Watchdog Rates Mental Health Trust 'Good' For Financial Management, UK

Main Category: Mental Health
Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry;  Public Health
Article Date: 07 Oct 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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The Audit Commission, the national body responsible for evaluating the financial performance of our public services, has awarded the Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust a rating of "Good" for the way it spends its budget, manages its internal financial controls and offers the taxpayers of Somerset value for money.

The positive rating is an improvement upon its 2007 rating, which was reported as 'fair'.

Somerset Partnership Trust is responsible for spending over £54 million each year delivering specialist mental health and learning disability services. The Trust employs just over 1,200 and last year saw over 13,000 new client referrals.

Rod How, Director of Finance, Information & Performance with the Trust, said: "We are very pleased with this rating. The improved score reflects a great deal of hard work at all levels of the organisation which has gone into improving the way in which we use our resources. We have improved our financial management processes and our financial position significantly over the last few years, and it is pleasing to see this reflected in this improved use of resources score".

Somerset Partnership became an NHS Foundation Trust on May 1st 2008 following a rigorous assessment process by Monitor - the independent regulator. This included a comprehensive review of its financial management arrangements as a condition of achieving successful Foundation Trust status.

The Auditors' Local Evaluation 2007/08 (ALE) ratings can be found on the Audit Commission's internet web site here.

The Audit Commission applies one of four ratings upon the performance of NHS Trusts. A score of one would be 'weak' which a score of four would rate 'Excellent'. The Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust received a score of three and a 'good' rating which is an improvement on its score of two for the previous two years.

The Audit Commission