Run in partnership with McKinsey & Co, FTN Benchmarking is an initiative which provides a more complete and balanced assessment of service improvement opportunities than other benchmarking studies, by analysing trusts' performance in three areas:
1. quality (clinical outcomes and patient experience)
2. cost effectiveness
3. operational management
Participating trusts benefit from being able to access the wealth of experience and challenge that McKinsey offer, as well as working closely with the FTN team, who understand the specific challenges FTs face.
Over the last five years the FTN's unique benchmarking service has delivered tangible benefits to a broad range of authorised and aspirant foundation trusts. For specialty-level projects (e.g. orthopaedics and maternity) the FTN Benchmarking team works with staff from participating trusts to build a 'ground-up' understanding of service costs at an HRG level. This typically produces a much fuller and more accurate picture of costs than those calculated for reference cost submissions, and helps staff develop the skills to operate confidently and effectively within the national Payment by Results tariff framework. It is also invaluable in supporting more accurate and robust financial planning and service development.
In addition to specialty projects, over the last two years the FTN has investigated the cross-specialty subject areas of Operating Theatres and Accident & Emergency Departments. Instead of HRG-level information, these projects have involved the collection of detailed patient records in order to understand timeliness and efficiency and compare these across departments and trusts.
The FTN Benchmarking team produces analyses of the benchmarking data to identify specific and targeted improvement actions for each trust. Interactive discussions at the findings workshop aim to give service improvement advice and highlight areas of best practice, both from within the group and from leading national healthcare providers. The data analysis and comparisons provide a starting point for improvement conversations both between participants at the workshops and also between colleagues in participating trusts. Clear rules governing data confidentiality and use are agreed in advance.
Maternity Services 2011 – Six-month review workshop
In October 2011 eight trusts participated in a review workshop for the 2010/11 Maternity Services benchmarking project. The workshop provided an opportunity for trusts to report on a range of improvements implemented in the six months following the benchmarking results workshop.
Product Pricing project briefing published
The newly published briefing from the 2011/12 Product Pricing benchmarking project is available now to members and non-members and can be found in the related documents section on the right-hand side of this page.
This study provides comparable information on the variation in price for commonly purchased products, together with information on the impact of trust procurement practices on the prices paid. Trusts reported that sharing this information is a critical starting point for improving procurement efficiency and delivering savings.
Announcing the 2011 Elderly Care Services benchmarking project
In June 2011 we began working on the UK's first tailored benchmarking project on Elderly Care Services. The programme is open to all FTN members (both authorised and aspirant foundation trusts). Trusts interested in participating are encouraged to register early, but no later than 3rd June 2011. Full details are available in the following document:
Information about the benefits resulting from being part in our projects is available in the following document:
Driving Performance Improvement - Briefings
The newly published briefing from the 2010/11 Maternity Services benchmarking project is available now to members of the FTN.
Briefings from other recently completed projects, available to members and non-members, can be found in the related documents section on the righthand side of this page and include:
Further Information
For further information on FTN Benchmarking please email Sivakumar.Anandaciva@foundationtrustnetwork.org
See what people involved in previous projects say about the work by watching our short video below.