Using data to support improvement in GP clusters.

We have been working with NHS Scotland to identify the best way to support primary care quality improvers in relation to routine data provision and analysis. Since the end of the project we have had a paper published and have produced an infographic to illustrate the work.

Our publication is:  Collaborative improvement in Scottish GP clusters after the Quality and Outcomes Framework: a qualitative study.

The GP contract in Scotland has been radically changed, with a focus on quality improvement through collaborative work in new ‘GP Clusters’. These are groups of 8-12 practices working in the same area who meet regularly to plan shared improvement work. NHS Scotland has recognised that GP Clusters need support with data analysis to function as intended, but it is unclear what their data needs are, or how best to provide them with data.

In this study we worked with a group of GP Clusters and with National Services Scotland to identify the best way to use data to support GP clusters and other primary care quality improvers.

This work was in collaboration with the University of Aberdeen (leading on information design) and the University of Dundee (leading on informatics tool prototyping).

Funder

The Scottish Improvement Science Collaborating Centre (SISCC)

Timeline

12 months from August 2018 and extended to December 2020.

Value

£56,668.

Key People

Principal Investigator

Professor Bruce Guthrie (Bruce Guthrie's online profile)

Co-Applicants

Carol Sinclair, Associate Director Public Health and Intelligence, NHS National Services Scotland,  csinclair@nhs.net

Emily Jefferson, Director Health Informatics Centre, University of Dundee e.r.jefferson@dundee.ac.uk  (Emily Jefferson's online profile on the University of Dundee website)

Alan McGovern, Clinical Director Health and Social Care Partnership, West Division, NHS Fife,  alanmcgovern@nhs.net 

Stewart Mercer, Director Scottish School of Primary Care, Professor of Primary Care and Multimorbidity, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh (Stewart Mercer's online profile)

Researchers

Dr Huayi Huang (Huayi Huang's online profile)

Image by SARINYAPINNGAM/Getty Images