Measuring for Quality Improvement

Indicators of health, performance, quality and efficiency can give valuable insight into how care is being delivered. There has never been such an emphasis on using quality indicators to improve services.

What are the Indicators for Quality Improvement?

The indicators are:

  • A resource of robust indicators to help local clinical teams select indicators for local quality improvement
  • A source of indicators for benchmarking
  • Assured by clinicians for use by clinicians
  • Published with full metadata for transparency

The indicators are not a new set of targets or mandated indicators for performance management. However it is possible that some of these may be specified as core indicators to be used in Quality Accounts. The initial indicators are mostly existing indicators which are supported by clinicians and NHS professionals as effective quality indicators. At this initial stage The NHS IC has not applied additional quality assurance to these indicators above that provided by the producing or publishing organisation.

Why do we have the Indicators for Quality Improvement?

In High Quality Care for All, Lord Darzi set out ambitious commitments for making quality the organising principle of the NHS. His vision is that all NHS staff will measure what they do as a basis for improving quality.

In partnership with professionals right across the NHS, The NHS Information Centre and the Department of Health have identified an initial, but evolving, set of indicators to describe the quality of a broad range of services – the Indicators for Quality Improvement (IQI).

The initial menu is made up of existing indicators. The long-term vision is to build an extensive menu of indicators that will help every tier of the NHS understand and improve the quality of services it provides to patients.

What are the benefits of the Indicators for Quality Improvement?

  • Brings assured indicators together into one place
  • Allows you to benchmark and measure quality
  • Encourages local clinical teams to work together to improve services

How can I use the Indicators for Quality Improvement?

There are currently over 200 indicators, of which around three quarters contain data available for download. We are working with data suppliers to provide other indicators for future releases.

Metadata

21 metadata items are provided for each indicator. They explain the detailed methodology and data sources used and link to the original indicator source of the calculated indicators.

How can I find the indicators?

  • Using our clickable grid, which is based on the pathways of care examined during the NHS Next Stage Review.
  • By typing in the search box.

The small print

These indicators are primarily intended for use by NHS staff to inform quality improvement activities, supported by appropriate statistical techniques to analyse and interpret the data.

We do not recommend other re-productions of the indicators, such as 'league-tables' or data analyses which claim to describe organisational performance on the basis of individual indicators. This may result in misleading conclusions about the relative quality of services provided across the NHS.

Do I need to register to view the indicators?

You do not need to register to view the list of indicators and metadata, but you will need to register and sign-in to view the indicator data. This is so that:

  • Any indicators which have restricted access by the data supplier are adhered to. This includes making sure that there is no possibility of individual patients being identified.
  • EU regulations on re-use of public data are being met.
  • We can improve the usefulness of the indicators by understanding who is accessing the data.

Are there restrictions to registration?

Currently, no. Anyone can register to view the indicators. However in future, data for some of the individual indicators may be restricted, for instance for indicators which include sensitive or potentially patient identifiable data. In such instances the existing arrangements of the producing or publishing organisation will apply.

Note that this website is aimed at NHS professionals, for use in improving the quality of care. Patients and the public can find information to help them choose services on NHS Choices.

Getting involved

To help us develop the indicators, we want to hear from you. Please e-mail us at enquiries@ic.nhs.uk on any aspect of the indicators, the data or this website.

We want to share, support and re-use the vast range of expertise and experience from across the NHS. This is not to replace or inhibit local and regional development, but to support it nationwide. Whilst we can't promise to take on board every specific indicator proposed for IQI in the meantime, we will note comments made and respond when appropriate.