The Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) was a

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of n ...

sponsored by the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

from 2001 until 2004, when its functions were subsumed by the

Healthcare Commission The Healthcare Commission was a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department of Health of the United Kingdom. It was set up to promote and drive improvement in the quality of health care and public health in England and Wales. It aimed ...

. CHI was established by the

Health Act 1999 Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, Mental health, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World H ...

. It was the first organisation ever to assess the clinical performance of

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

hospitals in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Its chair was Dame

Deirdre Hine Dame Deirdre Joan Hine DBE FFPH FRCP FLSW (née Curran; born 16 September 1937) is a Welsh medical doctor. In 1984 she began her career as a public health physician in Wales. She was chair of the Commission for Health Improvement from 1999 to 20 ...

, who was a former

Chief Medical Officer Chief medical officer (CMO) is the title used in many countries for the senior government official designated head of medical services, sometimes at the national level. The post is held by a physician who serves to advise and lead a team of medical ...

for Wales; and its chief executive was Dr

Peter Homa Peter Michael Homa is a British health service manager. He started work in the National Health Service in 1979 as a hospital porter after which he commenced the NHS National Management Training Scheme in London in 1981 and was chief executive a ...

CBE, who went on to become chief executive of

St George's Healthcare NHS Trust St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, formerly called St George's Healthcare NHS Trust, is based in Tooting in the London Borough of Wandsworth, and serves a population of 1.3 million across southwest London. A large numbe ...

in November 2003. CHI was abolished on 31 March 2004.

Functions

CHI's aim was to improve the quality of patient care: *assessing every NHS organisation and making its findings public *investigating when there is serious failure *checking that the NHS is following national guidelines *advising the NHS on best practice *CHI will be independent, rigorous and fair in its work, highlighting best practice in the NHS and encouraging others to adopt it, while not flinching from saying clearly where urgent improvement is required Its six operating principles were: *the patients experience is at the heart of CHI's work *CHI will be independent, rigorous and fair *CHI's approach is developmental and will support the NHS to continuously improve *CHI's work will be based on the best available evidence and focus on improvement *CHI will be open and accessible *CHI will apply the same standards of continuous improvement to itself that it expects of others

Background

Before CHI was established the Health Advisory Service in England and Wales and the Hospital Advisory Service in Scotland performed a similar role, but only in respect of mental illness, geriatric and mental handicap services.

References

Defunct non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government Defunct National Health Service organisations {{UK-gov-stub