Demand optimisation in laboratory medicine: phase two report

4 Aims 

The NDOG was funded and scheduled to meet four times across 2018/2019. 

The main aims of the group are summarised below: -

Oversight and Governance - 

• Undertake a high-level scoping exercise to ascertain the sticking points to implementation of the NDOG recommendations and develop an over-arching plan in response to this.
• Undertake bridge work between the end of phase I and commencement of phase II and make links across new and emerging structures.

Develop and deliver an Atlas of Variation -

• Collect information across lab disciplines to provide a way to identify and target unwarranted variation in test requesting.

Quality improvement - 

• Identify and coordinate quality improvement champions at a local level who could support a series of tests of change to spread learning.
• Establish a mechanism for ongoing best practice sharing.
• Engage with clinical networks at a national, regional and local level around specific conditions to develop and implement requesting guidelines which could be referenced at a board level.

Service User engagement - 

• Promote a cultural shift amongst referring clinicians and laboratories to ensure a closer working relationship with shared decision making on current and proposed changes to ensure best value.