§ Mrs. FyfeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will develop and publish measurements of the outcome, successful or otherwise, of surgical and medical treatments other than mortalities within the national health service.
§ Mr. StewartYes. A working group to develop clinical outcome measures involving managers and clinicians was established in late spring 1992. Its first discussion document was published in December 1992 proposing a range of outcome measures. On 7 July 1993 a second discussion document—"Clinical Outcome Measures"—was issued presenting pilot outcome measures at the level of health board of treatment. These include measures other than mortality such as:
- 1. Proportion of patients discharged home within two months of emergency admission from home for fractured neck of femur;
- 2. One year re-operation rate after transurethral prostatectomy.
- 3. 28-day emergency readmission rate after discharge from medical specialities.
These measures are now included in service contracts to ensure arrangements are made for collection of good quality data which are consistent and comparable.
The use of outcome measures and the validity of any comparison depends on standard data and on careful interpretation. The working group is currently addressing these issues in consultation with managers and clinicians.
518W
£ million 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 HCH Revenue 100 Consultants initiative — — — — Resource management initiative medical and clinical audit, IT 1 7 13 13 Enhancement of personnel, finance and other key staff functions and training Not available NHS Trusts—mainly consultations and start up costs — — 7 35