Dr Foster Intelligence

Last updated

Dr Foster Intelligence is a provider of healthcare information in the United Kingdom, monitoring the performance of the National Health Service and providing information to the public. [1] It was launched in February 2006 and is owned by Telstra. Dr Foster aims to improve the quality and efficiency of health and social care. It monitors the performance of the National Health Service and provides information to the public. [2] In 2010, the Dr Foster 2010 Hospital Guide was launched in The Observer newspaper [3] and on the BBC. [4]

Contents

History

Formation

In 2006, the UK Department of Health (DoH) paid £12m for a stake in Dr Foster Intelligence, a new joint venture with Dr Foster LLP. The following year, a House of Commons committee raised serious concerns about the legality of the acquisition, describing it as a "hole and corner deal". [5] [6]

The main people at the time were Tim Kelsey (Chair) and Jake Arnold-Forster (CEO). A 'gag deal' was negotiated in connection with whistle-blower Denise Lievesley's departure from the NHS Information Centre. [7]

According to The Guardian , Lievesley "protested ... when a contract ... was awarded to Dr Foster without (in her view) proper procurement procedures. She was eased out of her job, with a gagging clause preventing her from telling her side of the story." [8]

Criticism of Dr Foster acquisition

In February 2007, the UK's National Audit Office published a report raising serious concerns about the joint venture. The National Audit Office was prompted to investigate by "a letter from an anonymous whistleblower who expressed concern about the legality of the joint venture". [9] The report concluded that the DoH failed to go through proper procedures and could not show value for money from the acquisition. [10]

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee also released a highly critical report on the deal in June 2007. The Committee noted concerns that Dr Foster’s operation had been valued at between £10m and £15m, yet the DoH paid £12m for a 50% share of the joint venture company, Dr Foster Intelligence. [11]

Committee chair Edward Leigh was reported as saying: "By pursuing its back room deal with Dr Foster LLP, the Department of Health failed in its duty to be open to Parliament and the taxpayer." He added that Treasury guidance on joint ventures between public and private sectors was ignored – instead the deal was "handed to Dr Foster on a plate". [12]

Sale to Telstra

In March 2015, Dr Foster Intelligence was sold to Australian communications company Telstra Corporation for between £10m and £20m. [13]

Dr Foster Hospital Guide

In January 2001, Dr Foster published its first Hospital Guide in the Sunday Times ; it included mortality data using the Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio (HSMR) for every hospital. This was the first time that such a comparative measure of quality had been published for a national health economy anywhere in the world and it revealed widespread variation in adjusted death rates between English hospitals.

The methodology was developed by Brian Jarman, director of the Dr Foster Unit at Imperial College, London. [14] It prompted widespread media interest [15] and stimulated a national debate over quality in healthcare.

The Dr Foster Hospital Guide is now published on an annual basis, and remains an important independent publication on quality in NHS hospitals. Its latest edition was published in November 2012 and it identified a number of underperforming hospitals in England and a higher risk of avoidable mortality at the weekends. [16]

Dr Foster Unit at Imperial College London

The Dr Foster Unit at Imperial College London was established in 2000 within the Division of Epidemiology, Public Health and Primary Care, part of the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London. The unit is funded through a grant from Dr Foster Intelligence and also receives funding from the Centre for Patient Safety and Service Quality (CPSSQ) and Centre for Infection Prevention and Management. [17]

The Unit is now in its tenth year and is headed by Professor Sir Brian Jarman, [18] Emeritus Professor of Primary Care, with Professor Paul Aylin, [19] Professor in Epidemiology and consultant in Public Health, as Assistant Director.

Code of conduct

Dr Foster works to a code of conduct that prohibits political bias. This is monitored by an independent ethics committee [20] chaired by Professor Alan Maynard from The University of York. In the event of a complaint, the committee reviews the work and adjudicates as to whether this should be upheld. The Ethics Committee also acts as a forum for people to come together to learn about health policy developments. Over the last few years it has hosted speakers including Andrew Lansley, the Secretary of State for Health and Sir Bruce Keogh, the NHS Medical Director, as well as running a series of debates and dinners that explore relevant health topics. [21]

Related Research Articles

The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 1992 by Prime Minister John Major, and expanded considerably by the Blair government, PFI is part of the wider programme of privatisation and macroeconomic public policy, and presented as a means for increasing accountability and efficiency for public spending.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital</span> Hospital in Norfolk, England

The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) is a large National Health Service (NHS) academic teaching hospital in the Norwich Research Park on the western outskirts of Norwich, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust</span> NHS hospital trust

The University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust provides adult district general hospital services for Birmingham as well as specialist treatments for the West Midlands.

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is an NHS trust based in London, England. It is one of the largest NHS trusts in England and together with Imperial College London forms an academic health science centre.

St Andrew's Healthcare is a large independent charity based at St Andrew's Hospital in Northampton, which provides psychiatric services. It also has sites in Essex, Birmingham and Nottinghamshire. It runs specialist services for adolescents, men, women and older people with mental illness, learning disability, brain injury, autism and dementia and hosts the National Brain Injury Centre. It is a psychiatric hospital and service provider that caters for individuals requiring inpatient care and rehabilitation, and step-down housing.

Karol Sikora is a British physician specialising in oncology, who has been described as a leading world authority on cancer. He was a founder and medical director of Rutherford Health, a company that provided proton therapy services, and is Director of Medical Oncology at the Bahamas Cancer Centre.

Dame Margaret Elizabeth Turner-Warwick was a British medical doctor and thoracic specialist. She was the first woman president of the Royal College of Physicians (1989–1992) and, later, chairman of the Royal Devon and Exeter Health Care NHS Trust (1992–1995).

Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was a British public sector healthcare provider responsible for managing the Aintree University Hospital in Fazakerley, Liverpool, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Kelsey</span>

Tim Kelsey is an English-Australian business executive. He is CEO of Beamtree,, an Australian healthcare company (ASX:BMT) based in Sydney, Australia. He started in the role in December 2020.

John Eric Deanfield is a British professor of cardiology and past Olympic fencer.

The Bristol heart scandal occurred in England during the 1990s. At the Bristol Royal Infirmary, babies died at high rates after cardiac surgery. An inquiry found "staff shortages, a lack of leadership, [a] ... unit ... 'simply not up to the task' ... 'an old boy's culture' among doctors, a lax approach to safety, secrecy about doctors' performance and a lack of monitoring by management". The scandal resulted in cardiac surgeons leading efforts to publish more data on the performance of doctors and hospitals.

Circle Health Group is a private healthcare provider in the United Kingdom, and is the country's biggest private hospital provider. The company was founded in 2004 and rebranded as Circle Health Group in 2019 after acquiring a rival, BMI Healthcare; in the same year it began an expansion in China. In 2023 the company was acquired by an Abu Dhabi-based holding company called PureHealth.

Sir Brian Jarman is a retired English physician and academic. He was professor of primary health care from 1983 to 1998 at Imperial College School of Medicine and president of the British Medical Association from 2003 to 2004.

West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust runs three National Health Services hospitals: Watford General Hospital, St Albans City Hospital and Hemel Hempstead Hospital, in Hertfordshire, England. It provides "acute healthcare services to a core catchment population of approximately half a million people living in west Hertfordshire and the surrounding area". The Trust also "serves people living in North London, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and East Hertfordshire".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Christie</span> Hospital in Manchester, England

The Christie, formerly known as Christie Hospital and The Christie Hospital and Holt Radium Institute, is a specialist National Health Service oncology hospital in Manchester, England. It is one of the largest cancer treatment centres in Europe. It is managed by The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, which as of 2024 had a turnover of £472 million and around 3,500 staff, and its work is also supported by The Christie Charity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital</span> Hospital in England

The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH) in Gobowen, near Oswestry, Shropshire, England is a specialist orthopaedic hospital which provides elective orthopaedic surgery. It is managed by the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Wendy Sheila Atkin was Professor of Gastrointestinal Epidemiology at Imperial College London.

The New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) is an advisory body that advises the United Kingdom Government's Chief Medical Advisor / Chief Medical Officer for England, who in turn advises the UK Department of Health and Social Care and relevant ministers regarding threats from viral respiratory tract infections. The body replaced the UK Scientific Pandemic Influenza Advisory Committee (SPI) as part of a move to expand the scope to cover the threat of other respiratory viruses, besides pandemic influenza. The inaugural meeting was held on 19 December 2014 where the terms of reference were agreed. The group has been advising the Department of Health for some years and minutes of meetings are now regularly published, backdated to 2014. As of 2020, the group has been advising specifically on the COVID-19 pandemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Powis</span> National medical director for NHS England

Sir Stephen Huw Powis is a renal medicine consultant and has been the National Medical Director of NHS England since 2018. Previously he was the chief medical officer at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. He is also a professor at University College London.

Azeem Majeed is a Professor and Head of the Department of Primary Care & Public Health at Imperial College, London, as well as a general practitioner in South London and a consultant in public health. In the most recent UK University Research Excellence Framework results, Imperial College London was the highest ranked university in the UK for the quality of research in the “Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care” unit of assessment.

References

  1. ↑ "My Hospital Guide 2013: Essential Reading for Smart Spending". Drfosterhealth.co.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  2. ↑ "Dr Foster Health Website".
  3. ↑ Campbell, Denis; Asthana, Anushka (27 November 2010). "Exposed: the hospitals whose high death rates are failing the NHS". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 12 August 2017– via The Guardian.
  4. ↑ "NHS death rates better - but some trusts still too high". Bbc.co.uk. 28 November 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  5. ↑ Dobson, R (2007). "UK health department criticised for secret deal". BMJ: British Medical Journal. 334 (7588): 281. doi:10.1136/bmj.39119.496852.db. PMC   1796708 .
  6. ↑ "NAO kicks DoH for Dr Foster move • The Register". Theregister.co.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  7. ↑ Peel, Michael; Correspondent, Legal (8 February 2008). "Gag deal upheld on NHS venture". Ft.com. Retrieved 12 August 2017– via Financial Times.{{cite web}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  8. ↑ "The mysterious Dr Foster". Independent.co.uk. 1 December 2009. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  9. ↑ "Dr Foster Intelligence: A joint venture between the Information Centre and Dr Foster LLP - National Audit Office (NAO)". Nao.org.uk. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "NAO kicks DoH for Dr Foster move". Theregister.co.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  11. ↑ "Dr Foster Intelligence : A joint venture between the Information Centre and Dr Foster LLP" (PDF). Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  12. ↑ Shifrin, Tash. "MPs slam "backroom deal" with Dr Foster for NHS data analysis". Cio.co.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  13. ↑ "Telstra buys UK's health analytics firm Dr Foster to boost profits". Sidney Morning Herald. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  14. ↑ Jarman, B.; Gault, S.; Alves, B.; Hider, A.; Dolan, S.; Cook, A.; Hurwitz, B.; Iezzoni, L. I. (1999). "Explaining differences in English hospital death rates using routinely collected data". BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.). 318 (7197). BMJ: 1515–1520. doi:10.1136/bmj.318.7197.1515. PMC   27892 . PMID   10356004 . Retrieved 19 May 2009.
  15. ↑ "Postcode Lottery in death rates". BBC News. 14 January 2001. Retrieved 14 January 2009.
  16. ↑ "Guide rates best and worst hospitals in 2011". NHS Choices. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  17. ↑ "Dr Foster Unit at Imperial College". Imperial College, London.
  18. ↑ "Professor Sir Brian Jarman". Imperial College.
  19. ↑ "Prof. Paul Aylin". Imperial College.
  20. ↑ "Ethics Committee". Dr Foster Intelligence. Archived from the original on 6 September 2014.
  21. ↑ "Measuring NHS Success: Can patients' views on health outcomes help to manage performance?". Kings Fund.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.