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Quality Indicators

The SICS Quality Improvement Group first met in January 2011 in response to requests from NHS QIS Data Advisory Group both directly to SICSAG and through the Scottish Standing Committee of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.  These requests were for the development of a set of Quality Indicators for Critical Care in Scotland. Similar work has been going on in other UK groups, most notably the Intensive Care Society (ICS) whose Standards, Safety and Quality Committee recently published a set of 20 quality indicators. This followed a long consultation process and literature reviews for supportive evidence. Their document ranks structure, process and outcome quality indicators in order of approval by ICS members. We acknowledge, and are grateful for the groundwork done by this group. This Scottish document borrows heavily from this in content and structure.

The nature of the Scottish critical care community has always been unified in how we measure quality, and for this reason we are recommending a common set of quality indicators (QIs) for all Scottish critical care patients collected by all units. 
We intend this as a starting point for continued development of these QIs as we gain experience. Many are already published in the SICSAG annual report and this will be developed further with more frequent feedback of data for local improvement.
QIs may be confused with minimum standards and for this reason we make clear distinctions on their definitions.

NHS quality indicators are defined by being person-centred, safe, effective, efficient, equitable and timely. The indicators we have put forward meet those criteria.

Minimum Standards and Quality Indicators for Critical Care in Scotland (Dec 2015) Quality Indicators for Critical Care in Scotland January 2012 [467Kb]

Scottish National Audit Programme (SNAP) Governance Policy Quality Indicators for Critical Care in Scotland January 2012 [702Kb]

Scottish National Audit Programme (SNAP) Governance Policy Escalation Flowchart Quality Indicators for Critical Care in Scotland January 2012 [372KB]

For more information please contact PHS.sicsag@phs.scot