Quality of services part of the rating

The submission period for trusts to request a review of one or more of the components of the quality of services part of the rating is open for 25 working days from 9am Thursday 16 October 2008. The closing date for our receipt of all applications is midnight Wednesday 19 November 2008.

To be considered for a review, applications must be submitted with all supporting evidence to: ahcreviews@healthcarecommission.org.uk

Application form to request a review

The application must be submitted by the chief executive of the trust from the chief executive's email address. Applications received after the closing date via the AHC reviews email address or otherwise will not be considered.

Grounds for review

A trust may request a review of one or more components of the quality of services part of its rating when it can demonstrate that:

a) the Healthcare Commission has failed to act in accordance with the published criteria (see Annex 1 below), and/or

b) the Healthcare Commission has made a decision that is unreasonable on the basis of the evidence as submitted by or on behalf of the trust and within the Healthcare Commission's published deadlines for submission (see Annex 2 below)

c) and in respect of a) or b) this has adversely affected the quality of services part of the trust's rating.

Where the outcome of the request for review would adversely affect the quality of services part of the rating if successful, a panel comprising two Healthcare Commission staff, who have not been directly involved in the awarding of the trust's rating, and a person independent of the Healthcare Commission will consider the request.

Where the quality of services part of the rating would not be affected by the outcome of the request for review the relevant team in the Healthcare Commission will consider the issue raised and the trust will be informed of the outcome of this consideration.

A trust may not request a review of:

• The published criteria used to assess any component of the quality of services rating and the quality of services part of the rating itself.
• Data that the trust has already ratified.

The review process is not an opportunity for trusts to have their performance reassessed, rather the original assessment will be reviewed. Equally if a trust has made a previous request to have an extenuating circumstance taken into account, the review process is not an opportunity to have this application reassessed. Rather, the decision made in relation to the extenuating circumstance application will be reviewed.

Further information on requesting a review and application form

PLEASE READ BEFORE REQUESTING A REVIEW

Quality of services part of the rating

When completing an application form to request a review, trusts are required to identify each act or omission made by the Healthcare Commission and explain how they believe these have adversely affected the quality of services part of the rating.

For example, if a trust believes that the Healthcare Commission had unreasonably qualified its declaration for a core standard and the decision had affected the quality of services part of its rating, the trust could request a review.

The trust must demonstrate that the quality of services part of the rating has been adversely affected and may not request a review solely on the basis that they disagree with the assessment.

• Where the outcome of the request for review would adversely affect the quality of services part of the rating if successful, a panel comprising two Healthcare Commission staff, who have not been directly involved in the awarding of the trust's rating, and a person independent of the Healthcare Commission will consider the request.
• Where the quality of services part of the rating would not be affected by the outcome of the request for review the relevant team in the Healthcare Commission will consider the issue raised and the trust will be informed of the outcome of this consideration.

The review process is not an opportunity for trusts to have their performance reassessed, rather the original assessment will be reviewed.

Equally, if a trust has made a previous request to have an extenuating circumstance taken into account, the review process is not an opportunity to have this application reassessed. Rather, the decision made in relation to the extenuating circumstance application will be reviewed.

Use of resources part of the rating

The Audit Commission has carried out a reviews process for non-foundation trusts. This was done before we received the final scores for inclusion in the annual performance rating. Monitor already has an established process in place for review of the financial risk ratings given to foundation trusts. The Healthcare Commission will therefore not be providing a separate reviews process for the use of resources part of the rating.

When can a trust submit a request?

Trusts can request a review from 9am on Thursday 16 October 2008, using the form available on this web page. The closing date for submitting a request for review is midnight Wednesday 19 November 2008.

IMPORTANT: For an application to be considered it must be submitted to ahcreviews@healthcarecommission.org.uk by the chief executive of the trust, from the chief executive's email address. (The chief executive may delegate the task to another officer of the trust, but the application must be lodged from the chief executive's email address). An automatic acknowledgement of receipt, including a reference number, will be issued back to this email address.

Applications received after midnight Wednesday 19 November 2008 will not be considered.

What happens when a request is submitted?

Once you have submitted your request to the AHC Reviews mailbox an automatic acknowledgement of receipt will be issued. The Healthcare Commission will seek to reply to you provisionally within 10 working days from receipt of your application, setting out how it will take your concerns forward.

Screening for admissibility

A small team will be responsible for the administration and coordination of the process for the review. All applications will be screened for admissibility:

• Was the application received in the AHC Reviews mailbox by 2400hrs 19 November 2008?
• Is the application a general complaint?
• Is the application a general query?
• Is the application a request to review the published criteria used to assess any component of the rating or the rating itself?
• Is the application a request to review data that the trust has already ratified?

If the request is inadmissible for review, it will be sent to the relevent product team for a response.

Screening for validity (impact on quality of services score)

If a request is admissible, it will then be screened for validity:
In relation to the alleged acts/ommissions on either ground/s

a) the Healthcare Commission has failed to act in accordance with the published criteria (see Annex 1 below), and/or

b) the Healthcare Commission has made a decision that is unreasonable on the basis of the evidence as submitted by or on behalf of the trust and within the Healthcare Commission's published deadlines for submission (see Annex 2 below)

c) has this adversely affected the quality of services part of the trust's rating?

Where the outcome of the request for review would adversely affect the quality of services part of the rating if successful, the request is VALID.

If there is no possible change to the quality of services part of the rating regardless of the outcome of the request for review, the request is INVALID.

• The Healthcare Commission will seek to reply to you provisionally within 10 working days from receipt of your application, setting out how it will take your concerns forward.
• Where the trust has a VALID application, a note will also be added to the trust summary on its annual health check web page to indicate that a request for review of the overall quality of services part of the rating has been submitted.

Process for VALID requests

Where the request for a review, if successful, would adversely affect a trust's quality of services part of the rating, the relevant product team investigates the case and prepares a case report. The request for review then goes before a panel of senior staff who have not been directly involved in the awarding of the trust's rating, and a person independent of the Healthcare Commission.

The panel will consider all information provided by the trust as part of its request for a review, the case report, information provided by the Healthcare Commission and any other third parties involved in producing the decision which is the subject of the review. The panel will make a recommendation to the chief executive, who will make the final decision on all reviews.

Will there be a meeting with the review panel?

The Healthcare Commission will look at written submissions for the majority of requests. However, if necessary we would invite the trust to meet with the review panel - for example, if its request for review was extremely complex.

Is the final decision published?

A letter will be sent to the trust detailing the final decision and outcome of consideration. The Healthcare Commission will also publish the outcome of its reviews and any changes to a trust's quality of services part of the rating.

Process for INVALID requests

Where the request for review, if successful, is not going to impact on the overall quality of services part of the rating, the application will be forwarded to the relevent product team for investigation. A panel comprising 3 senior Healthcare Commission staff, who have not been directly invovled in the awarding of the trust's rating, will consider the request and the trust informed of the outcome of this consideration.

When will a trust know the outcome of its request for review?

The processing time for requests for review is dependent on the number of requests submitted and their complexity, which cannot be known until the request for reviews submission period is closed. The Healthcare Commission aims to process all requests within 12 weeks of receipt.

Are any charges made?

We will not charge trusts for the costs of dealing with requests for reviews of the annual quality of services part of the rating. Each trust must however meet its own costs of requesting a review.

Application form to request a review

The chief executive of the trust must submit all requests for review. Please make your submission on one application form only and make sure that you attach all relevant documentation supporting your case with the application form.

Person-identifiable information

Please do not send person-identifiable information (this includes NHS Numbers and staff names). Sending such information could breach the Data Protection Act 1998 and the standards required for patient confidentiality and records management for NHS and independent sector organisations. Such information will not be used by the Healthcare Commission, but will be destroyed or returned to the sender. Deadlines (where applicable) will not be extended to facilitate the resubmission of information. Information that identifies members of staff can only be accepted if it is confirmed that the identities are either already in the public domain or the staff have no objection to being identified in this way.

If you have any queries regarding the process for review please send these to:
feedback@healthcarecommission.org.uk