The Minimum Data Set (MDS) for Specialist Palliative Care Services

The aim of the project is to provide good quality comprehensive data about hospice and specialist palliative care services. Annual data collection of aggregated patient data from each of the palliative care services, including inpatient care, home care, day care and hospital support, provides information which is used for strategic planning as well as local service management. This includes information about patient characteristics as well as about service uptake.

The MDS has recently been revised to reflect the changing information needs since the introduction of the original MDS 12 years ago.   The first collection of the revised dataset was in April 2009.

MDS Full Report for the year 2008/09

The NCPC has now published its "National Survey of Patient Activity Data for Specialist Palliative Care Services - MDS Full Report for the year 2008/09". This full report contains vital statistics from services across the UK. This is the 14th report from NCPC since the introduction of the Minimum Data Sets Project in 1995.

The Minimum Data Sets are the National Survey of Patient Activity Data for Specialist Palliative Care Services. The survey celebrates its 14th year and continues to be a key source of information on NHS and voluntary sector services. The Minimum Data Sets are the UK’s only continuous source of data from both NHS and voluntary sector palliative care services.

Subscribers can download the complete report as a PDF from the Online Library section of the website. Hard copies can also be purchased using the link below.

ISBN 978-1-898915-80-5

May 2010, 76 Pages. £25.00. To buy this publication please go to publications section by clicking here.

MDS Full Report for the year 2007/08

December 2008, 43 Pages. Subscribers can download the complete report from the Online Library section of the website. If you wish to buy a PDF of the complete report, please email publications@ncpc.org.uk

MDS Project Update including 2007/08 data - Briefing

A summary of the 2007/08 report.

January 2009, 8 Pages, £7.00. To order this publication, please go to publications section by clicking here.

Contact for further information: mds@ncpc.org.uk

National End of Life Care Intelligence Network

The National End of Life Care Programme (NEoLCP), has commissioned the National End of Life Care Intelligence Network (NEoLCIN) to provide commissioners and providers with a firm evidence base for the delivery of high quality services for dying people and their loved ones. It will also provide a central resource for those researching end of life care in England.

The Intelligence Network’s website can be found at:

http://www.endoflifecare-intelligence.org.uk/

The Intelligence Network’s main objectives include:

• Co-ordinating a national repository of diverse sources of data relating to end of life care which will enable people to create intelligence from the data and thereby improve quality and productivity.
• Utilising and disseminating existing data sources more effectively for local service planning and driving improvement in standards of end of life care.
• Exploring better use of data for commissioning, service delivery, research and audit.

NCPC will be working to support the Intelligence Network, and is a member of its steering group. We believe it will make a very significant contribution to improving end of life care, through more coordinated and developed collection and analysis of information related to the quality, volume and costs of care provided to people approaching the end of life. This information is vital to driving forwards improvements in the quality and productivity of services and helping to illustrate the ongoing need for palliative and end of life care.

We believe that the MDS will be a vital resource for the Network, and this view is shared by those setting it up.