The PRICCE Project

So, what is this odd thing all about? Well, these odd letters stand for Primary Care Clinical Effectiveness Project. Still none the wiser? let me tell you more.

The PRICCE Project is an idea of the local health authority that is meeting with great success here at the Manor Clinic. It is designed to improve the health of all our patients but particularly those with long term illnesses such as high blood pressure or diabetes. It is a project that makes sure all our patients receive the best possible care.

The basis of the idea is that all our patients records are now on computer and can thus be kept a very close track on. (Don`t panic everyone, our main computer is not connected to the internet and there are stringent safety precautions to ensure only medical staff can access the information).

Because the records are computerised we can instantly tell which of our patients have high blood pressure, which have diabetes and so on. We can also tell exactly how well we are treating everyone. For example we can look up whether the patients who have had high blood pressure have actually got normal blood pressures thanks to their treatment or if the treatment needs to be increased.

Whenever new developments occur, for example new treatments, we can instantly arrange for all the patients who need it to be contacted and started on the right treatment. The health authority checks our records and monitors how well our patients are treated, for example how well we control peoples blood pressure, how well we treat diabetics and so on. The Authority grades the practice according to its success. The most recent health authority inspection confirmed they were pleased with the treatment of our patients.

The project began by concentrating on only three or four areas such as heart disease and diabetes but now involves the monitoring of over 15 different illnesses and doing over 160 checks on the patients who have them. All patients with diabetes are checked each year for kidney problems and sugar levels, patients with heart disease have their cholesterol levels checked, patients with epilepsy are monitored...and so on.

The project has until recently only been active in Kent, but it has recently been decided to extend it nationally...so in a few years other practices all around the country will be undertaking similar work.

 

If you are a Doctor who wants to find out just exactly what checks are done for this project, follow the link below and follow the links to professional pages , clinical governance and then "Pricce two" http://www.ekent-ha.sthames.nhs.uk

 

 

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