| Abstract: | National Health Service trusts are required to report publicly on two distinct aspects of their activities: finance and patient care. Financial information is included in an annual report and accounts, while patient care performance is released in league tables as part of the Patient's Charter. This article discusses the background to the different measures and reports managerial reactions to them. It reports on a comparison of the results of a sample of NHS trusts in these two separate fields, which found no correspondence between financial and patient care performance. This finding is used to illuminate the role of such information in the process of accountability, drawing comparisons with the private sector. |
