New outcome measures are to be introduced in four types of surgery

New standardised measures of clinical outcomes in the NHS, to be based on detailed information from patients themselves, are to be introduced across England from April.

The data, which have been hailed as marking a breakthrough in measuring the quality—as opposed to the quantity—of NHS treatment, could be used to assess clinicians’ and hospitals’ performance as well as to evaluate the success of different treatments.

Called patient reported outcome measures (PROMs), they will initially be introduced in four common forms of surgery—inguinal hernia repair, varicose vein surgery, and knee and hip replacements—where the measures have already been extensively trialled by the Royal College of Surgeons and the London …