National Health Service Trusts have been given a deadline to carry out thorough reviews of the systems they use to record hospital waiting times following a report from the Audit Commission which showed some trusts were manipulating waiting lists. But NHS managers say the time has come to recognise that spending money on improving management is an investment in patient care.In the wake of the Commission’s findings, the NHS Chief Executive, Sir Nigel Crisp, said deliberate misreporting of waiting list data was absolutely inexcusable and any individual or NHS organisation that fraudulently manipulated their performance data would face serious consequences. He called on the service to ensure that its data collection systems were robust and asked trusts to examine thoroughly how they record waiting times by the end of June.

Read more on NHS TRUSTS GIVEN WAITING LISTS REVIEW DEADLINE…

Ten local authorities are to act as pathfinders for a project which will see a big shake-up in Housing Benefit, giving more power to tenants and helping people back into work. Nine of the ten accepted a government invitation to take part in the scheme. The tenth – Blackpool Borough Council – asked to be involved.Under the radical plan, beginning in the autumn, private tenants will receive a flat rate of housing benefit, set locally, which it is believed will create a simpler, fairer system. It will mean that both landlords and tenants will know in advance exactly how much they will receive.

Read more on COUNCILS TO PIONEER BENEFIT SHAKE UP…

By Stephen Cope and Jo GoodshipThis article examines the role of the Audit Commission in the delivery of public services and charts its changing role since its inception in 1983 from a financial watchdog to a delivery monitor. Though its impact on public services generally has increased, its impact is uneven between services because of their different regulatory regimes. The authors conclude that the public, however defined, has very little influence on the regulation of public services – despite official rhetoric. Consequently the role of the public in the delivery of public services represents a relatively excluded and even forgotten dimension, thus undermining claims made by the Audit Commission of acting in the public interest when monitoring the delivery of public services.

Read more on THE AUDIT COMMISSION AND PUBLIC SERVICES…