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NHS healthcare 'failing in several regions'
November 26, 2010
Healthcare standards differ widely between English regions, it has been discovered.
The new NHS Atlas of Variation has revealed several primary care trusts are failing in the provision of different areas of healthcare.
According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, the newly-published map - which shows the differences in performance between trusts - has unveiled a "postcode lottery" in terms of healthcare provision.
There was found to be a 38-fold difference in rates of obesity surgery between the best and worst-performing areas and a 14-fold gap when it came to spending on broken hip treatments.
Professor Chris Ham, chief executive of thinktank The King's Fund, said the statistics show up the differences between service quality in the NHS.
"With the NHS needing to find £20 billion a year in productivity improvements, reducing unwarranted variation is no longer an option - it is a necessity," he stated.
According to a recent report from his organisation, services within the NHS should be more integrated to improve the standards of healthcare received by patients.
Published by Barry Cox
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