The Health Needs Assessment tool allows you to view any PCT's performance in diabetes care against a large number of indicators. Most fields specified in the NHS Diabetes commissioning guide are covered within this tool.

The tool enables you to identify strengths and weaknesses in diabetes care which can then be used as a basis for service review and planning. By using the peer group function you can compare your local PCT(s) with any other PCT or group of PCTs in the country.

The Health Needs Assessment tool is one of the first tools created under the new National Diabetes Information Service (NDIS) which is now live. Over coming months, more diabetes data, tools and resources will be added to the portal, in order to deliver NDIS' main aim of being the comprehensive diabetes resource with all information easily accessible from one place.

NDIS is a collaborative venture, with a number of organisations working in partnership with The NHS Information Centre (including NHS Diabetes, Yorkshire and Humber Public Health Observatory (YHPHO), Diabetes UK and Innove) to deliver NDIS' aims and ultimately improve care for people with diabetes.

You will need to register to access the tool but this is quick and simple and can be done from the NDIS web page. The Health Needs Assessment tool is available at www.ndis.ic.nhs.uk