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LONDON : Britain's mainly state-run National Health Service, injected with hundreds of billions of pounds of taxpayers' money over the past decade, was severely criticised in an independent audit on Thursday.
The ailing health service must improve the quality of its services and use of financial resources, the Healthcare Commission said in an audit of the NHS.
The National Health Service is one of the key challenges facing British Prime Minister Tony Blair after more than nine years in power, despite the additional funding which the NHS has been given by his Labour government.
The Commission meanwhile revealed its findings from a survey of the 570 NHS trusts across Britain, rating each according to a new four-star system ranging from "weak" to "excellent".
Hospitals in the NHS are managed by trusts that ensure hospitals provide high quality healthcare and spend their money efficiently.
"This is a tougher test for the NHS and we make no apologies for that," said Ian Kennedy, chair of the Healthcare Commission.
"A lot of additional resources have gone into healthcare," added Kennedy in the report, which is designed to be a comprehensive assessment of the NHS.
"We need to establish whether they are being spent effectively on behalf of patients."
Regarding quality of services, the Commission rated nine percent of NHS trusts as "weak", 51 percent "fair" and 36 percent "good". Just four percent scored the top "excellent" rating.
The outlook was worse on the efficient use of cash.
Thirty-seven percent of NHS trusts scored "weak" for their use of financial resources, with 47 percent considered "fair".
Only 12 percent were found "good" and three percent deemed "excellent" in their fiscal management.
"While there is improvement, there are also concerns," added Kennedy.
"On use of resources, the picture is not good enough. Some trusts have deficits but many also have poor financial management systems.
"On quality of services, ambulance and primary care trusts need to improve performance."
NHS ambulance trusts are the local organisations responsible mainly for emergency calls and the transportation of patients to and from hospitals.
Primary care trusts, meanwhile, control 80 percent of the total NHS budget and assess the basic healthcare needs of all the people within their allocated region.
"This year's rating is the start of a journey," Kennedy said of the report, whose format this year has replaced the previous NHS assessment system.
"Improvement cannot be made unless the need for it is admitted. We would expect those in the 'fair' category to be in the 'good' category next year."
The report revealed also that NHS trusts had managed to cut waiting times, and noted that patients "generally report a positive experience of their healthcare".
Britain's NHS has an annual budget in the current financial year of 92 billion pounds (136 billion euros, US$171 billion) and saw its deficit double in the last financial year to 512 million pounds.
However, the British government has pledged that the NHS will be kept within budget by the end of this financial year on March 31, 2007. - AFP/de
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