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The leading provider of healthcare intelligence and quality improvement services.
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Reasons to choose CHKS
We do not rely on centrally sourced data. As well as HES and other national data sources, we have collected patient-level data directly from trusts since 1989.
Published articles
Rise in admissions will be unsustainable for PCTs
181 kB 21st January 2010 Read more....
HSJ News - 21.01.10
Just 10 per cent of primary care trusts have successfully reduced emergency admissions to their local acute trusts.
Data backs up concerns over demand for beds
810 kB 25th November 2009 Read more....
Nursing Times - 24.11.09
Data from a sample of 20 NHS hospitals shows medical admissions in September and October 2009 were 5 per cent higher than the same two months in 2008 - corroborating nurses' reports.
Big break for the clinical coders
361 kB 8th April 2009 Read more....
HSJ Good Management - 26.03.09
Improving coding is a priority for the NHS. Robin Gammon explains how one trust built and trained a dream team of coders. The NHS operating framework for 2008-09 calls on all organisations to focus on clinical coding in the drive for world class patient care. But do coders have the skills and knowledge required to undertake this increasingly important task?
Consultants behind bulk of five-year referral rise
236 kB 19th February 2009 Read more....
GP News - 19.02.09
Referrals between hospital consultants, not GP referrals, are to blame for a recent sharp increase in outpatient appointments, research suggests.
Depression, ethnicity and talking therapies
2.66 MB 4th September 2009 Read more....
HSJ Data Briefing - 05.02.09
There are so many sources of information for commissioners that it is sometimes difficult to source reliable and timely data. However, colleagues may find the recently published online world class commissioning.
End of life care must be properly recorded
653 kB 18th December 2008 Read more....
HSJ Data Briefing - 11.12.2008
Our work in end of life care suggests coding is being significantly under-recorded. This impacts on risk-adjusted mortality rates and issues relating to length of stay, which in turn has implications for organisations that compile data.
Cardiovascular Diabetology
301 kB 6th February 2009 Read more....
BioMed Central - 19 January 2009
Written by the CHKS Health Economics unit, this article is a retrospective observational study of improved glycaemic control by switching from insulin NPH to insulin glargine.
Identifying coding variance.
485 kB 27th November 2008 Read more....
HSJ Data Briefing - 27.11.08..
Recent reports have highlighted inconsistent coding of patient episodes. Though it is difficult to identify the variations in coding without a detailed analysis of case notes, we have had some interesting results from recent advance work.
Same-day care sees admissions level off
222 kB 27th November 2008 Read more....
HSJ Data Briefing - 13.11.08
Same-day care sees admissions level off. This article examines what has been happening over the last five years with emergency admissions to acute hospitals - probably the biggest driver of all healthcare spend. They create one of the biggest headaches for acute providers. How do you organise services to deal efficiently with the variable demand alongside the various targets for accident and emergency and admission times and manage within the bed stock?
UK Maternity Services
433 kB 27th November 2008 Read more....
HSJ Intelligence Supplement 3 - 15.9.08
Last month, HSJ looked at spending and productivity in England and Scotland (Data Briefing, page 19, 24 July). This article investigates differences in the maternity services across three countries (England, Northern Ireland and Wales - reliable data for Scotland was not found for the whole period). We looked at five years' data for births in hospitals from 2003-04 to 2007-08. The main categorisation of methods of delivery is "normal", "assisted" (forceps and vacuum assisted/ventouse) or caesarean section.
Huge contrasts found between UK nations
1.16 MB 20th November 2008 Read more....
HSJ Feature Edition - 28.8.08
Diverging policies are dramatically affecting patient experience. Patients in the UK’s four nations have dramatically different experiences of the NHS, HSJ can reveal. A comparison of health services in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland shows marked differences in the likelihood of emergency admission to hospital, staying overnight or being operated upon.
Good opportunity for ambulatory care
5.51 MB 20th November 2008 Read more....
HSJ Data Briefing - 14.8.08
The next stage review has again highlighted the opportunities for providing elements of urgent and chronic care outside the acute inpatient setting,
Wider engagement in joint assessment
5.86 MB 20th November 2008 Read more....
HSJ Data Briefing - 26.6.08
The starting point for improving health services and reducing heath inequalities is data. To identify areas for improvement, exactly the same data must be collected in the same way. That is why all primary care trusts and local authorities are now required to do a joint strategic needs assessment.
Prevention shows benefits across UK
249 kB 19th November 2008 Read more....
HSJ Data Briefing - 3.4.08
Over the last few years, more and more emphasis has been placed on early intervention and/or prevention for long-term conditions. Has this started to show any impact on the number of hospital admissions?
On the waiting times initiative
2.36 MB 20th November 2008 Read more....
HSJ Intelligence Supplement 2 - 6.3.08
The NHS is often used as a generic term, but in reality it consists of four different countries. In my last column, I examined surprising differences in the growth of emergency admissions in the four countries. This time we will look at an issue that has had the highest focus in England: waiting times.
Patient reports are simple and useful
509 kB 19th November 2008 Read more....
HSJ Data Briefing - 7.2.08
Despite all the data flowing around the NHS, the question of whether the patient feels better after a procedure is an extremely difficult one to answer. Some clinicians keep their own records, but more often than not they are interested only in whether what they did was successful from their perspective, not what benefit the patient perceived.
Four hour target fuels admission
674 kB 19th November 2008 Read more....
HSJ Data Briefing - 18.10.07
How have targets changed the way we organise emergency workloads and what has the impact been of the four-hour waiting target in accident and emergency?
Cash incentives improve coding
677 kB 19th November 2008 Read more....
HSJ Data Briefing - 26.7.07
One continuing debate between commissioners and acute trusts is over the use of clinical coding in secondary care to maximise income.
Outcomes improve in cardiology
Read more....HSJ Data Briefing - 31.5.07
In recent years, the change in clinical practice in cardiology has had an impact on cardiothoracic surgery, especially coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedures. Treatment, particularly for patients who suffer a heart attach, has changed.