A guide to commissioning cardiac surgical services - NHS ...

A guide to commissioning cardiac surgical services
Quality - the current context
The document ‘High Quality Care For
All’ next stage review published in
2008 set quality as the key
organising principle of the NHS with
‘quality’ being defined under the
three domains of patient safety,
clinical effectiveness and patient
experience.
Since 2008, these domains have
begun to help define the way the
NHS drives forward quality
improvement and now feature as
underpinning principles within all
current NHS strategy including The
Operating Framework 2010/11 (and
quality framework see below), World
Class Commissioning and the NHS
Performance Framework (2009).
Measuring quality using these
domains is emerging with the
development of the Improving
Quality Indicators (IQIs) by the NHS
Information Centre. Additionally
many of the emergent
Commissioning for Quality and
Innovation schemes (CQUINN) are
using these domains to define,
manage and reward quality
improvement within healthcare
contracts.
Bringing clarity to quality
Measuring quality
Publishing on quality
Rewarding quality
Raising standards
Safeguarding quality
Staying ahead
The Quality Framework
Quality is our organising principle - the full national
enabling framework will be in place from 2010/11
Source: Operating Framework 2010\11
First four NICE quality standards by April 2010 on stroke
care,VTE prevention, dementia and neonatal care
Over 200 quality indicators now available on the
Information Centre website
First Quality Accounts to be published in 2010
National CQUIN goals on VTE, patient-reported
outcome measures and patients’ experience
National Quality Board review of system alignment
Full CQC registration against essential levels of safety
and quality in place from April 2010
Connecting innovation to our core purpose - the
quality and productivity challenge
Complementing this approach is the
‘Quality and Productivity Challenge’
which builds on the above domains
by extending the quality focus to
include innovation, productivity and
prevention. Also described by the
acronym ‘QIPP’ the intention is to
provide a mechanism through which
better care and better value can be
achieved through the reduction of
waste and in the prioritisation of
effective treatments.
With the above in mind it is useful to
summarise the learning from the
surgical project sites aligned to these
principles. (Note: The author has
omitted ‘prevention’ as this wasn’t
considered a primary focus of the
initiative).
42 www.improvement.nhs.uk/heart