Data sharing in general practice

Sharing to improve: four case studies of data sharing in general practice | The Health Foundation

A new briefing from the Health Foundation, Sharing to improve: four case studies of data sharing in general practice, introduces approaches to collaborative data sharing that enable improvement in the quality of care. The four case studies in this briefing offer promising early indications that collaborative data sharing – in different configurations of general practice – has potential to make a meaningful contribution to improving the quality of care. Insights from these case studies show different methods of using data to improve care, and share practical learning from groups already experimenting with these efforts.

Full briefing: Sharing to improve: four case studies of data sharing in general practice 

Emergency hospital admissions in England: which may be avoidable and how?

New research led by the Health Foundation looks at trends in emergency admissions over the past decade and reviews some of the interventions aimed at reducing them.

Key findings:

• One in three patients admitted to hospital in England as an emergency in 2015/16 had five or more health conditions, such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, dehydration, hip fracture or dementia. This is up from one in ten in 2006/07
• The number of patients admitted urgently to hospital has increased by 42% over the past decade – that’s an average of 3.2% per annum. This far outstrips the total number of people who attend A&E departments, which is up by only 13%
• Patients arriving at A&E are sicker than ever before, and more likely to need admission. This has grown for patients with multiple health conditions, as well as for older patients aged 85 or over, up by 58.9%
• Hospitals are treating patients more quickly, with overnight stays for those with five or more conditions lasting 10.8 nights in 2015/16 compared with 15.8 days a decade previously. The number of these patients admitted to hospital but discharged on the same day have increased by 373% over the same period.

The briefing also identifies opportunities to reduce emergency admissions including:

• Approximately 14% of all emergency admissions are for ‘ambulatory sensitive’ conditions – conditions such as asthma where timely and effective primary care could reduce the likelihood of admission
• If older patients saw their regular GP two more times out of every ten consultations, this would be associated with a 6% decrease in admissions for ambulatory sensitive conditions
• Around 26.5% of all unplanned A&E attendances in England (5.77 million per year) were preceded by the patient being unable to obtain a GP appointment that was convenient to them, however few of these A&E attendances will have resulted in an admission.

Full document: Emergency hospital admissions in England: which may be avoidable and how? | The Health Foundation

How to improve the quality of health care delivery

Quality Improvement Series | BMJ | Health Foundation

The BMJ, in partnership with and funded by the Health Foundation, are launching a joint series of papers exploring how to improve the quality of health care delivery. The quality improvement series will discuss the evidence for systematic quality improvement, provide knowledge and support to clinicians and ultimately will aim to help improve care for patients.

Full detail at BMJ

End of life care

End of life care in England: a briefing paper | IPPR

Image source: http://www.ippr.org

This paper provides a brief summary of issues around end of life care including the impact of location on the quality and cost of care; analyses data on the current location and cost of end of life care in England; and appraises the current policy agenda in this area, suggesting key areas where improvements should be made.

Full briefing: End of life care in England: a briefing paper