What are the benefits of service evaluation?
With the growing pressure on healthcare systems and resources, and the need to improve services, there is a continuous need to evaluate their effectiveness (including cost-effectiveness) and efficiency.
In addition, there are increasing expectations that any new service or intervention will be formally evaluated to ensure it meets the intended aims and outcomes and that it delivers the anticipated level of service and care.
Robust service evaluations also form part of the evidence base which will then support decision-making, for example, commissioning decisions.
There are several benefits to service evaluations:
- Findings can be used to produce recommendations to modify or improve existing services.
- Findings can identify the challenges and achievements of a service.
- Improved services benefit those who access them i.e., improved patient care.
- Findings can contribute to the evidence base to improve best practices in the area.