News
NHS Direct holding workshops to evaluate effectiveness
3 November 2008
NHS Direct over the next 12 weeks is to evaluate the clinical
effectiveness of NHS Direct referrals and self-care advice provided to
patients to ensure that it is fit for purpose, in comparison with other
care provider patient pathways, and that it is evidenced based.
The organisation will be holding seven workshops up and down the
country and is inviting a cross section of health and social care
professionals to analyse the patient pathway experienced at NHS Direct
based on the top 10 reasons for calling.
The review of anonymised case studies will inform and provide
improved, faster, more accessible care that is clinically recommended
and analysed by a mixture of health and social care professionals. The
study may also highlight areas for further staff development when
delivering urgent and self care outcomes.
It is hoped the study will engage the roles of new practitioners
within health and social care as well as existing ones. Professionals
from a variety of backgrounds are being invited to attend and
participate in the study including social care, accident and emergency,
urgent/unscheduled care and the GP out of hour’s provision.
A recent review of urgent and emergency care services by the Health
Care Commission (2008)1 found that the services were performing well
against individual targets, but the whole system was not working
together as well as it could. The study will provide the opportunity for
health care and social care professionals to network and consider the
patient journey.
Helen Young, NHS Direct Clinical Director, said: “This study will
help us to ensure that the Department of Health targets for 2008/09 — of
over 60% of calls completed within NHS Direct and fewer than 20%
referred to an urgent pathway — are clinically safe and appropriate for
the patient.”
Methodology
The study will identify the most commonly used algorithms that
contribute to the largest percentage of urgent, self care and other
outcomes within NHS Direct. A random sample of these calls will then be
anonymised and transcribed into a clinical summary and used as case
studies at the Achieving Clinical Excellence events for the health and
social care professionals to examine and consider independently, in
small groups, what the recommended appropriate outcome for that patient
would be. A control group will be included drawn from feedback to the
organisation.
The workshops will be held at:
- 27 November 2008 Bristol
- 1 December 2008 Wakefield
- 2 December 2008 Bolton
- 3 December 2008 Newcastle
- 3 December 2008 Bury St Edmunds
- 4 December 2008 London
- 8 December 2008 Milton Keynes
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