Guardian report on HES data

The Guardian had an interesting story yesterday on the poor quality of HES data:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/jun/13/nhs-statistics-flawed
Includes discussion of data in surgery, comparing that collected by surgeons with that collected via HES route by administrators. Also mentions how data has been used to move complex surgery to specialist centres, and the subsequent impact on patient safety, covered in more detail in an accompanying article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/jun/13/specialist-surgery-increases-survival
The research comparing HES and surgeon-collected data (for abdominal aortic aneurysms) is also shared:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/jun/13/abdominal-aortic-aneurysm-surgery-statistics

HSJ 20 May

Interesting article on patient safety, which includes mention of the RWHT patient safety model - their aim is to address "human factors" through a range of workstreams.