Stockport NHS Foundation Trust wins CHKS Data Quality award

The team which processes clinical data for patients at Stepping Hill Hospital and community NHS services in Stockport has won a prestigious national award.

Stockport NHS Foundation Trust earned the top prize in the ‘Clinical Coding and Data Quality Award for Acute NHS Trusts 2022’ category at the CHKS (Comparative Health Knowledge System) Awards, run by Capita Healthcare Decisions.

The CHKS Data Quality awards are based on the evaluation of key national performance indicators using Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data for England, and recognise the importance of data quality and accurate clinical coding and the essential roles they play in improving the quality of patient care.

Around twenty staff based at Stepping Hill Hospital organise clinical coding for patients. Clinical coders take information clinical staff write in patient clinical records and translate it into coded formats, using their knowledge of medical terminology, anatomical and physiology when assigning the codes.  High quality data is crucial for getting the best in clinical performance and outcomes, as well as for capacity and service planning.

The team have been able to maintain and improve high standards with methods including engaging with clinicians on the importance of importance of good documentation,  and working more collaboratively to develop data reports.

Debbie Hope, Chief Data Officer at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust said:

“We are delighted to have received this CHKS National Award for excellence in data quality.  It highlights the Trust’s commitment to driving improvement and recognises and rewards the hard work and dedication of our staff, in particular our Clinical Coders and Business Intelligence Teams”. 

Dr Peter Nuttall, Director of Informatics said:

“High quality data is an essential part of delivering high quality and safe patient care. This prestigious award is a credit to the teams who work hard to improve the quality and completeness of our data”.