It is still a challenge to identify measures by which we can assess health care performance. This report on benchmarking evaluates approaches in the UK and internationally.
The Nuffield Trust supported two fellowships in benchmarking, one at Cambridge (Dr Suzanne Wait) concentrating on the UK system, and one at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (Dr Ellen Nolte), on the topic of international benchmarking.
This, their final report, synthesises the work carried out at LSHTM and Cambridge. Aimed at UK policy-makers and academics nationally and internationally, the report highlights key lessons learnt from the research carried out and identifies an agenda for future activities so as to develop approaches to (international) benchmarking in health further. The report draws further on the discussions at a Nuffield Trust workshop held in January 2006. Martin McKee oversaw the project.