07 Jan 2011
BASHH 2011 Audit against Key Performance Indicators in the BASHH STI Management Standards: now ready for on-line submission until 18 March 2011
The following services managing STIs are encouraged to complete and submit an online audit questionnaire on performance against the BASHH STI Management Standards KPIs:
- Genitourinary medicine clinics
- Eligible services not led by Genitourinary Medicine consultants.
Services not led by Genitourinary Medicine consultants are eligible if they provide management of STIs at either level 2 or 3 as per the BASHH STIMS Project definitions in Appendix B. Such services may include:
- Services led by a Faculty of Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare consultant
- Services led by Primary Care practitioners at level 2
- Services commissioned by PCTs to be provided by the independent or third sectors
Genitourinary Medicine Clinical Leads and PCT Sexual Health Leads should invite eligible services not led by Genitourinary Medicine consultants in their areas to take part. The BASHH Regional Audit Chairs are supporting the Audit process in their Regions. The PCT Sexual Health Leads are being kept informed of the Audit by Andrea Duncan, Department of Health Programme Manager for Sexual Health & HIV.
Not eligible for this audit are:
- National Chlamydial Screening Programme services
- Pharmacy services
- Non PCT-commissioned independent or third sector services
The STIMS Audit is conducted by use of a Workbook and completion and submission of a single online questionnaire per clinic.
The website address for submission of the completed online Audit questionnaire is available at:
- https://www.bashh.org/members/national_audit_group_private_content,
- from your BASHH Regional Audit Chair or PCT Sexual Health Lead.
The Workbook needed to do the Audit is available from on the BASHH National Audit Group page https://www.bashh.org/groups/national_audit_group.
Please let Hugo McClean hugo.mcclean@chcphull.nhs.uk know as soon as possible about any bugs in the Workbook! (Note that drop down lists may not work in Excel when a window is frozen or split – if this happens unfreeze the window/remove the split using the View tab, or contact me for help with this).
Senior clinical staff should assist colleagues in collecting data for their service, including helping to obtain information from management colleagues.
Please encourage all services providing Level 2 & 3 services in your area to take part, including services seeing smaller numbers of cases.
The BASHH Regional Audit Chairs and Sexual Health Leads will keep services up-to-date with the Audit arrangements and progress. For more information, email hugo.mcclean@chcphull.nhs.uk or ann.sullivan@chelwest.nhs.uk.
Recently compiled sexual health clinic lists will be used to monitor response, and to help with reminders to services to take part.
A re-audit against the BASHH STIMS is planned for 2014, so this is a useful baseline audit upon which to build interventions and change management, and provide information for revalidation and performance review.
Please ask all those participating to send all online questionnaire submissions by the closing date 18 March 2011.
Finally, there is a short survey on the proposal of a BASHH ‘service subscription’ tagged onto the STIMS online form- the link to this survey appears after the submit button for the STIMS form is clicked.
Once again, thank you for your continuing help with the BASHH national audit programme.
Making best use of the BASHH national audits: performance review and revalidation:
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges Clinical Audit and Revalidation. Report and Recommendations is available at: www.aomrc.org.uk/publications/reports-guidance.html. This gives the essential principles that an audit must follow to be acceptable to the GMC for revalidation. These principles are detailed in the table, beginning on page 9, including to “reflect on the results of local and non-local clinical audit that relate to the doctor’s practice or to the care provided by the doctor’s clinical team,” and “the taking of appropriate action in response to the results.” The table, beginning page 14, lists the criteria and indicators of a high quality clinical audit.
Clinics should make best use of audit data by reflecting on the results, relating these to individual and team practice, planning interventions and managing these through local change, service development and clinical governance processes.
Managing audit results gives rise to opportunities to demonstrate clinical leadership, change management, and collaboration, and delivering, developing and managing high quality services.
Making best use of baseline audit results will make re-audit exercises much more meaningful, allowing comparisons to be made with baseline results, and providing data to demonstrate the GMC requirement of completing an audit cycle within 5 years.
The Royal College of Physicians is at an advanced stage in developing an on-line tool (eCAT, the electronic Clinical Audit Tool) to facilitate the recording of the audit process, and developing outcomes from audit work. Mark FitzGerald has led the Specialty in contributing to this work.
Hugo McClean