‘Show me the data!’ Using time series to display performance data for hospital boards (27 September 2022)

Summary

Hospital boards generally focus attention on measures to answer questions about risk, such as 'How safe are we now?' They are ultimately accountable for the quality of care delivered in hospitals, and data review is a key component of effective board governance. This editorial in BMJ Quality & Safety highlights the lack of guidance on the most effective format for presenting data to determine progress against key risks and targets. The authors argue that data must not be overly simplified and that charts prepared for boards should include monthly data points in graphic format over a longer period of time. This allows trends to be more visible and denotes whether an observed change is significant, helping hospital boards avoid erroneous conclusions tied to random variation.