Health Foundation to lead review of GP quality indicators

The Department of Health has asked the Health Foundation, an independent health care charity, to carry out a review into how improvements can be made to the collection of data on the overall quality of care offered by GP practices across England. Healthcare charities have widely become an integral part of the health and care system that is helping to shape our future NHS in terms of providing an independent source of evidence-based research.

The results of the review, to be completed in September 2015, may become available through the patient website MyNHS and could be used by the Government to develop a ‘scorecard’ of indicators for each GP practice. The notion behind the review is eminently sensible, as in the words of Dr Jennifer Dixon “Good data on quality is the cornerstone to making improvements.”

We have recently seen evidence of data being collected during a pilot to deliver integrated care for patients with complicated care needs. Such data will be used to reshape the delivery of services in a way that is efficient, joined-up and patient-centric.

It is of course of fundamental importance that this work is approached with scientific rigour and a true understanding of the complexities of GP care.