Press release 10 AUGUST 2011
Experts open one-stop shop for commissioning intelligence PCC has teamed up with NHS library and knowledge services (LKS) and the South East Coast Quality Observatory to offer commissioners free access to a one-stop shop for commissioning intelligence. The Ask an Expert service brings together for the first time expertise in commissioning, evidence searches, data analysis and health intelligence in an easy-to-access format online. Users are invited to put questions on commissioning, information analysis, data sets, procurement, contracts and evidence from research and best practice, which will be routed to the appropriate expert based on topic and geographic location. The service is an unfunded pilot that will run until January 2012 and is available to NHS commissioners in England. The pilot will draw expertise from PCC’s national adviser network, 32 of England’s local NHS LKS teams and the South East Coast Quality Observatory, which will field the analytical queries. Helen Northall, chief executive, PCC said: “Commissioning is a multidisciplinary business involving a range of health professionals. Providing information and advice needs to reflect that diversity. No single organisation has all the skills needed or all the answers.” NHS LKS teams provide expert information consultancy for acute trusts and community services across the country and in some areas are already fully embedded into the work of GPs and commissioners. The Ask an Expert service will allow many more GPs and primary care professionals to tap into their services. Ben Skinner, head of library and knowledge services at the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “To make the best decisions commissioners need to know what models and interventions have been proven to work and how they have been adopted elsewhere. We can help, but we haven’t yet made strong links with primary care. This pilot is a first step in that direction.” Samantha Riley, head of the Quality Observatory, NHS South East Coast said: “Good commissioning decisions depend on sound analysis of data which is complex and potentially confusing for non-experts. Clinical commissioning groups may eventually bring some of these skills in-house, but I very much doubt whether many will be able to afford teams of analysts with experience in the analysis, interpretation and effective use of health data. My team and others like it around the country could fill that gap.”
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Users of the Ask an Expert service will submit queries via a web form, but responses will require the human touch. Ben Skinner said: “Good knowledge management is about knowing who to ask for advice. The web provides a lot, but the expertise of the partners in this project can’t be captured in a database. We expect plenty of interaction with commissioners as we help them frame their questions and make sure we provide exactly what they need.” Find the service at www.networks.nhs.uk/commissioning. Contacts Samantha Riley, South East Coast Quality Observatory samantha.riley@southeastcoast.nhs.uk 01293 778842 Ben Skinner, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust ben.skinner@nhs.net 01273 523303 Julian Patterson, PCC julian.patterson@pcc.nhs.uk 07919 013390