Derbyshire livid over its fallen star

Two mental health trusts and six primary care trusts have
complained about the star ratings they were recently awarded by the
Healthcare Commission.

They include Derbyshire Mental Health Trust, which is unhappy about
its fall in the ratings from a two-star trust to a one-star.

“Our overall score has been adversely affected by inadequate
information systems, which we acknowledge and already have an
action plan to address,” said Mike Shewan, chief executive of
Derbyshire Mental Health Services.

The trust met five of the seven key targets but failed to reach the
required standards for the assertive outreach service and the
mental health minimum data set, he said.

A commission spokesperson told Community Care that all
mental health trusts needed to be better at providing information
and collecting data (news, page 7, 22 July).

“Mental health trusts are not under as much scrutiny as [better
performing] acute trusts, which have become used to clinical and
corporate governance,” he said

As Community Care went to press, six primary care trusts,
four acute trusts and two mental health trusts had challenged their
new star ratings. The closing date for trusts to appeal was this
week.