Joining the national out of hours benchmark

What you are signing up to

We are looking for PCTs to sign up for three years support.  This involves a benchmark every six months (or 6 over the three years) with a survey of patients and the additional analysis of patient experience carried out by our partners, CFEP, every year.  You can sign up for just one benchmark, or one year, but the costs are much lower for three years.

What you will need to do

Most of the analysis is carried out through a data extract of four weeks activity over the last six months.  The initial benchmark, completing a web based survey for commissioners looking at costs and a separate web based survey for providers looking at all aspects of performance, takes more time – in future benchmarks you can revise your previous returns which will be much quicker.

What you will get

• A summary report for the PCT highlighting your local performance against the headline indicators and detailed performance against national quality requirements.  This will be, in effect, a six-monthly performance report on out of hours care for the PCT Board.
• Providers will also receive a report of their performance.
• The opportunity to attend a half-day workshop after each benchmark, with your providers, to understand the findings and explore how you can improve out of hours care.
• We have now extended the benchmark to cover all areas identified by the Care Quality Commission in their final report on ‘Investigation into the out of hours services provided by Take Care Now’ in July 2010.
• The fourth benchmark will cover the full range of comparisons, based on data extracts covering recent weeks and returns completed on our web based questionnaires.
• In summary, clear and consistent evidence of the cost, quality, outcomes, productivity and patient experience of your out of hours service, compared with all other PCTs in the benchmark and compared over time, for your local service, as the benchmark develops. 

Cost of the Benchmark

The costs of the service was set following advice from a national steering group involving PCT commissioners and OOH providers.  They are:

For one benchmark:                                                                             £3,000 plus VAT

For one year (2 benchmarks & one patient survey):                        £5,000 plus VAT

For three years (6 benchmarks & three patient surveys):               £9,000 plus VAT

Please note that the costs for just one benchmark are high because of the comparatively large amount of work involved in the initial set up.  The cost structure is also designed to encourage PCTs to sign up for a longer period as it is a more powerful tool when it can show trends over time rather than being used as a one-off exercise.

When can you start?

We will be bringing in new members every time we run a new round of the benchmark.  You may have good reasons why they would rather delay your start, such as changes or pressures on the out of hours service, or pressure of work within the PCT, and this too can be accommodated.  We can agree a best start date with you, as soon as you have signed up.

What do I do next?

If you are ready to join the national out of hours benchmark, please contact me (details below) and we will send you a simple form that needs to be completed, including contact details within the PCT and provider services and agreeing a contract for providing benchmarking services.

We look forward to hearing from you

Rick Stern

Primary Care Foundation

07709 746771

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it