Register your interest now in participating in the second National Audit of Intermediate Care (NAIC).

27 February 2013

The NAIC is a unique collaboration between the British Geriatrics Society, the NHS Benchmarking Network, AGILE, COTSSOP, the Patient’s Association, other professional bodies, NHS organisations and local authorities.

All Clinical Commissioning Groups, NHS and social care commissioners and providers are encouraged to join this year's project.

The results of the first year of the study (the NAIC 2012) were published in September 2012 and welcomed by the Department of Health as an important contribution to our understanding of how intermediate care services have developed nationally and the key issues that need to be addressed in future policy discussions. There was a very high level of interest and engagement with the audit, with 62 commissioners and 112 providers providing data for 327 intermediate care services and over 3,000 service users.

Key developments for 2013 include:

An emphasis on quality and identifying what works best in intermediate care

Development of a Patient Reported Experience Measure and other outcome measures for intermediate care

The extension of the scope of the audit to include homecare re-ablement services

Development of detailed case studies of high performing intermediate care services

For 2013, the audit will be financed using a subscription model. Health economies (based on Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) boundaries) will be asked to pay a fee of £3,500 each per annum to take part in the audit. Given the integrated nature of intermediate care services and the need to engage both providers and commissioners across health and social care, commissioners will be requested to facilitate involvement in the audit across their health economy. However, there will also be an option for providers to sign up independently.

Please respond byusing the NAIC 2013 Expression of Interest form as soon as possible. You will then be sent log in details to register your organisation online. Early completion of the registration by commissioners will allow us time to get your providers registered. The final deadline for everyone to be registered online is 31 March 2013.

Claire Holditch, Project Director NAIC, NHS Benchmarking Network

Contact details: Tel 0161 266 1966 or cholditch@nhs.net

Dr Duncan Forsyth, Chair, National Audit of Intermediate Care Steering Group, Consultant Geriatrician, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS FT