Measuring Outcomes

IAPT Q3 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR (KPI) HEADLINES

The NHS Information Centre recently published IAPT KPI data for Q3 (01 October - 31 December 2011). The data provides a snap shot of take up of IAPT services in the reporting quarter. We are encouraged by the generally positive national picture shown by the data to date.  

‘Talking Therapies: A four-year plan of action' set the expectation that by 2014/15 a minimum of 15% per annum of those in need will be able to access psychological therapy services. Furthermore, of those completing treatment it is expected that at least 50% will recover (i.e. move from caseness to non-caseness, as defined in the ‘National Level KPI guidance for 2011/12'.

The information for Quarter 3 (October 2011 to December 2011) shows a continued increase in the number of people entering treatment. The data shows that IAPT services are treating over 8% of those in need in England. This is in excess of half the full roll out target of meeting 15% of the prevalence by 2014/15.

The number of PCTs with IAPT sites has increased from 146 to 148 of the 151 PCTs. Central Lancashire, Luton and West Essex continue not to have a fully compliant IAPT service.  Central Lancashire and Luton are hoping to begin their service at the beginning of 2012 and should report data in Q4 2011/12. West Essex has started to flow data but they have not correctly reported outcome data and therefore can not be considered as an IAPT site at this stage.

Whilst most SHAs continue to record consistent quarter on quarter improvements in access rates, others are experiencing very low or no growth. East of England, London & North West have shown little improvement and are considerably below the national average and ideal trajectory. London in particular is a cause for concern as they have shown no improvements over the last 4 quarters.

In Quarter 3 the rate of recovery for those completing treatment is 44.4%.  This figure consolidates the improvements in recovery rates made in Quarter 1 and 2 and demonstrates that IAPT services are moving towards the target recovery rate of 50%. 

This is provisional data as PCTs have an opportunity to ‘refresh' their data submissions for Q3 during the collection of Q4 data.

There is still some regional variation and a range of data quality and completeness issues to tackle. The National Programme team will be working with DH and SHA colleagues to address these issues.

The data can be viewed on the NHS IC website:

http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/psychologicaltherapies1112

 

IAPT Q2 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR (KPI) HEADLINES

The information for Q2 shows a continued increase in the number of people entering treatment. Based on the data received so far for 2011/12, services are on target to offer treatment to approximately 8% of those in need in England by the end of the financial year.

In Q2 the rate of recovery for those completing treatment is 43.1% and is also on track to reach the national target of 50%.  This is provisional data as PCTs have an opportunity to ‘refresh' their data submissions for Q2 during the collection of Q3 data. [Confirmed as 44.0%, post-refresh -Ed.]

There has also been a notable increase in the number of people completing treatment in the quarter, and an increase in people moving off sick pay and benefits. A substantial reduction in the numbers of people waiting more than 28 days from referral to treatment can also be observed. 

There is still some regional variation and a range of data quality and completeness issues to tackle. The Programme team will be working with DH and SHA colleagues to address these issues.

 

MEASURING PATIENT OUTCOMES

A key characteristic of an IAPT service is the effort individual therapists put into demonstrating the outcomes that are delivered.

Routine outcomes measurement is central to improving service quality - and accountability.

It ensures the person having therapy and the clinician offering it have up-to-date information on an individual's progress, which is of therapeutic value in itself. At an overview level, where individual patients are anonymised, service providers and commissioners can see a performance pattern for the service, which can be publicly reported.

IAPT DATA HANDBOOK

The IAPT Data Handbook is for everyone working in, managing, or supplying data  services to an IAPT service. This includes clinicians, commissioners, and data leads or technicians and system suppliers.

The purpose of this handbook is to:

  • Enable local partners to make the best use of IAPT outcomes data to put patients  at  the  centre  of  the  care  pathway,  deliver  outcomes appropriate  to  need,  and  improve  clinical  practice  and service quality
  • Provide definitive guidance to enable services to collect routine outcome measures using standard clinical metrics, in the context of automated (electronic) data collection and reporting systems
  • Introduce the IAPT Data Standard which develops the extant IAPT Minimum Data Set and will form the basis of the national data collection, thereby enabling local services to prepare for the implementation of the new information standard approved by the NHS Information Standards Board

Additionally, version 2 strengthens some of the key themes in data collection and analysis that all IAPT services will be striving to develop or enhance. Chapter 1 discusses the function of data in IAPT and in particular the importance of data in reducing inequalities. The handbook complements  the  approach  described  in  the  IAPT  Equality guidance for commissioners, Being Fair. Including All (October 2010) available from www.iapt.nhs.uk/equalities/

A  training presentation has been developed which is centred on this handbook.

Glossary and references sections have been added to improve the handbook's suitability for the trainee community.

Update: The June edition of the handbook, v2.0.1, contains corrections to scoring advice for the Impact of Events Scale (revised) used in the assessment of PTSD.

Download:

Key Performance Indicators Resources

Programme KPI Data is published on the NHS Information Centre website. The data can be download from http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/psychologicaltherapies1112

 Further Resources

 

THE IAPT DATA STANDARD (mandated from April 2012)

The  Information Standards Board for Health and Social Care (ISB) has given approval  for  the  IAPT  data  set to be adopted as a National Operational Standard.  An  Information  Standard  Notice  (ISN) was issued on 1st April 2011.This means that the way we collect and report IAPT data will change.

The  full  IAPT  data set will flow to a central data collection system and made  available  for  national reporting. IAPT reports will be published on the NHS Information Centre website. This will allow benchmarking and make information  accessible  and  transparent in a way that allows patients and the  public  to  compare  the  range of interventions and outcomes achieved across services.

Further  details  including  the  ISN,  the  approved  data  set and futher technical information can be downloaded from:http://www.isb.nhs.uk/documents/isb-1520/amd-29-2011/index_html

The initial version of the approved  IAPT  data set can also be found in Appendix A of the IAPT data handbook.The latest version can be downloaded from the NHS Information Centre website.

Timeline

The IAPT data standard will be mandated from April 2012. Every IAPT service will  be  expected  to  submit  a  full data extract to the central data collection system on a monthly basis.

2011/12  will  be a transition year when services can make arrangements to change local IT systems and put in place procedures to process data. During this  transition  period we will continue to return KPI's  via the existing Omnibus system until we are assured of the data quality of the new central reporting system.

Development of  the IAPT central data collection system is underway and data can now be flowed to the central system from sites that have successfully registered and adapted their systems. From April 2012 services will be expected to submit data extracts on a monthly basis.

IAPT Data Standard Resources and Guidance

The IAPT programme is working in partnership with the NHS Information Centre (IC) to develop a new central data processing and reporting system. The IC have dedicated an area on it's website to the IAPT system. All system documentation can be downloaded from http://www.ic.nhs.uk/services/mental-health/using-the-service/datasets-databases-and-data-collections/improving-access-to-psychological-therapies-iapt. You will also be able to register your interest to receive future communications regarding the IAPT Data Standard

The following checklist has been developed to help services prepare for implementation. It is not an exhaustive guide but aims to supplement existing guidance, draw attention to essential steps and help services assess their state of readiness.

The following presentation provides a summary of the end-to-end reporting process.