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SCOTTISH DIABETES CORE DATASET
FOREWORD
That rapid advances are necessary in the use of information technology to support clinical care is not in dispute. Nonetheless, many challenges remain and one such is the requirement to galvanise health professionals to develop appropriate and sensitive pathways of care. To support a pathway, agreement is essential upon the core information elements that must be shared amongst all those caring for the patient.
The Scottish Diabetes Core Dataset builds upon previous work to produce such a kernel. Datasets have hitherto been somewhat academic documents, mostly utilised for audit and research. The current work differs in that its prime purpose is to be incorporated into working clinical information systems used in the day-to-day care of patients with diabetes.
Scotland is fortunate in having a small and communicating band of professionals involved in the care of patients with diabetes. They have recognised the importance of a robust and reliable information infrastructure to support the
Scottish Diabetes Framework proposals. This work is being carried forward by the Scottish Care Information Diabetes Collaboration (SCI-DC) and the Scottish Diabetes Core Dataset is the first fruit of this collaboration.
While its principal role is to support the creation of an electronic shared clinical record, such standardised data collection will fulfil all of the requirements of the Scottish Diabetes Survey and will support quality assurance of diabetes services. Thus managerial and ministerial requirements can be met as a by-product of clinical activity. It is envisaged that such an approach will become the norm in chronic disease management in Scotland.
Acknowledgements
The bulk of the work involved in revising and updating this dataset has been undertaken by Lorna Ramsay, Ewan Crawford and Rod Harvey. We are especially grateful to Donald Pearson (obstetrics), John Schulga (paediatrics) and Emma Shaw (dietetics) for making contributions from their specialist perspectives, and to Gillian Boyle and Pauline Mills (ISD) for their contributions to the Read Coding.
Dr Kenneth Robertson
Chairman, SCI-DC Steering Group
January 2003
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