A list of more than 200 indicators of high
quality care in the NHS is being released to assist clinical teams
to measure the quality of care they deliver, highlight areas for
improvement and track the changes they implement.
The release of the first Indicators for Quality
Improvement marks the start of a process that will develop
useful and meaningful indicators across all aspects of health care
and in all care settings. The indicators span the three dimensions
of high quality care: patient safety, effectiveness of care and
patient experience.
The Indicators for Quality Improvement are a
key outcome from High Quality Care for All. Its author Lord Darzi
noted that high performing teams already measure the quality of
care they deliver and benchmark their work against their peers. His
vision is to make this possible across the NHS.
Lord Darzi said:
“These quality indicators have been developed in partnership with
frontline staff. This initial list is just the start of a NHS wide
resource that will challenge and stimulate NHS staff to drive up
the quality of care they deliver to patients”
There are more than 200 indicators on this
initial list on the NHS Information Centre website. Each indicator
has gone through an initial selection process to make sure it is
suitable. This process was sponsored by five royal colleges and the
British Cardiovascular Society and canvassed the views of frontline
staff from across the NHS.
Clinicians can use this first list to choose
indicators that are most relevant to their work with full
explanations of how the indicators were constructed. In the next
few months the data behind each indicator will be added to the
website to improve accessibility to information on the quality of
NHS services.
The process used to develop this initial list
of clinical indicators included:
- An online survey to gather feedback on more than 400 acute care
indicators already in use in parts of the NHS
- NHS-led work to develop regional indicators for the ten year
plans for improving the quality of care described in each SHA’s
local vision document
- Engagement with royal colleges and other professional
bodies
The Royal Colleges that sponsored the survey
of acute care indicators and continue to play a role in the
development of Indicators for Quality Improvement are:
- Royal College of Surgeons
- Royal College of Physicians
- Royal College of Anaesthetists
- Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
- Royal College Psychiatrists
For further information, please
contact:
Liz Leicester
or Deborah Hart in the Communications
Department.
Telephone: 020 7235 2351 Extensions. 6298 or 6127
Note to editors:
The Indicators for Quality Improvement are on the NHS Information Centre Website www.ic.nhs.uk/mqi