In celebration of Community Nursing NHSBN’s Karen Rix interviewed Aaron Watts, Community Nurse at Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust

Karen: Today, we are delighted to have Aaron Watts, Nurse at Norfolk Community Health & Care (NCHC), joining us for an insightful conversation about how he is using benchmarking data in his role and how this is supporting his practice and his trust. Welcome, Aaron and thank you for taking the time to speak with the NHS Benchmarking Network.

Aaron: Thank you for the opportunity. It's a pleasure to be here.

Background

Karen: Please could you tell me a bit about your current role and experience.

Aaron: I have been working for NCHC since September 2019. I started as a trainee nursing associate, studying, and working throughout covid to reach my qualification as a registered nursing associate. Since then, I have been upskilling on the nursing degree apprenticeship course and will reach Band 5 this October.

I have a particular interest in wounds and take pride in providing person focused care in the community. My role allows me to use my clinical skills in patient’s homes, I am gaining lots of experience in many areas of community nursing. I am grateful to my trust for funding both of my courses, I aspire to continue my learning with a master's degree and hope to reach Band 6 as soon as possible.

Benchmarking data and Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust

Karen: Thanks for sharing your journey so far Aaron. Could you outline how benchmarking data is used in NCHC and healthcare more broadly, with a particular focus in nurse education.

Aaron: Benchmarking data provides an insight into the metrics and statistics of patient care. As a community nurse there is particular value in this data being utilised in the provision of care. Such value comes from understanding influences and general trends of your trust and teams and then using this in comparison to others. If certain areas highlight your team as an outlier this can allow for investigation and lead to service improvements.

Karen: Are there any specific areas or processes that you find benchmarking data most valuable?

Aaron: The sheer volume of data and information accessible is valuable, comparing ICB’s is also of interest. I have only recently gained access to the NHSBN (NHS Benchmarking Network) Futures forum, but the prospect of raising questions in this format also seems valuable.

Karen: That’s great thank you, I am keen to understand the limitations you experience in accessing benchmarking data to support your practice.

Aaron: I have recently started to utilise data in my practice. The problem I have found is the data is often at a higher level than what is accessible for myself as a community nurse. Seeing data specific to clinical care plans, such as pressure ulcers, wound care, compression bandaging, bladder washouts, catheters, etc., would allow insight into trends and data that I could use frequently. For example, understanding if certain areas in my trust have low caseloads of bladder washouts or if my team retains pressure ulcers longer on average than other localities.

Karen: Have you encountered any challenges in utilising the benchmarking data you have accessed in your practice? If so, how have you overcome them?

Aaron: The main challenge encountered is finding the time to locate the data that is relevant to my practice. With my clinical lead and clinical operations manager understanding the value of data and seeing its implementation can be beneficial to the team, there has been capacity created in order to dig into the data held by NHS Benchmarking Network. Currently the data is providing opportunities for thinking about quality improvements and changing practice for the better. I would like to see more specific data, as noted previously, regarding individual practices. These niche parts of data could provide insight at a level that is more accessible for front line staff.

Benchmarking data and its contribution to Quality Improvement

Karen: How does benchmarking data contribute to quality improvement initiatives within your area of interest and/or your Trust, do you have examples you can share?

Aaron: I am investigating introducing wound care training that can be utilised by clinical leads and clinical operations managers to give to new staters and colleagues who request further training. There are E-learning and tissue viability courses that are accessible, but these are underutilised. Often, it's the case that community nurse wound care skills and knowledge is developed over experiential training rather than any formal education. Our QI project is addressing this by changing the approach.

I am currently investigating, with the aid of my clinical lead, a general trend of retaining diabetic patients on our caseload longer than others in our wider region. This may be as a result from requiring more diabetic education for nurses or patients or implementing a wider range of diabetic management equipment to promote greater autonomy with some of our diabetic patients. This study has arisen from benchmarking data and may lead to improved patient wellbeing. Data highlighting wound care caseload, QOF prevalence, mean visits, resource allocation etc., could be beneficial for my investigation. I am interested in determining why my locality has an above than average prevalence of diabetes and if there are any improvements we can make in reducing our caseload and promoting patient wellbeing.

Karen: I would be really keen to hear more about this after your investigations, I am sure our readers would also be keen to hear more.

Aaron: Absolutely! We can follow up once they’re complete.

Feedback processes

Karen: Just a few more questions before we end, how do you communicate findings from benchmarking data to your colleagues or leadership teams?

Aaron: Disseminating the information is fed upwards to my clinical lead who utilises quarterly newsletters or emails to our wider team.

Karen: Are there risks of sharing benchmarking data with staff?

Aaron: Staff engagement would be the only risk. With low capacity and straining resources, nurses might not engage with the data being sent, having to focus on their day-to-day job.

Closing statements

Karen: Finally, do you have any content or areas you would like to include? Anything else to share with our readers?

Aaron: As noted, although I’m not sure if there is any realistic way to collect this data, more specific data regarding clinical care plans.

Karen: Thank you so much for sharing your insights into the data with us, Aaron. It has been a pleasure speaking with you and I wish you every success with your career.

About your interviewer

Karen Rix, Associate Director, Network Development and ICB (Integrated Care Boards) Sector Lead

Karen joined the Network in November 2022 and heads the Network Development and ICB teams. Karen previously spent 18 years working within the NHS. As a Deputy Director, Karen gained a wealth of experience in mental health service provision, transformation, commissioning, and performance.

Karen's passions lie within quality and patient focused services. Karen has a strong record of using data and technology to bring about sustainable change and improved patient outcomes.

You can find information benchmarking data relevant to this article in the Members Area community indicators pages and the IC Benchmarker.

Interested in sharing how your organisation has used the data? Contact us, we would be thrilled to write a case study, have an interview or just a chat!

A Day to Remember: NHS Benchmarking Network – Celebration of the Network

The highly anticipated ‘Celebration of the Network’ event took place at the Birmingham Conference and Events Centre last week (16/05/24). The Network were delighted to welcome member organisations from throughout the UK.

For the first time ever, we welcomed virtual delegates through a hybrid system, with over 30 delegates joining online, all coming together to celebrate the excellent and ground breaking difference that benchmarking can make.

Bringing together NHSBN members and the Network Support Team, the event celebrated how Network data is being utilised by members and also recognised the valuable contribution made by member organisations.

The event kicked off with host Sam Wilde, Co-Chair of the Network Steering Group, setting the scene by highlighting the importance of benchmarking data within his own trust, Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust. Sam emphasised what Network data can bring to a trusts strategy long term.

One of the days most anticipated moments was the first ever NHSBN award ceremony. Network Director Sarah Atkinson and event host Sam Wilde presented five awards. Four awards recognised members contribution to the Network. These awards winners were chosen by taking into account many factors: participation in Reference Groups, member programme projects and support with NHSFutures, project scoping and code testing. The fifth award recognised the personal achievements of one member of the Network support team, Aidan Rawlinson, Product Developer.

Congratulations to our winners:

• Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

• Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust

• Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust

• Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

• Aidan Rawlinson, NHS Benchmarking Network

Throughout the day, attendees had the opportunity to network and share ideas with peers. Four guest speakers led the way by sharing how their Trusts have used the benchmarking data. Thank you to our guest speakers:

Samantha Steeples, Information Quality Officer at Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust - Samantha discussed benchmarking in practice, a view from her own organisation. The presentation received interest during the day, particularly around the Trusts top tips NHS Benchmarking Policy.

Ursula James, Associate Director for Mental Health at NHS England - Ursula presented how benchmarking data had supported Systems within South West England. Ursula outlined conclusions from some of the regions bespoke projects undertaken by NHSBN. These conclusions included empowering, enabling and equipping Systems to deliver on population needs following the South West Perinatal Mental Health Services project.

Sheila O’Loughlin, Head of Home Pathway, Vicky Robinson, Therapy Team Lead and Paul Drury, Director Urgent Community Response Care Group at Bromley Healthcare CIC Ltd - Bromley Healthcare CIC kicked off the event's afternoon session with a presentation focused on Intermediate Care and how the CIC has used their Intermediate Care data.

Phil Horner, Deputy Chief Strategy & Improvement Officer at Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust - Phil rounded off the day with a presentation on building on benchmarking within the Trust.

As the event drew to a close, attendees left feeling enriched and eager to apply insights with new connections gained. The success of this year’s event sets the foundations for future celebrations of the Network, as we continue to recognise the invaluable contribution and commitment from our members.

Thank you to everyone who joined us on the day, in particular our guest speakers and award winners. We hope to see many of you at our future events, whether that’s in person or virtually.

For more information and to stay updated on upcoming events, visit https://www.nhsbenchmarking.nhs.uk/events.

Unveiling the new NHSBN website and NHSFutures Workspace

Following the launch of the 2024/25 Member Work Programme on 11th April 2024. The NHS Benchmarking Network is delighted to unveil its highly anticipated new website, NHSFutures Workspace and new look members’ area.

Website

Taking onboard the feedback we received in our annual member survey, we have developed an easy to navigate, exciting and resourceful website to meet the needs of our members. Whether you're seeking membership information, member project details, the date of an upcoming event or simply to access our members’ area, we have you covered.

You’ll notice several changes to our site compared to the old site. We’ve updated the navigation and refined the categories to focus on our core elements. You’ll now also find our events under the ‘What we do’ section, and an events calendar to  allow you to see all the upcoming events more easily.

To explore the new website and experience all of its new features, visit https://www.nhsbenchmarking.nhs.uk/ today!

Members’ area

Our members’ area has also seen some updates including:

• Projects that your organisation has registered for will now be displayed first under ‘your current projects’ on the home page

• Information on the project stage (e.g. ‘data collection closes in 14 days’).

• The introduction of a sector filter and search box to make it easy for users to find projects of interest.

• The left-hand side of the home screen now shows upcoming events, resources and the new NHSFutures workspace.

• A resources page which pulls together the resources from across the Network projects into one easy access area. Resources found here include project overview reports, infographics, case studies and event documents.  

NHSFutures Workspace

Feedback received in the member survey and from consultation on our website Forum page, recommended that the Network should have its own NHSFutures workspace. We have now launched our NHSFutures Workspace, please take a look and let us know your thoughts (https://future.nhs.uk/BenchmarkingNetwork).

The workspace aims to bring together individuals from our member organisations to network and collaborate with each other as well as with the Network’s Support Team. We encourage you to participate and generate discussion topics in our dedicated sector forums, sharing how you have used Network data for good practice.

On the left hand side of the workspace homepage, you’ll see our resources and forums. We have broken these down by sector and we welcome thoughts on whether a further breakdown by project would be helpful.

To join our workspace: follow this link https://future.nhs.uk/BenchmarkingNetwork and click join at the top of the page. Once access has been granted, you’ll be free to explore all the resources available. Over the coming weeks we will continue to add content to the site, so we encourage you to check back regularly.

Finally, we’d like to thank all of our members for their contributions and feedback to make these updates possible. If you have any feedback on the website, members’ area or NHSFutures workspace, please do get in contact at enquiries@nhsbenchmarking.nhs.uk.

Our 2023/24 Membership Year in Review!!

Click on the image above to view the 2023/24 Annual Report.

As we wrap up the 2023/24 year, we are pleased to share our review of the benchmarking year and feedback from our annual member survey.

The Annual Report encapsulates many of the achievements and milestones that the NHS Benchmarking Network has accomplished over the past year.

Highlights include:

• Delivery of an insightful member work programme with over 700,000 data points received from members.

• Updates to our Terms of Membership to include data sharing between members.

• Technology developments to enhance the member experience.

Every membership year we give members the opportunity to feedback about their experience through our member survey. This survey captures what they like about being members and improvements they would like to see.  

As we launch the 2024/25 member work programme, we have taken this opportunity to respond to members on the work we have done to address feedback received in the recent survey. The broad topics of feedback include data definitions, data collection process, dissemination of reports and outputs and communications.  The full feedback can be found here.

Members can provide feedback to the Support Team throughout the year by:

• Joining one of our Reference Groups to be involved in the development of the Network and subject areas

• Emailing the project teams directly, email address can be found on the members’ area and website

• Speaking to the team, all the project specific phone numbers are available on the members’ area

• Attending a drop-in session that will be running throughout data collection and validation

• Joining or starting a discussion on our brand new NHS Futures workspace

We would like to thank our members and stakeholders for their continued support, engagement and feedback through 2023/24. We look forward to continued collaboration during 2024/25.

If you have any queries about the 2023/24 Annual Member Work Programme Report or member survey feedback, please contact the Support Team on enquiries@nhsbenchmarking.nhs.uk.

The NHS Benchmarking Network offer two types of membership plans, an Insight membership and Foundation membership.

In addition, the NHS Benchmarking Network delivers National Audits, a workforce work programme and a bespoke commissioned programme.

Health and Care Workforce Programme 2024 Launches!

The NHS Benchmarking Network have been working with NHS England over the last five years to develop a Workforce Programme to provide data and insight to support the growth and retention of the workforce across health and social care. 

Together we have worked hard to build a profile of where services are delivered, to understand the shape and size of the workforce across all sectors. We continue to build on the progress made to date, to support the achievement of the targets and ambitions recently set out in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan

We are pleased to announce the Workforce Projects that will be included in 2024 along with  launch dates, submission deadlines and report publication timelines.  Details can be found here

Details of the specific projects will be released over the coming weeks and months.

We will continue to review and reduce the data burden wherever possible whilst still delivering against key project requirements.

At the same time as launching the 2024 Health and Care Workforce Programme we are pleased to launch the programme dedicated website.  The content will grow over the coming months as 2024 projects come online and we add project specifications and links to support from the team.

Each project page includes:

• Options to register an interest in participating in a project, links to contact the team and FAQs

• A brief project overview although more details are included within the census collection templates

• Links to walkthrough live session and videos as well as links to drop In sessions throughout the data collection period providing an opportunity to raise queries with the team

• Collection templates – locked for use for submission and unlocked for use locally.

• National report from 2023.

We will also include details of events for 2024 and news items related to the programme.

Full dates for the 2024/25 Member Work Programme are now available!

The start of the NHS Benchmarking Network’s 2024/25 member work programme is right around the corner, with 3 projects opening for registration next month! Following the release of our work programme in January, we’re delighted to provide further information for you. This additional information includes dates throughout the year for all projects, covering:

• Registration

• Data collection

• Validation

• Reporting

• Events

On our member work programme calendar, each project will now show the exact dates for each project stage, allowing members to plan and coordinate their project participation. Furthermore, the event dates will also allow you to save the date in your diary to ensure you don’t miss our highly popular Benchmarking Findings webinars! Registration for these events will open later in the year and members will be contacted when appropriate.

To ensure uninterrupted access to the member work programme, please ensure your organisation has provided a purchase order for the upcoming membership renewal. Contact Kim Burton, Network Development Manager, if you have any queries.

To download your copy of the work programme with full dates, please click here. You can find out further details about each of the 24/25 projects on the projects webpage. If you have any questions, please contact the team at enquiries@nhsbenchmarking.nhs.net

Not yet a member?

If you are from a non-member organisation, now is a great time to join to engage with the 2024/25 member work programme. We invite you to have a conversation about how the Network community can support you in achieving your priorities. Please get in touch with the Support Team to arrange this.

We're ‘Going Red’ for Heart Month!

This month we are supporting the British Heart Foundation in their Go Red for Heart Month campaign. 

The British Heart Foundation funds around £100 million of research each year into all heart and circulatory diseases and their causes. Their vision is a world without the fear of heart and circulatory diseases: “a world without heartbreak”. We'd like to help them work towards that goal! Read more about their amazing research here

What are We Doing?

On Tuesday 13th and Wednesday 14th our office will go ‘Red’, where staff will wear red. This maybe be head to toe in red, or it could be a red accessory or even just lipstick! Check out our social media to find out more!

Later this month the team will be able to take part in the BHF's free RevivR session, where staff can learn CPR in just 15 minutes.

Knowing Your Numbers

It is strongly advised that we all ‘know our numbers’. Being informed of our blood pressure is the first step in preventing heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure, to name a few. 

Anyone is able to get their blood pressure tested at your pharmacy, GP surgery or as part of your NHS Health Check (these are advised for those aged 40 - 74 every five years). Your height, weight, and cholesterol are also checked during this appointment to give a rounded view of your overall health, and the ability to give you a cardiovascular risk score. Find more avenues to get your blood pressure checked here

Find out what your numbers mean here

CVDPREVENT Clinical Audit

The CVDPREVENT audit, commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) as part of the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP) and funded by NHS England & NHS Improvement, aims to support professionally-led quality improvement in primary care for the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in England. The audit is delivered by the NHS Benchmarking Network, the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities (OHID) - National Cardiovascular Intelligence Network (NCVIN) team, and NHS Digital.

CVDPREVENT is a primary care audit which automatically extracts data from 98% of the GP practices in England. This data updated quarterly provides insights into the diagnosis, monitoring, treatment and potential overtreatment of patients with and at risk of Cardiovascular diseases.

Statistics - September 2023 - present

• 1.94% of patients who were in the risk range for hypertension did not have a diagnosis, this means that over 950,000 people, in the audit sample, were not diagnosed.

• In those diagnosed 85.09% received a blood pressure test in the last 12 months, however this means that almost 1.2 million patients did not receive a test.

• In patients with diagnosed Cardiovascular diseases, 81.75% received lipid lowering therapy meaning that almost 500,000 patients did not receive lipid lowering therapy.

Find out more about CVDPREVENT and access the data and improvement tool here

The NHS Benchmarking Network are thrilled to announce a GP Benchmarking initiative!

The Independent Doctors Federation have commissioned the NHS Benchmarking Network to launch the GP Benchmarking campaign as a part of the Networks bespoke services.  This campaign tackles the updated Care Quality Commission Good Governance regulations and gives valuable insight and identifies areas for improvement.

The GP Benchmarking campaign is a unique opportunity for members of the Independent Doctors Federation to measure and improve their care and treatment outcomes.

The campaign aims to support IDF members in meeting the CQC's Regulation 17: Good governance, which was updated in August 2023. The regulation requires GP practices to monitor and evaluate the quality and effectiveness of their services. This initiative will help GP’s to do this by providing a Practice and a Patient Survey, alongside a benchmarking report that will compare results with other similar practices.

The Practice Survey covers three clinical areas: hypertension, hypothyroidism and statins. GP practices are required to provide information on the prevalence, prescribing and monitoring of these conditions in their practice. IDF members can download the full specification of the questions here and complete the survey offline. All responses will be kept confidential.

Please watch this Webinar video for more information.

The Patient Survey is designed to capture patient views and satisfaction with their GP’s own practice. It is available as a QR Code that can easily be shared with patients.

The deadline for completing both surveys is 30th April 2024.

By taking part in this campaign, GP practices will not only demonstrate compliance with the CQC regulation, but also gain valuable insights into their practice's performance and areas for improvement.

If you are not a member of IDF and you want to join this campaign, please contact their membership team to find out how to become a member. As a member, you will benefit from access to exclusive resources, events, training and networking opportunities. You will also be part of a community of professionals who share your passion for improving the private healthcare system.

If you have any questions or need any support, please email the IDF at info@idf.co.uk  

If you would like to discuss membership or bespoke services the NHS Benchmarking Network offer please contact enquiries@nhsbenchmarking.nhs.uk