Development of key performance indicators to evaluate centralized intake for patients with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis

"Arthritis stakeholders have proposed 28 KPIs [Key Performance Indicators] that should be used in quality improvement efforts when evaluating centralized intake for OA [osteoarthritis] and RA [rheumatoid arthritis]. The KPIs measure five of the six dimensions of quality and are relevant to patients, practitioners and health systems."

Development of key performance indicators to evaluate centralized intake for patients with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis
CE Barber et al.
Arthritis Research & Therapy 2015, 17:322 doi:10.1186/s13075-015-0843-7

Read more here. 

Emergency Care Improvement Programme

"The Emergency Care Improvement Programme will focus on helping 28 urgent and emergency care systems across England that are under the most pressure and will deliver real improvements in quality, safety and patient flow."

Access improvement tools, videos and more at the NHS Emergency Care Improvement Programme website.

What do patients say about emergency departments in online reviews?

"Consumer rating websites allow patients to provide rapid and public feedback on their experience of medical care. Web-based platforms may offer a novel strategy for assessing patient-centred quality in emergency care."

What do patients say about emergency departments in online reviews? A qualitative study
AS Kilaru, ZF Meisel, B Paciotti, YP Ha, RJ Smith, BL Ranard, RM Merchant
BMJ Quality and Safety 2016;25:14-24 doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2015-004035

Read more here.

The Impact of Primary Care Quality on Inpatient Length of Stay for People with Dementia

"For those who are discharged home or to the community setting, the QOF review may have a small negative influence on length of stay. Such modest effects suggest that the QOF review does not have a major influence on LoS for dementia hospital admissions. However, this does not mean the review is unimportant for patient care: the increasing prevalence of dementia and the constraints on capacity in the acute hospital sector may mean even modest impacts are important financially. "

The Impact of Primary Care Quality on Inpatient Length of Stay for People with Dementia: An Analysis by Discharge Destination
P Kasteridis, M Goddard, R Jacobs, R Santos, A Mason
CHE Research Paper 113
Centre for Health Economics, University of York, UK

July 2015

Read more here. 

Podiatry education to empower patients to self-care

"This project was designed to identify and train patients suitable for self-care, so they can be discharged from the service. This helped to ensure that podiatry care is targeted at those with the greatest need. "

Podiatry education to empower patients to self-care
Quality and productivity collection example
Community and Primary Services, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
July 2015

Read more here.

Focus on: International comparisons of healthcare quality

"This report uses the data to understand what international comparisons tell us about changes in quality of healthcare in the UK between 2000 and 2013, and provides a baseline for future comparisons."

Focus on: International comparisons of healthcare quality: What can the UK learn?
L Kossarova, I Blunt, M Bardsley
QualityWatch
July 2015

Read more here.

Mental health crisis care review

Two reports have been published following a review of mental health crisis services. The reports consider aspects of quality, safety and effectiveness, as well as patient experience.

Mental health crisis review – experiences of black and minority ethnic communities
Jeraj, Samir, Shoham, Tara and Islam-Barrett, Farah
Race Equality Foundation
June 2015

Access the report here.

Right here, right now: Mental health crisis care review
Care Quality Commission
June 2015

Access the report here.

Using clinical supervision to improve the quality and safety of patient care

"The evidence linking clinical supervision to the quality and safety of patient care reveals that supervision is most effective when its educational and supportive functions are separated from its managerial and evaluative functions."

Using clinical supervision to improve the quality and safety of patient care: a response to Berwick and Francis
J Tomlinson
BMC Medical Education 2015, 15:103  doi:10.1186/s12909-015-0324-3

Read more here.

Health and social care priorities for the Government

" it is essential that we move to a more empowering, bottom-up approach while at the same time holding health care leaders to account for the care their organisations deliver to patients and service users."

Health and social care priorities for the Government: 2015–2020
Nuffield Trust
June 2015

Read more here.

The relationship between accounting and quality improvement in healthcare

"Accounting is often ineffective not because it is inherently incomparable with quality and the complexities of healthcare, but because its underlying characteristics have not been fully acknowledged or understood."

Accounting for quality: on the relationship between accounting and quality improvement in healthcare
D Pflueger
BMC Health Services Research 2015, 15:178  doi:10.1186/s12913-015-0769-4

Read more here.

King’s Fund report into dermatology services in the UK

"Our work exposed major concerns about the current quality of commissioning for dermatology services and the lack of specialist knowledge among commissioners. Commissioning should facilitate the new models of care with tariffs that reflect and encourage new patient-centred ways of working."

King’s Fund report into dermatology services in the UK
British Association of Dermatologists
April 2015

Read more here.

Do practice performance scores predict emergency admissions?

"We tested whether or not better-quality primary care, as assessed by the SMI [serious mental illness] quality indicators measured routinely in the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) in English general practice, is associated with lower rates of emergency hospital admissions for people with SMIs"

Do higher primary care practice performance scores predict lower rates of emergency admissions for persons with serious mental illness? An analysis of secondary panel data 
R Jacobs et al.
Health Services and Delivery Research, (16), April 2015

Read more here.

Cost-effective Commissioning For Continence Care

"This timely and useful guide illustrates the importance of continence care and sets out how to commission and deliver a quality integrated service which meets patient’s needs and is cost-effective to the NHS"

Cost-effective Commissioning For Continence Care: A guide for commissioners written by continence care professionals
Sally Greengross
All Party Parliamentary Group For Continence Care Report

Read more here.

Validation of the intermountain patient perception of quality survey

"Our objective was to evaluate the construct validity and internal consistency of the Intermountain Patient Perception of Quality (PPQ) survey among patients discharged from the ICU."

Validation of the intermountain patient perception of quality (PPQ) survey among survivors of an intensive care unit admission: a retrospective validation study
SM Brown
BMC Health Services Research 2015, 15:155  doi:10.1186/s12913-015-0828-x

Read more here.

How does the NHS compare with health systems in other countries?

"The UK’s health system has strong foundations to work with. However, more could be done to prevent and treat ill health, both within and outside of the remit of the NHS."

How does the NHS compare with health systems in other countries?
N Berry
The Health Foundation
March 2015

Read more here.

The quality of NHS services during the current parliament

"This briefing summarises trends in the quality of NHS care in England since the 2010 general election. "

Swimming against the tide? The quality of NHS services during the current parliament
T Gardner
The Health Foundation
March 2015

Read more here.

Access to hospital care: is the NHS on target?

"Our fourth policy briefing in the run-up to the General Election 2015 examines how hospital trusts in England are performing against six national targets. The paper argues against the notion that dips in performance can be attributed to a handful of poorly performing hospital trusts, and finds there has been deterioration across the board in some measures."

Access to hospital care: is the NHS on target?
H Dorning, I Blunt
Nuffield Trust
March 2015

Read more here.

Implementing the NHS five year forward view

"While the direction set by the Forward View has been broadly welcomed, it risks suffering the same fate as previous policy documents unless serious attention is given to the policy changes needed to support local leaders to make new care models a reality"

Implementing the NHS five year forward view: Aligning policies with the plan
C Ham, R Murray

The King's Fund

February 2015

Read more here. 

Commissioning Support Lead Provider Framework

"NHS England has developed a new framework agreement for commissioning support services – the Lead Provider Framework (LPF). It enables Clinical Commissioning Groups(CCGs), NHS England and other customers to source some or all of their commissioning support needs"

Commissioning Support Lead Provider Framework
NHS England

Find out more and access the framework here.

Three tests for a credible health policy

"

To understand whether the policies of 

the different parties will maintain and 

improve the quality of care, both now 

and in the future, it is essential for 

politicians to demonstrate how their 

proposals address the three tests for 

a credible health policy. Failing to 

meet any one of these tests would 

have serious consequences for the 

NHS and the care patients receive.

" 

Three tests for a credible health policy: The Health Foundation's policy recommendations in the run up to the 2015 general election

The Health Foundation

February 2015

Read more here.