Fresh guidance issued on PBC data requirements

Fresh guidance on practice-based commissioning sets out the minimum data requirements that primary care trusts (PCTs) are expected to provide to GP practices.

The document, ‘Practice based commissioning: practical implementation‘, makes it clear that PCTs are responsible for ensuring that the information needs of practices are met, either by providing the data themselves or contracting with others to do so.

The guidance sets out the minimum information PCTs must provide including data on elective activity, non-elective admissions including length of stay, consultant to consultant referrals and community and mental health services plus benchmarked data on referral rates, admission rates, first out-patient attendances and follow-up rates.

It states: “We recognise that these requirements are challenging but we expect PCTs to continue to develop the data needed to support PBC or to contract with others to achieve that objective.”

The document, targeted at the newly formed PCTs, states that trusts are expected to provide information to practices that is timely and in a form that practices find most helpful which it says might involve direct access by practices to computer desktops, such as via the Middlesborough PCT system MIDAS, or by providing information that has already been filtered and analysed by the PCT.

The guidance also says that the DH is working with NHS Connecting for Health to drive up the quality and timeliness of data available form the Secondary Users Service and on expanding access to a wide range of users including strategic health authorities, PCTs and GP practices.

The document, which replaces earlier guidance eon PBC, says that efforts so far have focused on outing in place the building blocks for PBC but that the next financial year, 2007-8, should focus on delivering practical implementation of PBC that makes a difference to people’s quality of life.

Other sections of the guidance cover PBC governance and accountability, PBC financial guidance, support for practices and incentive schemes and indicators for PBC.

Useful links

Practice-based commissioning: practical implementation