DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release issued by COI News Distribution Service on 15 May 2009
A list of more
than 200 indicators of high quality care in the NHS is being
published for the first time to help clinicians drive up the
quality of care they deliver to patients, the Department of Health
and The NHS Information Centre announced today.
The Indicators for Quality Improvement will help measure the
quality of care clinicians deliver, highlight areas for
improvement and track the changes they implement. They span the
three dimensions of high quality care: patient safety,
effectiveness of care and patient experience.
Clinicians can choose from the list the indicators that are most
relevant to their work. The indicators are a key outcome from Lord
Darzi's report 'High Quality Care for All in which he
noted that high performing teams already measure the quality of
care they deliver and benchmark their work against their peers.
Health Minister, 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."
At this stage, the aim is to enable clinicians to fully
understand the indicators, their methodology and source. Within
the next few months, we will publish data that will enable local
clinical teams to compare themselves with others as the basis for
local quality improvement.
Over the next three to five years the list will be further
developed to improve depth of coverage across all care pathways
and quality dimensions.
Notes to editors
1. The Indicators for Quality Improvement are on The NHS
Information Centre Website http://www.ic.nhs.uk/mqi
2. Each of the 232 indicators 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.
3. 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
4. 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
5. For media enquiries only call the Department of Health Media
Centre on tel: 020 7210 5221