Collect and use meaningful outcome measures

At present the outcomes that are collected and used as indicators of 'success' in the health service are typically time based. However decreased time waiting for an appointment or surgery is often not the best measure of improvment.

Instead, measuring patient reported outcome and experience measures (PROMs and PREMs) allows tracking of actual improvement in symptoms and quality of life gained.

The health reforms are an opportunity to establish a comprehensive database system of measureable outcomes from care. This will allow benchmarking of services and quality improvement, as well as providing data to guide best use of precious healthcare funding to gain best benefit.