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Some NHS trusts are still struggling to meet minimum standards on how they manage their money, even though the financial health of the NHS is generally improving.
A report by the Audit Commission found that 20 trusts in England are falling below the government’s required minimum standards, and of these, 12 have failed to meet them for three years running.
The 302 trusts reviewed for their performance included mental health trusts, ambulance trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs).
Half of the trusts performed well or strongly when it came to use of their resources, with a total of 93% meeting or exceeding minimum standards. However, only fourteen trusts (4.6%) performed strongly in this area, and ten (3.3%) failed to balance their books.
The highest-scoring trusts in England for the use of resources were those in the north west Strategic Health Authority area, while trusts in the Yorkshire and Humber Strategic Health Authority area scored the lowest.
The 20 NHS trusts with the lowest overall score in 2007/08 are as follows:
- Brent Teaching Primary Care Trust
- Enfield Primary Care Trust
- Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust
- Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust
- Buckinghamshire Primary Care Trust
- East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust
- Great Yarmouth and Waveney Primary Care Trust
- Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust
- Hounslow Primary Care Trust
- Newham University Hospital NHS Trust
- North West London Hospitals NHS Trust
- North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust
- Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust
- Queen Mary’s Sidcup NHS Trust
- Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust
- Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust
- Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Health Care NHS Trust
- Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust
- Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust
- Worcestershire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
The 14 NHS trusts achieving the top score in 2007/08 are as follows:
- Ashton, Leigh and Wigan Primary Care Trust
- Bromley Primary Care Trust
- Camden Primary Care Trust
- Haringey Teaching Primary Care Trust
- Kingston Hospital NHS Trust
- Lambeth Primary Care Trust
- Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Trust (now Norfolk and Norwich Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust)
- Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Trust
- Redbridge Primary Care Trust
- Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust
- Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Salford Primary Care Trust
- St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust
- Stockport Primary Care Trust
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