Key indicators on Scotland's health and the performance of parts of the health service are published today to help focus attention on where improvements are needed.
Key indicators on Scotland’s health and the performance of parts of the health service are published today to help focus attention on where improvements are needed.
The figures are published in the latest Clinical Outcome Indicators report, a process that began in Scotland in 1993 to give the public detailed information about health and health services to help achieve the highest standards of care.
The latest report, produced by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, includes information on:
- Obesity in children - rates of obesity in Scottish children are far too high. A third of 12 year-olds in Scotland were overweight in 2001-02, 18% obese and 10-11% severely obese.
- Smoking and pregnancy - more than a quarter of Scottish women smoked at the start of pregnancy. The problem is more common among women from socially disadvantaged backgrounds.
- Breastfeeding - the number of babies breastfed up to at least 6-8 weeks is increasing year on year. However, at 36.5% this is below the target of 50% set for 2005.
- Emergency readmission rates can provide a guide to the success of the original treatment or care. Rates are given for abdominal and pelvic surgery, and joint replacement surgery.
- Emergency admission rates are also included for diabetes, asthma and epilepsy - for the first time at a detailed local level.
- Ovarian cancer - there is relatively little variation across Scotland in incidence and death rates for women diagnosed between 1997-99.
- Anaemia in kidney dialysis patients - the risk of developing anaemia has been reduced for Scottish kidney dialysis patients. At least 76% are now achieving the target levels of haemoglobin concentration (no less than 10 g/dL for patients who have been on dialysis for three months or more). (See Note 3).
This is the 10th in a series of Clinical Outcome Indicator reports. Previous reports have focused attention on unexplained variations in outcomes between different parts of the health service. This has led NHSScotland to look into the reasons for these variations and determine if changes are needed.
This is part of a much wider quality improvement process in Scotland. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland already sets clinical standards in Scotland and measures the performance of the NHS against the standards. On Thursday (December 4) the results of the latest Scottish Audit of Surgical Mortality, that reviews all deaths that occur during or after surgery in Scotland, will be published. Recent data from the Scottish Arthroplasty Project, which examines the care given to joint replacement surgery patients, are also available.
The Chairman of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, Lord Naren Patel, said: Scotland has led the way in the use and publication of clinical outcome indicators. This report, the tenth in the series, continues the process of making such detailed information about health and healthcare in Scotland available to the public.
These indicators can provide insights into the quality of care and highlight variations that need further investigation. We expect NHSScotland to use these indicators as one means of examining its performance - and where necessary to take appropriate action.
"NHS Quality Improvement Scotland is committed to building on the experience gained in Scotland over the past ten years, and making available data that can meaningfully contribute towards quality improvement in the health service in Scotland.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland will launch the Clinical Outcome Indicators report at 2pm today <1 December 2003 />. Media representatives are welcome to attend the launch at: the Boardroom, 3rd floor, Elliot House, 8-10 Hillside Crescent, Edinburgh. The full report will be available from 2.00pm today by clicking on the red title text in the ‘news’ column on the NHS QIS website:
www.nhshealthquality.org/
2. The report covers seven main health topics:
- Smoking and pregnancy
- Breastfeeding
- Obesity in children
- Emergency admission to hospital by LHCC (for diabetes, asthma and epilepsy)
- Kidney disease
- Ovarian cancer
- Emergency readmission to hospital following surgery
3. Anaemia is a common problem in renal (kidney) failure. When the kidneys begin to fail, the body makes less haemoglobin. Haemoglobin is the red component of blood which carries oxygen to the tissues in the body. In good health it is about 15 grams per decilitre (g/dL) in men and 14 g/dL in women. While there is not agreement about what the optimal haemoglobin concentration for patients with renal failure should be, the national standard states that 85% of haemodialysis patients should have a haemoglobin concentration of not less than 10 g/dL after three months of dialysis.
NHS QIS Remit:
NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) has been established to improve the quality of healthcare in Scotland. To do this, it will set standards and monitor performance, and provide NHSScotland with advice, guidance and support on effective clinical practice and service improvements. This includes publishing clinical outcome and performance data.
This NHS QIS system of assuring quality is designed to complement the duty that has been laid upon the board of each NHS body by the Health Act 1999 to monitor and improve the quality of healthcare which it provides to individuals (clinical governance).
NHS QIS is independent from government. Although it is accountable to the Scottish Executive for delivering its work programme and for the public money it spends, NHS QIS reaches its own conclusions on the quality of services being provided by the NHS, and publishes its findings.
Background:
Established on 1 January 2003, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland is a Special Health Board, built on the expertise developed within the:
- Clinical Standards Board for Scotland
- Clinical Resource and Audit Group
- Health Technology Board for Scotland
- Nursing and Midwifery Practice Development Unit
- the Scottish Health Advisory Service.
Chaired by Lord Patel, the Board has a broad membership that includes NHS staff and members of the public. Dr David Steel is Chief Executive.
NHS Quality Improvement Scotland Chairman Lord Patel, and Chairman of the Clinical Outcomes Group Dr Dorothy Moir are available for interview after the news conference.
Contacts:
Rob MacPhail, Communications Officer, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, tel: 0141 225 6992 (dl) or 07855 838 340 (mob)
Patrick Maitland-Cullen, Communications Officer, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, tel: 0131 623 4297 (dl) or 07968 494 164 (mob).