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Best use of data

Shortlisted

• NHS Croydon Incentive Scheme – C4C and CHC

• Information Dashboard for Clinical Commissioning – NHS Somerset

• Practice MOT – H3Plus Commissioning Group

• GP Commissioning Support Tools – Stockton and Hartlepool

 

Winner - The Practice MOT, H3Plus Commissioning Group

If commissioning data is not clearly presented it is of little use to busy GPs. The Practice MOT was developed by H3Plus Commissioning Group, a consortium of 35 practices in Leeds, to give practices concise, accurate referral and prescribing information in a well-presented format.

It allows practices to assess the overall ‘health' of their practice through benchmarking data in relation to their budget and peers, and the tool also supports effective peer review.

Samuel Forbes, chief business officer of H3Plus, says: ‘PBC information has in the past been delivered through systems that do not consider the requirements of the audience – typically GPs who are not accustomed to looking at this data and have little time to do so.

‘The Practice MOT was developed to overcome these barriers and to support practices in using their information to understand the variation that exists and their use of resources, ultimately improving the patient journey through achieving the goal of ‘right place, right time' referral.'

The Practice MOT currently includes data on referral, public health and prescribing and SUS, and is delivered to practices on a quarterly basis.

The MOT helps to engage practices, enabling them to start a dialogue with H3Plus which is used to influence commissioning decisions and inform the company of what kind of primary care education they need.

It helps continuous improvement through non-confrontational open sharing of data and peer review. The MOT improves the patient journey by examining the reasons for variation between practices, and by streamlining the referral process.

The practice MOT has been in place for almost a year. Early indications of its success include efficiencies in outpatient activity for specialities that are featured as key areas within the report – for example, ENT has seen a reduction of 11% compared with the same period last year.

 

Judge's Comment

The most important area – engaging the referring clinician in meaningful data reflection to inform behavioural change.

Dr Peter Weaving, diarist, Practical Commissioning