Quality care standards announced

Both the previous and current Government administrations have placed “quality” high on the agenda. But what exactly does quality care actually “look like”? NICE has been given the task of attempting to answer this question and has set out to identify criteria against which various services should be benchmarked. Up to 150 topics are expected to be referred to NICE by the Department of Health, following advice from the National Quality Board (NQB), by 2015, in order to create a broad library of quality standards. The evidence-based standards are designed to provide markers of excellent care and are produced collaboratively with the NHS, social care professionals and service users. Individual clinicians and clinical teams, with their local audit support colleagues, should be able to use the Quality Standards to self-audit and benchmark their performance against other clinical teams, as they will provide standardised points of reference across services. It is hoped that these will act as a catalyst for clinical performance, inform the development and configuration of local services, and help support the implementation of “Quality, Innovation, Prevention and Productivity” (QIPP) plans. NICE recently announced that nine new quality standards will be developed, during 2010/11, for the management of: breast cancer, Type 1 and 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, end-of-life care, glaucoma, depression, chronic heart failure, alcohol dependence (treatment only, not primary prevention or causation), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, a number of quality standards have already been published. The first three – covering stroke care, dementia care and prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) – were presented to the Secretary of State on 30 June 2010, while a further (draft) quality standard for neonatal care has been released for consultation.

Quality standard for stroke

The NICE guidance points out that, over the last 20 years, a growing body of evidence has overturned the traditional perception that stroke is simply a consequence of ageing that inevitably results in death or severe disability. Evidence is accumulating for more effective primary and secondary prevention strategies, better recognition of people at highest risk who are most in need of active intervention, interventions that are effective soon after the onset of symptoms, and an understanding of the processes of care that contribute to a better outcome. This major focus on improving stroke care is reflected in the following quality criteria: