What this means for your practice
Document what the report can and cannot establish. Use consistent categories and appropriate context chosen by the accountable team; avoid ranking safety from a simple software count.
An example to discuss with your team
Ask the supplier to change a category in a fictional report and show how both the dashboard total and the change history explain the correction.
What to ask before you choose
Ask your supplier to show the difference between a submitted report and a finding reached after review. Then change the category on a fictional case and follow the effect on the dashboard. Readers should be able to explain revised totals. Missing categories should remain visible rather than being quietly dropped from the comparison.
Use the dashboard to ask better questions
Before comparing clinics, ask what the figures include, how much activity each clinic handles and whether their reporting arrangements are comparable. A change in reporting behaviour can change the count. The appropriate practice leads should decide which context is necessary and how the results will be interpreted.
Keep a route from an overall figure to an explanation of its definition and any revisions. If a report changes category after review, readers need to understand whether an earlier total has changed too. Show missing or unclassified information rather than letting it disappear from the picture. In a meeting, use the numbers to identify questions for the responsible team: what has changed, what remains uncertain and what follow-up is needed? A report should support that discussion. It should not present a simple software count as a judgement about the safety or quality of an individual clinic.
How to check the result
Measure classification gaps and unexplained revisions to published totals.
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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