Health care needs diabetes model - Description of a practical tool

Abstract

Primary care organisations (PCOs) have a responsibility to deliver quality services to meet health needs. This responsibility, in relation to services for people with diabetes, will be further clarified when the Diabetes National Service Framework (NSF) is published. This paper describes the first example of a practical model, the health care needs assessment (HCNA) - diabetes model, in use in the NHS today, which is interactive, flexible and evidence based and which is being used to improve services for designated populations. The HCNA - diabetes model provides a population focus for the provision of services to meet local healthcare needs. It compares local provision of care to national standards and allows the option of designing a bespoke model of care for the selected population. The implication of this in terms of resource use, costs and staffing levels required to provide the service (of either current care, a model of care, or 'your own model of care') is described. The model can be customised to reflect local circumstances or be modified to reflect health needs in other countries, by overriding the default data with local data. The authors believe the HCNA - diabetes model will help PCOs manage the planning of quality service, now and following the publication of the NSF, to meet the needs of selected populations of people with diabetes. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.