This Departmental Overview is one of 15 we are producing covering our work on each major government department. It summarises our work on the Department of Health during 2011-12.
Government has delayed plans to cap lifetime social care costs and scaled back plans for reforming the system it set out in December 2021.
The Trust board’s poor financial management and procurement of an unaffordable PFI scheme have left the Trust in a critical financial position.
Review of a sample of the data systems underpinning the input and impact indicators in the Department of Health’s Business Plan, Common Areas of Spend and wider management information.
The 2003 contract for hospital consultants delivered many expected benefits, but there is room for improvement in how trusts manage their consultants.
This report reviews how well patients flow through A&E into the wider hospital in England and at the support NHSE provides to trusts.
The NHS made a substantial amount of efficiency savings in 2011-12. These will need to be sustained and built on if savings targets are to be met.
Given the prevalence of government-funded inquiries, the frequency with which the government uses them following high-profile failures, their importance in relation to the public’s trust of authorities, and the public funds spent on them, the NAO has conducted an investigation into the 26 inquiries that have started and concluded since 2005.
The Annual Report and Accounts shares details of our work and performance.
Mistakes in the original procurement and contract management of an IT system, designed to extract data from GP practices, contributed to losses of public funds, through asset write-offs and settlements with suppliers.
A report from the NAO examines the financial resilience of the adult hospice sector in England, focusing on the financial state of the sector
The report finds variations in health outcomes across the four nations, and will help health departments examine how better value for money could be achieved.
The NAO sets out eight lessons for stronger workforce planning, including identifying future skills needs and addressing staffing shortfalls early
There is wide variation in the extent to which £79 billion in central funding allocated to local health bodies differs from target allocations that are based on relative need.
• This is NAO’s first report on funding since the 2013 health reforms took effect. Where possible comparisons have been made with funding under the previous system set out in a 2011 NAO report.
Benefits are expected to exceed costs slightly over the life of the systems, but there is uncertainty around whether the benefits will be realised
The NHS delivered a £2.1bn surplus in 2011-12 but there is some financial distress in NHS trusts with some very large deficits.
Diabetes care in the NHS is poor, with low achievement of treatment standards, high numbers of avoidable deaths and annual spending reaching an estimated £3.9 billion.
The horsemeat incident in January 2013 exposed weaknesses in control in the food supply chain.
The Care Quality Commission had a difficult task in establishing itself and has not so far achieved value for money in regulating the quality and safety of health and adult social care in England.
The Department of Health has until recently been focusing on speed of response as a measure of performance of the ambulance service, rather than on clinical outcomes. The service achieves high levels of public satisfaction but there are wide variations in ambulance trusts’ efficiency. The system has not delivered the best value for money to date.