Capturing consultant outcomes across the NHS

Delivering consistent consultant level outcome data to NHS staff via the National Consultant Information Programme

“Edge have been an important partner in helping develop the National Consultant Information Programme (NCIP). Edge colleagues have been delightful to work with and their expertise has been highly valued”

Professor Sir Norman Williams, Chair: National Consultant Information Programme (NCIP)

The Paterson review[1] highlighted how a lack of transparent reporting on surgeon activity can allow dangerous variation in clinical practice to take place undiscovered across the NHS and the independent sector. This is because there is currently no consistent consultant level clinical outcome data available that allows peer review beyond a consultant’s Trust.
The National Consultant Information Programme (NCIP) is a quality improvement programme developed to rectify this by providing individual clinicians with clinically validated outcomes for their activity, benchmarked against all other consultants in the country. The outcomes are surfaced in a secure online portal that allows consultants (and their appraisers and ROs) to review their own activity to support self-development, with the ultimate aim to improve quality of care and patient safety.

NCIP Vision: Improving clinical quality and safety for patients across the NHS, by giving consultants a single source of data covering their whole practice to support quality improvement.

NCIP Mission: We develop high quality metrics with front line clinicians using all available data at consultant level to support clinical improvement for patient benefit. To do this we build practical tools that can be used effectively on the ground for improvement, appraisal, and revalidation.

In March 2020, NHSEI asked Edge Health to support the National Consultant Information Programme (NCIP), then called the National Clinical Improvement Programme, through the transition into NHSEI and to help deliver the support needed for a future scale up.

Edge analysts have since supported the development and maintenance of analytical content for the portal, managing data updates, and supported an implementation team with the analytics needed to enable roll-out of the portal across the NHS and to surface information in a secure and impactful manner. The team have engaged with Specialty Associations and clinicians to ensure that clinical algorithms for metrics used in the tool are validated, trusted and useful.

Two years on, the programme has exceeded expectations, securing funding for the next few years with a clear roadmap and positive engagement from clinicians on the ground. NCIP has now been transitioned into business-as-usual and is being scaled to meet the new demands facing the NHS.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/paterson-inquiry-report