Do clinicians in primary and secondary care trust one another’s data?
RN: “I think there is a high degree of trust, both ways. There will always be some differences at the margin, but we have very effective mechanisms to iron out differences of opinion. “We welcome any challenge to our data as a means of identifying improvement. Good quality coding is especially important for UCLH as we have a higher proportion of complex, high-cost patients who need more expensive treatments. Service line reporting and patient level costing are increasingly important to us, and help to achieve greater transparency between us and commissioners.” How do you achieve a healthy culture between managers and medics? ’It’s vitally important to engage clinicians integrally within the management structure’ RN: “It’s vitally important to engage clinicians integrally within the management structure. Ten years ago, I replaced the existing administrative structure of UCLH with a flat clinician-led one. I did this by appointing four medical directors and 22 clinical directors – previo
