• Carter Review
• Timetable

Review of pathology services 2nd Stage Timetable

A meeting was held on the 12th of December 2006 with Lord Carter and the pilot sites to review progress and discuss the next phase of the project. Prior to Christmas the review team will collect current data and where appropriate information codings.

January – April 2007

The template will be issued and the pilot sites will collect data relating to volume of activity, costs (both direct and indirect) and quality in respect to the configuration of the service for that site. The data collected will vary depending on whether the site is already part of an established network or is currently providing a single site service. This element of the project will need the input of both financial and managerial colleagues. The data will be returned to the project team for analysis and will hopefully provide realistic and usable material.

April – September 2007

The figures collected will be compared with international benchmarking data and used for economic modeling. It is anticipated that this can then be used to direct future commissioning and the organization of the service. In parallel with this process an expert working group will be working with the ‘Payment by Results’ team to develop the HRG4 document. Currently pathology has been removed from the original plan to activate the tariff in mid-2007 and is now planned to go live in April 2008. This will give more time to develop a document that is a true reflection of the service. This piece of work will not be available to direct the current process but should be available toward the end and may be used to analyse the end results.