New NHS ’Atlas of Variation in Healthcare’ released

Acknowledging that some variation is expected due to levels of illness or patient preference, the guidance looks to identify unwarranted variation, which could be due to limited professional knowledge or disparate organisational performance.

The topics covered include prescribing antibiotics in primary care, motoring diabetes and the assessment of dementia by GPs.

John Newton, Chief Knowledge Officer at PHE said: “Variations are not always bad. Some can be explained by local circumstance or patient centred care, but unwarranted variation is very different. While some patients are missing out on the right care, others are being given care they don’t need.

“We hope this collaboration of work between PHE, NHS Right Care and NHS England will encourage commissioners, service providers and clinicians to engage with this tool and ensure resources are being used effectively, and that outcomes improve.”

Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, National Medical Director of NHS England: “This Atlas exposes some inconvenient truths about the extent of clinical practice variation in care for some common conditions. The good news is that - at a time of financial pressure across the health service - hospitals, GPs and mental health providers have substantial opportunities to unleash greater value from their existing NHS budgets.”

Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies said: “The first step in tackling unfair variation in health services is to identify where the problems are. This Atlas is a key tool in enabling us all to do this.

“Our challenge now is to consider how we can better understand and tackle the underlying causes. This is not a straightforward task, but exploring the data that lies behind these variations will be an important starting point.”

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