The challenge of service planning and development without adequate data: the case for orthotic services.

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Authors
Eddison, Nicola
Issue Date
2023-04-01
Journal
Type
Multicentre Study
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Review
Service Development
Keywords
Workforce
Orthotic services
Freedom of Information
United Kingdom
Health economics
National health service
Journal Title
Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice
Volume
29
Issue
3
Begin page
525
End page
528
Abstract
The UK National Health Service (NHS) employs a group of 14 separate allied health professions. Prosthetics and orthotics are the smallest of these professions. Although small, orthotics is integral to many clinical care pathways and has shown to provide an essential impact on a range of clinical conditions in the health service priority lists. Previous reports acknowledged the lack of data on the UK prosthetic and orthotic workforce, appointment outcomes and cost and the service users accessing such services and thus the challenges that it poses for effective service delivery. There is still a paucity of relevant data or initiatives to support the service provision. The work within this paper has taken the first step to address this gap, presenting a summary of the information relating to appointments and costs, and provides a discussion on the implications of variations across the NHS orthotic services within England in terms of spend, staffing and skill mix for orthotic services and service users and the need for further data on service users and the UK prosthetic and orthotic workforce.
Citation
Eddison N, Scott DA, Pankhurst C, Chockalingam N. The challenge of service planning and development without adequate data: The case for orthotic services. J Eval Clin Pract. 2022 Nov 26. doi: 10.1111/jep.13801. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36433887.