Resourcing a CORE Network to develop a National Research Database to help enhance psychological therapy and counselling service provision

Abstract

This article profiles the development of an evolving common CORE methodology related to the paradigm of quality evaluation. It profiles the five defining characteristics that currently help to inform that common methodology. The first of these characteristics is the use of CORE-PC to help store, organise, filter, report and undertake performance appraisals using CORE System data. The second is the role of preparatory training to help overcome the common experience of service performance anxiety in services adopting CORE-PC. The third characteristic is the use of a common reporting framework that generates internal performance indicators by which relative service and individual practitioner performance can be contrasted. Fourth is the co-development and use of national service performance indicators created by the voluntary donation of anonymised, aggregated data. The fifth and final characteristic informing the shared methodology is the development of CORE Networks to support the interpretation and utilisation of benchmarks for enhancing service quality. The conclusions acknowledge the relative youth of both the activity and learning, but suggests that the common methodology used by the CORE Network has considerable potential to help identify, share and develop excellence in psychological therapy and counselling services.

Keywords:

• Quality evaluation
• CORE-PC
• benchmarking
• performance assessment
• networks