Launch of the NHS Atlas of Variation in Diagnostic Services – book your place

Details of the arrangement for the launch of the NHS Atlas of Variation in Diagnostic Services on 27 Nov.

The NHS Atlas of Variation in Diagnostic Services will be launched in central London on Weds 27 November 2013.

The Atlas provides 77 maps across 69 indicators and has been prepared by the NHS RightCare team. Each map shows the variation across England for a particular test or intervention within the five areas of diagnostic services – imaging, endoscopy, physiological diagnostics, pathology, and genetics. As with all the other publications in the ‘NHS Atlas of Variation’ series, the aim is to identify unexplained or unwarranted variation.

The launch event will be held at Prince Philip House, 3 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5DG from 12 noon to 3.30pm with a sandwich lunch provided.

You can book a place at the launch event and find out more about the Atlas by going to the NHS RightCare website. You can also download the preface for the Atlas and the table of contents showing which diagnostic indicators have been selected.

The Atlas will be available for download from the NHS RightCare website in PDF format, there will be also be an interactive online version of the Atlas and there will be an online form to order free printed copies.

Background t0 the NHS Atlas of Diagnostic Services

The RightCare team noted the particular significance of the Atlas of Diagnostic Services:

“We regard this Atlas as being very important because it highlights a phenomenon that we have observed in our work for Right Care that, although there is concern about variation in the management of diseases, the management of symptoms and the use of diagnostic services shows even greater variation, some of which is likely to be unwarranted.

“We believe, however, that the spotlight should not focus solely on diagnostic services, given that these services respond to clinician referrals; the main focus needs to be on clinician behaviour. We also believe, however, that if the personnel in diagnostic services were perceived differently, and perceived themselves differently, it could have a considerable impact on the behaviour of referring clinicians. “