Anecdotal evidence suggests that consultants have a low level of confidence in
routinely collected clinical data. The aims of this study were to assess the
actual levels of confidence in clinical information experienced by consultants
and to understand the factors affecting confidence. A questionnaire was devised
incorporating a scale to measure levels of confidence. This was disseminated to
506 consultants and achieved a 57 per cent response rate. The confidence scale
showed good internal reliability and the influential factors were modelled using
multilinear regression. Consultant specialty, increased involvement in clinical
coding, and participation in service planning/monitoring all had a significant
effect. A small number of semi-structured interviews further examined these
factors. Whilst the findings confirm there is scope to increase levels of
confidence, the mean score indicated neither a high nor a low level of
confidence. The results demonstrate that improving consultants’
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Healthcare Commission
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Audit Commission
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