BUPA calls for data collection

Independent sector hospitals should follow the NHS and collect patient reported outcome measures, according to a senior director at BUPA.

Speaking at the Royal Society of Medicine in London last week, Dr Andrew Vallance-Owen, BUPA group medical director, said the independent sector should collect data for hip or knee surgery, groin hernia repair, and varicose vein removal – to be mandatory in the NHS in 2009.

'The main challenge faced by public and private healthcare providers is the same – to make health and care personal and to make it measurable,' he said.