The report published by NHS Arden & GEM Commissioning Support Unit proposes a new classification framework to better align metrics with their intended use, whether for system-level planning, local service improvement, evaluating resource allocation or national financial accountability.

Katie Fozzard, senior economist at The Health Foundation, said ‘The Government has placed significant emphasis on increasing NHS productivity - setting a stretching target for the health service to deliver 2% annual productivity growth. The way productivity is measured, and whether it captures what matters most, is therefore of crucial importance. This report is a vital resource to help us understand the different ways that productivity is measured and areas for improvement.'

The report explores the current strengths and limitations of existing productivity metrics, while looking forward to recent developments in productivity measurement, as set out in the ONS recent Public Services Productivity Review. It highlights persistent challenges such as fragmented data, inconsistent coverage across settings and a lack of tools to evaluate long-term investment, preventative care and workforce resilience.

It calls for: adoption of multi-faceted measures that better reflect long-term investment, patient outcomes and workforce resilience, strengthening how measures align with future service needs; greater integration of micro-level evaluative and macro-level technical approaches to bridge the gap between local insights and national decision-making; investment in metrics that account for the value of preventative care beyond short-term costs; and improved tools to measure productivity across evolving care pathways and system partners, including social care and the independent sector.