Two recent publications provide helpful guidance. Involving patients in improving clinical effectiveness is identified as one of the objectives. The report Designed to Involve describes various mechanisms for securing effective participation in primary care services. See Annex for details. Trusts should be able to demonstrate that cost effectiveness issues are being addressed alongside clinical effectiveness.
Clinical effectiveness is above all concerned with the quality of care.
However, improving the cost effectiveness of services should be an important objective. Whilst acknowledging that health economics expertise is not widely available at present, consideration should be given to including a cost effectiveness component in clinical effectiveness studies. Clinical effectiveness activities can be valuable in improving local practice and in terms of professional development. However, the results of clinical effectiveness also have a key role to play in informing the planning and development of services as a whole. Trusts should be able to demonstrate that the results of clinical effectiveness are being used at a strategic level as well as impacting on clinical practice.