.

Referral to Treatment – the NHS Constitution says no one should wait longer than 18 weeks from referral by a health professional (e.g. a GP or a dentist) to initial treatment. This measures the number of patients who need to be admitted to hospital who are referred to treatment within 18 weeks, and the number of patients who do not need to be admitted to hospital (e.g. they can be seen at an out-patients clinic) who are referred for treatment within 18 weeks. This is measured monthly.

Suspected cancer – patients with potential cancer symptoms should not wait any longer than two weeks from referral by a health professional (such as a GP) to initial treatment. This measures the % of patients with cancer who are referred and seen within 2 weeks. This is measured monthly.

Breast symptoms (where cancer is not initially suspected) – patients with breast symptoms should not wait any longer than two weeks from referral by a health professional (such as a GP) to initial treatment. This measures the % of patients with breast symptoms who are referred and seen within 2 weeks. This is measured monthly.

Blood clot risk assessment – the NHS wants to reduce the number of patients who develop blood clots while in hospital. This measures, on a monthly basis, the % of hospital in-patients assessed for risk of blood clots.

MRSA (Meticillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) infections – each NHS Trust has a plan to eliminate MRSA infections in local hospitals over time. A lower % indicates that the Trust is doing better than set out in its plan, and a higher % indicates that it is doing worse than planned. The percentage shows how we are doing so far this year.

C Diff (Clostridium Difficile) infections – this is measured in the same way as described above for MRSA.

Mixed sex accommodation breaches – men and women should be accommodated in single sex wards and most of our hospitals are able to do this most of the time. However, occasionally situations do arise where patients are accommodated on mixed sex wards, for example, where there is increased demand in intensive care units. This measures, on a monthly basis, the number of patients that have had to be accommodated in a mixed sex ward.