Nine more quality standards from NICE

Released 16/08/2010

GP commissioning under the clinical microscope

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has announced nine more areas of clinical quality standards to use in judging the future performance of GP commissioners.

Quality standards will be used by the National Commissioning Board to judge the performance of GP groups once they are commissioning local services by 2013.

Achievement of the quality standards will influence t
he payment of quality premiums to GP consortia that perform well against the standards and are able to demonstrate high quality outcomes.

NICE has already published three quality standards - for outcomes in stroke, dementia and venous thromboembolism - and the institute last week announced a further nine will be developed over the next year.

The new quality standards will monitor the management of:

breast cancer
type 1 and 2 diabetes
chronic kidney disease
end-of-life care
glaucoma
depression
chronic heart failure
the treatment of alcohol dependence
and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Work has already begun on the development of the depression quality standards, which are out for consultation until 13 September.

An additional 13th quality standard on specialist neonatal care is due later in the year.

Dr Fergus Macbeth, director of the NICE centre for clinical practice, commented: "NICE quality standards provide clear statements and associated measures, which will be used to assess existing practice and improve future services. They will focus on outcomes of care, as well as patient experience and cost effectiveness."

Additional source: Pulse

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