What this means for your practice
Add proportionate checks tied to the actual report and give exceptions an owner. Avoid generic thresholds that no one understands or reviews.
An example to discuss with your team
Change a fictional source field and inspect the pre-distribution checks.
A practical conversation with your supplier
Ask the supplier to introduce a fictional source change that creates an unusual total. Can the check identify the issue and stop or flag distribution as agreed? The reviewer needs enough context to investigate. A threshold that nobody understands is unlikely to help when the first alert arrives.
Plan the first improvement
Choose checks that reflect the report's actual meaning. If it summarises enquiries, for example, the team might need to explain repeated records, missing outcomes or a sudden change in included sources. The report owner should help decide what deserves review and what is an ordinary variation. Ask the supplier to show the evidence presented when a check flags something. A reviewer needs the affected period, source and relevant comparison, not just a red warning.
Agree who can approve distribution after an unusual but valid result and how that reason is recorded. This avoids repeatedly blocking legitimate changes while preserving an explanation for readers. Test both a genuine mistake and a valid unusual example so the process does not assume every alert means an error. Keep checks under review as the business changes. A once-useful rule can become noisy when a new clinic opens or a service expands, and ignored warnings quickly lose their value.
How to check the result
Track reporting errors discovered only after distribution.
Turn reading into a next step
Your action checklist
Work through these checks with your team or supplier. Tick the ones you have resolved and leave unknowns open.
Record what you know, what is still missing and the answer you need from your team or supplier.
Use project decisions only, without personal, patient or confidential details. Entries stay in this page and are not submitted to Kay & Co. Copy or download before leaving; this page does not save your notes.
Further reading
These sources provide background for the topic. The practice examples and checklist are illustrative planning suggestions from Kay & Co.
Related guides
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