Press Release - Inappropriate adjustments to NHS waiting
lists
19 December 2001
The National Audit Office has published the results of its
examination into the inappropriate adjustment of waiting lists at a
number of NHS trusts.
In July of this year the NAO published its report Inpatient
and outpatient waiting in the NHS looking at the accuracy and
management of NHS waiting lists. In that report it listed six NHS
trusts where waiting lists had been inappropriately adjusted and
promised further work on them. Today’s report sets out the results
of that examination which takes account of a further three trusts
where inappropriate adjustments have come to light.
A number of recommendations are made by the NAO in the light of
these findings.
The Department of Health should seek assurances from the Chief
Executive of each NHS trust that there have been no inappropriate
adjustments to waiting lists. They should investigate in more
detail those trusts where more than 10 per cent of patients are
suspended and which have more than 2 per cent of patients waiting
more than twelve months for treatment. There are some 13 trusts
which currently meet both these criteria.
The Department of Health should issue clear guidance on the
actions and procedures to be followed by trusts, including
disciplinary action, where waiting list or other irregularities are
discovered.
As part of the guidance the Department of Health should take
steps to ensure that trusts carry out effective enquiries into
alleged irregularities, sufficient to ensure that they can be used
as a basis for determining whether to take disciplinary action
against individuals concerned. The enquiry team should be
independent, external and sufficiently resourced to enable a
thorough review to be undertaken within a reasonable timeframe.
The Department of Health should re-issue and strengthen
instructions to ensure that trusts do not use confidentiality
clauses in compromise agreements; and that such agreements include
provision for clawback of compensation in the event of
re-employment within the NHS.
The Department of Health should remind NHS bodies of the need to
provide each other with a full knowledge of the employment history
of staff seeking employment.
Notes for Editors
The nine NHS trusts where inappropriate adjustments have come to
light are: Barts and the London; Guy’s and St Thomas’; Plymouth
General; Redbridge Health Care; Salford Royal; South Warwickshire
General; Stoke Mandeville; Surrey and Sussex Healthcare; and
University College London.
Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website at http://www.nao.org.uk/ Hard copies can
be obtained from The Stationery Office on 0845 702 3474.
The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the head
of the National Audit Office employing some 750 staff. He and the
NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 60/01
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