In November 2013, the Government published “Hard Truths”, its response to the Public Inquiry into the
failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. This establishes beyond any lingering doubt the importance of the fundamental principles of quality and safety of care.
At the same time, the NHS is having to manage the significant pressures on precious but reducing resources – staff time as well as funding. Anything that diverts resources from direct patient care must be justified.
It is in this context that we have seen renewed interest in the need to reduce unnecessary burden and bureaucracy which gets in the way of direct patient care, starting initially on the burden generated by national data collections.