Higher quality dementia care

In a programme of 3 linked studies, we investigated the impact of the QOF dementia review on the quality of care received by those with dementia, focusing particularly on the interface between primary and secondary care. We asked whether GP practices that Higher Quality Dementia Care
review comparatively more of their patients have:

• fewer emergency hospital admissions
• shorter stays for those who are hospitalised
• lower risk of discharge to a care home following hospitalisation

The research used several linked large datasets analysing data for a 5 year period relating to all GP practices in England for patients with dementia, involving around 230,00 patients. Advanced statistical methods were employed in order to ensure other factors that can influence outcomes were taken into account.

Higher quality dementia care
Centre for Health Economics
February 2016

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Unexpectedly long hospital stays as an indicator of risk of unsafe care

"The unexpectedly long length of stay (UL-LOS) indicator is a useful addition to other patient safety indicators by revealing variation between hospitals and areas of possible patient safety improvement."

Unexpectedly long hospital stays as an indicator of risk of unsafe care: an exploratory study
I Borghans, KD Hekkert, L den Ouden, S Cihangir, J Vesseur, RB Kool, GP Westert
BMJ Open, 2014;4:e004773

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Contemporary evidence about hospital strategies for reducing 30-day readmissions

"Although most hospitals have a written objective of reducing preventable readmissions of patients with heart failure or acute myocardial infarction, the implementation of recommended practices varied widely."

Contemporary evidence about hospital strategies for reducing 30-day readmissions: a national study
EH Bradley, et al.
Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2012, online first

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