NHS Comparators is a free service for NHS organisations, providing comparative activity and cost data that enables commissioners and providers to improve the quality of care delivered by benchmarking and comparing activity and costs on a local, regional and national level. It draws on the Secondary Uses System as well as the quality and outcomes framework (QOF) information and GP practice demographic population profile and prescribing data. It offers comparisons on in-patient, outpatient and disease-specific activity.
Local knowledge will always be needed for interpretation but comparisons offer a useful benchmark. Each comparator has suggestions for interpretation for high or low values.
We have been given permission by the NHS Information Centre to reproduce some animated examples of how to use it here.
Introduction – how to login, what’s available, how to use it and read it, definitions
Category selection – for providers and commissioners
Graphical screen – explains how the graphical representations should be interpreted (bar charts, scatter plots, time series, underlying population data and so on) gives examples of emergency admissions per 1000 population by cost and activity, by practice, compared to national and SHA averages
Groups – this describes pre-defined groups and how to build custom groups for comparison
Copyright© 2009 and are re-used with the permission of The Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved.
