PATIENTS and the public in Worcester are to have easier access to information on how well healthcare prov-iders in the independent sector are meeting standards.

The Healthcare Comm-ission has launched a new web service that provides information about performance in independent acute hospitals, mental health units and independent sector treatment centres (ISTCs).

In Worcestershire, these include Kidderminster ISTC, BUPA South Bank Hospital in Bath Road, Worcester, and the Droitwich Spa Hospital.

Each independent sector provider is assessed against 32 core standards and a range of service-specific standards.

The standards look at the minimum requirements for a provider to practice, ranging from ensuring that employees are appropriately recruited and receive adequate training to ensuring that medical equipment is decontaminated properly.

The new web service contains the details of how individual independent prov-iders fared against each of those standards, at the time of inspection.

People will be able to search the information by provider name or by postcode, as well as by standard and the results are grouped under four questions: How safe and clean is the service? How good is the care I will receive? Will I be treated with dignity and respect? and How well is the organisation managed?

Anna Walker, chief executive of the Healthcare Com-mission, said: "We want to make sure patients have access to information about the standards of care they can expect to receive, wherever they receive it."

More information can be found on www.healthcare commission.org.uk