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We are committed to ensuring that by 2013 local people will:

• have improved lifestyles and wellbeing

• live longer and experience reduced health gaps

• experience safe and integrated services

• have access to the latest and most effective prevention and health treatments

• receive personalised and caring services

Our performance is monitored through a number of measures, namely, Standards for Better Health, World Class Commissioning, Assurance Framework, Core Standards and Vital Signs.

Each year the Care Quality Commission, the NHS watchdog, assesses all NHS trusts’ performance. This is known as the Annual Health Check. It looks at both the quality of its healthcare services, and how effectively it manages its financial resources.

For the financial year 2008/09 NHS Hounslow rated

• "fair" under Quality of Service
• "fair" under Use of Resources

The scale used is weak, fair, good or excellent.

Read more details of our performance here.

Auditors, in making their judgements on primary care trusts' (PCTs') use of resources, follow a series of key lines of enquiry (KLOEs) which are common across all audited bodies. To support the assessment, they consider a number of questions and sources of evidence to answer those questions, including the following:

• How are you spending the money? - Programme budgets
• What's the money achieving? - Output/outcome proxies
• How efficient is your own service provision? - Reference cost index

In each case, auditors need to assess whether PCTs are aware of this kind of information; whether they have already examined it; and whether they are using it to achieve the best possible use of resources. To assist auditors and PCTs in discussions about their use of resources the Audit Commission have produced a use of resources profile for each PCT. All the material we have selected is included in the Department of Health's World Class Commissioning data pack, except for the reference costs which are a standard way of measuring relative efficiency.

More

Vital Signs measures our performance against national priorities and existing commitments, set by the Department of Health and helps us to make local choices and set local priorities. These targets are outlined in detail within the NHS Operating Framework and are included in Hounslow’s Operating Plan and Commissioning Strategy Plan.

There are three tiers of indicators within Vital Signs:

• Tier 1: national targets and standards incorporating hospital acquired infections (HCAIs), 18 weeks and cancer waiting times

• Tier 2: national priorities for local delivery which include childhood obesity, smoking cessation and other public health initiatives focussed on reducing health inequalities

• Tier 3: local priorities. This element allows NHS Hounslow, in conjunction with London Borough Hounslow, West London Mental Health Trust (WLMHT) and other local service providers, to agree which indicators they choose to drive service improvement.  Focus is given to hard to reach areas of the borough where services will make the greatest difference to Hounslow’s population. Inherent in this shared agenda is an emphasis on learning disabilities, patient/public satisfaction and social care

Click here to see how we've performed in the Vital Signs indicators in 2008/09. This includes:

• a summary of NHS Hounslow’s final position for all Vital Signs indicators in 2008/09
• highlights of plans and activities taking place during 2009/10
• an outline of the priorities and service developments for 2009/10 and 2010/11