1. Discovery In Action
Investigating variation in BADS Same Day Surgery rates in a Health Board

2. Background
This Health Board established an ‘Impact Huddle’ to ensure a systematic approach to investigating, analysing and addressing variation identified by Discovery and other data sources.
This example summarises their investigation into BADS same day surgery rates.
Huddle includes:
Clinical leads
General Manager
Realistic Medicine Pathways Lead
Transformation Programme Lead
Business Unit rep
Service Improvement rep
Clinical staff and managers co-opted as required
Process - Areas of investigation agreed, Potential opportunities prioritised, Executive Team informed of actions and decisions, Local engagement essential.

3. Discovery Dashboard - Level 1 Overview Treatment
The ‘Impact Huddle’ group developed initial data packs based on information from Discovery and other sources to help identify potential productive opportunities that could be explored further.
This is the Discovery Level 1 Overview Treatment view which shows how a selected location compares to its peers across a range of indicators for a specific time period.
This visualisation is intended to present a quick “temperature check” of the indicators for the organisation at a certain point in time, denoted by Red/Amber/Green (RAG) status.
Further analysis was undertaken into their BADS same day surgery rate. Clicking on the specific indicator opens a more detailed indicator specific view.

4. BADS Same Day Surgery rates - Level 1 Overview Detailed Indicator Analysis
This dashboard provides monthly trend information for a range of indicators along with peer location comparisons.
At Level 1 information is often available by specialty. Hovering over an area provides a tool tip which shows more information.
The view shows that this Board has one of the lowest BADS day case rates in Scotland and that the rate had been consistently lower than the national average over the specified time period.
Level 2 views can then be used to explore this further.

5. BADS Same Day Surgery Rates (Level 2 Dashboard) BADS Group/Procedure view Level 2
Level 2 dashboards in Discovery provide access to more detailed and comprehensive information on:
Data by age, gender and deprivation
Individual clinician level information
Figures for specific services/procedures
Further analysis and review of the Discovery data led the Huddle to focus on Breast Surgery as a potential area for improvement (the orange areas represent the difference between the Board’s rates and the BADS target rates).

6. BADS Same Day Surgery Rates - Breast Surgery
The Board was able to view same day surgery rates for specific Breast Surgery procedures and compare their rates to the national average for the same procedures.
The view provides:
Board rates for specific procedures compared to BADS target
Views of specific BADS groups/procedures
Comparisons of Board and Scottish average
(Board rate 35.3%, Scottish average 54.3%)
BADS Breast Surgery - Additional Analysis
Breast Surgery
Board
Scotland
No. Procedures
692
6886
Same Day %
35%
54%
IP Ave LOS
1.9 Days
1.7 Days
% of IP with a Pre-Op Stay
65%
26%
% bed days attributed to Pre-Op Stay
34%
15%

7. Local Engagement
An SBAR was produced to summarise the investigations and findings and inform Executive Team
Local discussions and exploration to understand issues and potential causes
Pathway mapping exercise to understand patient journeys and identify potential redesign opportunities
Workshop with key clinicians, senior managers, support staff, transformation team, etc.

8. Actions
Consensus that admission on the day prior to surgery needed to stop in all but exceptional cases.
Agreed a peer review process, with feedback to clinicians on a monthly basis, in order to embed and sustain changes.
Agreement to re-organise these patient pathways to ensure that the majority of cases will go through the theatre admission suite (rather than being admitted to a ward on the day prior to surgery).

9. Impact and Improvement
Time Period
Board
Scotland
April 2016 – June 2017
35.5%
54.7%
July 2017 – March 18
57.6%
58.1%
Since implementing the agreed changes, the Board’s same day Breast Surgery rate has improved to and remained at levels similar to the Scottish average (increasing from around 36% to almost 58%)

10. Impact and Improvement
Time Period
Board
Scotland
April 2016 – June 2017
0.55
0.26
July 2017 – March 18
0.23
0.21
Time Period
Board
Scotland
April 2016 – June 2017
0.36
0.28
July 2017 – March 18
0.14
0.21
The changes have also resulted in improvements in the pre-operative stay rates for both General Surgery and Plastic Surgery (these are now similar to or lower than the Scottish average)
(Note: 0.2 = an average of 1 day of pre-operative stay for every 5 cases)

11. Summary
This case study demonstrates how an NHS Board has used Discovery to identify variation, explore the potential reasons for that variation and support change
It has shown how Discovery can report and monitor the effect of any transformation and redesign
We are able and keen to support all Boards in utilising Discovery in similar ways

12. For Discovery support and more information on accessing and using NSS Discovery, contact us at:  or
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