The role of information in ensuring quality and patient safety

The opinions in this paper were originally requested by The Mid-Staffordshire Public Inquiry in the United Kingdom.1 This inquiry has highlighted the way in which Boards of Hospitals may fail to use information correctly in several ways; inappropriate collection, poor validation, lack of appropriate analysis and the absence of transparency. Here I outline some personal opinions based on long experience at the coal-face of both medicine and information management. Whilst many of the examples I have chosen reflect life the in the UK National Health Service, they are widely applicable internationally.Data drive change, and I argue that healthcare has become an information economy. Purchasers and users of care can drive the demand for better data, but the underlying infrastructure requires adequate funding.I also argue that outcome measurement alone is not enough, and that quality control offers faster, more effective improvement through the transformation cycle. The technology available to us now gives us fresh and exciting opportunities to engage with our patients and to share information with those who need it.Anyone bringing their precious child to a hospital has a right to know about the quality, safety and outcomes they can expect. We have a duty to give those data to them.