The Cambridge Centre for Health Services Research (CCHSR) is a collaboration between the University of Cambridge Health Services Research Group at the Institute of Public Health and the Health and Healthcare Group at RAND Europe. Our research focuses on measuring quality of health care, evaluating approaches and policies for improving health care delivery, and analysing population health outcomes. We aim to inform policy through evidence-based research on health services in the UK and internationally.
The UK Department of Health has published the final report (PDF) of the evaluation of 16 integrated care pilots in England, carried out by RAND Europe and Ernst & Young. The evaluation revealed that greater integration of care has led to improved care processes, more satisfied staff, and reduced use of hospitals. However, some aspects of patient experience were less positive following the pilots and the intended reduction in emergency admissions was not seen. Read more ...
Research at the Centre focuses on:
Lyratzopoulos G et al. Variation in number of general practitioner consultations before hospital referral for cancer. Lancet Oncology 2012. [Epub ahead of print].
This study of 41,000 cancer patients shows that people with some types of cancer are much more likely to visit their GP repeatedly before being referred. Controlling for cancer type, women, young people and ethnic minorities were more likely to report delays in referral.