'Data inaccuracies' to blame for health check poor performance (From Harrow Times)

'Data inaccuracies' to blame for health check poor performance in Harrow

11:30am Monday 24th September 2012 in News By David Hardiman, Reporter

A health authority has blamed “inaccuracies” in data for Harrow being rated as one of the worst places in the country at offering checks for diabetes.

NHS Harrow said that its performance in offering free health checks to those most at risk of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and kidney failure in the last year had been “significantly misrepresented” and that it was in fact performing well.

Charity Diabetes UK yesterday told the Harrow Times labelled official figures that showed just 2.2 per cent of those eligible were offered a check last year a “tragic failure” that missed the chance to save lives.

But NHS Harrow said corrected figures showed 5.67 per cent of people were invited to have a check and 3.54 per cent completed one – meaning it is meeting one target and just behind on another.

It said: “This progress in the implementation of health checks is set against a backdrop of excellence in diabetes care in Harrow.

“The prevalence of diabetes in Harrow is significantly above the London average because of the ethnic mix.

“Because of this, we have prioritised it and a National Audit Office review earlier this year found that we were the only primary care trust in London to achieve the highest score for people receiving all nine care processes for diabetes.”

The corrected figures still show that Harrow is offering a much lower number of health checks compared to the national average of 13.9 per cent.

Regional manager of Diabetes UK, Roz Rosenblatt, said yesterday that it means that those at risk, aged between 40-74, are missing the chance to get help to prevent the condition and reduce risk of complications in later treatment.