EMIS Spotlight ISSUE 4 DIGITAL 2

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Strep A GP data helped ICB track service pressures

Spring 2024

Kent and Medway ICB have used a ‘revolutionary’ automated GP dataset to track daily Strep A presentations, this helped them to understand service pressures and inform resilience plans during the winter 2022/23 outbreak.

automatic reports based on specific conditions and parameters, in this case; chest infections, acute bacterial laryngitis and acute lower respiratory tract infection for children under five years old. Ruth Wells, assistant director of health outcomes, improvement and performance at Kent and Medway, said: “Previously when we’d been in the middle of any kind of outbreak, we would have difficulty presenting primary care data in a meaningful way other than reporting that ‘GP practices are telling us they’re really busy’. This was the first time we could substantiate our claims and share our own data, it was a revolutionary moment for us.”

For the first time, the team were able to present an evidence-based picture of the impact of the outbreak on its 185 GP practices using the Apex analytics toolkit. This enabled them to assess the general practice picture alongside its community and acute partners. Apex is a primary care analytics tool that allows practices and organisations to better understand demand, capacity and activity – driving efficiency and quality improvements. We proactively introduced the new dataset to help NHS organisations manage the additional winter pressures caused by the Strep A outbreak. Apex enabled the Kent and Medway team to collate patient data records and generated daily