30/09/05 - Healthcare Commission online support for Trust declarations

By October 31st 2005, all NHS trusts in England will have to submit their draft declaration on how well they are meeting the Government’s 24 core standards as detailed in the Department of Health publication 'Standards for Better Health' which represent a level of service that all patients and users should be able to expect from the NHS . This is part of the annual health check, a yearly assessment regime which has replaced the star ratings scheme.
To help NHS trusts with this process, the Healthcare Commission has launched an online set of documentation, tools and information which enable a trust to submit its draft declaration over the internet. Trusts will be able to submit a full draft declaration to the Commission as soon as they are ready. Once the draft declarations have been submitted, the Commission will begin its initial process of cross checking against other sources of information.  Trusts will then be informed of likely areas of risk where core standards do not appear to have been met.