Nurse staffing and quality of care in UK general practice: cross-sectional study using routinely collected data
Nurse staffing and quality of care in UK general practice: cross-sectional study using routinely collected data
Background: In many UK general practices, nurses have been used to deliver results against the indicators of the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), a 'pay for performance' scheme.
Aim: To determine the association between the level of nurse staffing in general practice and the quality of clinical care as measured by the QOF.
Design of the study: Cross-sectional analysis of routine data.
Setting: English general practice in 2005/2006.
Method: QOF data from 7456 general practices were linked with a database of practice characteristics, nurse staffing data, and census-derived data on population characteristics and measures of population density. Multi-level modelling explored the relationship between QOF performance and the number of patients per full-time equivalent nurse. The outcome measures were achievement of quality of care for eight clinical domains as rated by the QOF, and reported achievement of 10 clinical outcome indicators derived from it.
Results: A high level of nurse staffing (fewer patients per full-time equivalent practice-employed nurse) was significantly associated with better performance in 4/8 clinical domains of the QOF (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension, P = 0.004 to P<0.001) and in 4/10 clinical outcome indicators (diabetes: glycosylated haemoglobin [HbA1C] ≤7.4%, HbA1C ≤10% and total cholesterol ≤193 mg/dl; and stroke: total cholesterol ?5 mmol/L, P = 0.0057 to P<0.001).
Conclusion: Practices that employ more nurses perform better in a number of clinical domains measured by the QOF. This improved performance includes better intermediate clinical outcomes, suggesting real patient benefit may be associated with using nurses to deliver care to meet QOF targets.
cross-sectional studies, family practice, health care, incentive, nursing staff, personnel staffing and scheduling, physician incentive plans, quality indicators, quality of health care, reimbursement
e36-e48
Griffiths, Peter
ac7afec1-7d72-4b83-b016-3a43e245265b
Murrells, Trevor
9a57589a-d893-415c-8c3d-8b25d052f42c
Maben, Jill
3240b527-420c-498e-9f66-557b96561f40
Jones, Simon
f5d66e16-2c8e-4d48-ab97-0715a6e85c46
Ashworth, Mark
51302b16-d1e8-4221-a192-04aebdd16f77
January 2010
Griffiths, Peter
ac7afec1-7d72-4b83-b016-3a43e245265b
Murrells, Trevor
9a57589a-d893-415c-8c3d-8b25d052f42c
Maben, Jill
3240b527-420c-498e-9f66-557b96561f40
Jones, Simon
f5d66e16-2c8e-4d48-ab97-0715a6e85c46
Ashworth, Mark
51302b16-d1e8-4221-a192-04aebdd16f77
Griffiths, Peter, Murrells, Trevor, Maben, Jill, Jones, Simon and Ashworth, Mark
(2010)
Nurse staffing and quality of care in UK general practice: cross-sectional study using routinely collected data.
British Journal of General Practice, 60 (570), .
(doi:10.3399/bjgp10X482086).
(PMID:20040166)
Abstract
Background: In many UK general practices, nurses have been used to deliver results against the indicators of the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), a 'pay for performance' scheme.
Aim: To determine the association between the level of nurse staffing in general practice and the quality of clinical care as measured by the QOF.
Design of the study: Cross-sectional analysis of routine data.
Setting: English general practice in 2005/2006.
Method: QOF data from 7456 general practices were linked with a database of practice characteristics, nurse staffing data, and census-derived data on population characteristics and measures of population density. Multi-level modelling explored the relationship between QOF performance and the number of patients per full-time equivalent nurse. The outcome measures were achievement of quality of care for eight clinical domains as rated by the QOF, and reported achievement of 10 clinical outcome indicators derived from it.
Results: A high level of nurse staffing (fewer patients per full-time equivalent practice-employed nurse) was significantly associated with better performance in 4/8 clinical domains of the QOF (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension, P = 0.004 to P<0.001) and in 4/10 clinical outcome indicators (diabetes: glycosylated haemoglobin [HbA1C] ≤7.4%, HbA1C ≤10% and total cholesterol ≤193 mg/dl; and stroke: total cholesterol ?5 mmol/L, P = 0.0057 to P<0.001).
Conclusion: Practices that employ more nurses perform better in a number of clinical domains measured by the QOF. This improved performance includes better intermediate clinical outcomes, suggesting real patient benefit may be associated with using nurses to deliver care to meet QOF targets.
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Published date: January 2010
Keywords:
cross-sectional studies, family practice, health care, incentive, nursing staff, personnel staffing and scheduling, physician incentive plans, quality indicators, quality of health care, reimbursement
Organisations:
Health Sciences
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 167997
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/167997
ISSN: 0960-1643
PURE UUID: 5eb85f1f-bdce-451c-ab3b-0cb7e7a2f591
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Date deposited: 23 Nov 2010 11:15
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:56
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Author:
Trevor Murrells
Author:
Jill Maben
Author:
Simon Jones
Author:
Mark Ashworth
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