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<p>The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme aims to improve the quality of
surgical and medical care within the National Health Service by working with frontline
clinicians to identify and reduce unwarranted variations in service delivery and clinical
practice. Since it was set up in 2016, the programme has been expanded to clinically
review 35 surgical and medical specialties.</p><p>In terms of tracking progress, the
programme measures quality improvement in key outcomes or practices. Since 2016/17,
the programme has delivered quality and efficiency improvements, shortening waiting
times for surgery, reducing costly cancellations and delays to elective procedures,
aiding trusts to meet performance targets, and reducing spend on costly consultancy
services.</p><p>Since its establishment as a national programme in 2016, NHS RightCare
has actively worked with every health system in England to transform services over
a wide range of pathways and reduce unwarranted variation. NHS RightCare underpins
its activity with robust evaluation to understand the change and impact of local projects
through robust planning and modelling. Nationally, this ensures the programme can
report on change in reducing variation in terms of finance, activity and health outcomes
via the Clinical Commissioning Group Improvement Assessment Framework.</p><p> </p><p>The
Prime Minister has asked the NHS to develop a long-term plan for the service, setting
out how the NHS will develop over the coming years supported by the significant additional
funding. This provides an excellent opportunity to look at how reducing variation
can be accelerated over the next decade. The plan is currently in development and
will be published later in the year.</p>
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