Why SSQD Data Matters and How Medicus Helps

NHS England’s rehabilitation metrics are widely seen as one of the most demanding tasks audit nurses do. This article explains what SSQD requires, why SSQD reporting matters and exactly how Medicus makes it manageable.

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What SSQD Measures

Specialised Services Quality Dashboards (SSQD) is a set of rehabilitation quality measures defined by NHS England. Units must submit two metrics each quarter to the Futures platform. These sit outside the ICNARC dataset, so they are not collected automatically and require local processes to capture.

SSQD exists because critical illness does not end at ICU discharge. Many patients need long-term physical and psychological recovery. Without structured rehabilitation during and after their stay, outcomes are poorer. SSQD allows NHS England to track how well units identify these patients and provide follow-up.

Two metrics sit at the heart of SSQD reporting for critical care.

• ACC18 [During  admission] - Assessment and rehab goals agreed within 4 days of admission.
• ACC19 [After  discharge] - In-person follow-up clinic attendance within 3 months of acute hospital discharge.

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Bridging the Gap Between Care Delivered and Care Recorded

Difficulties with SSQD submission typically reflect the burden of documentation, not the quality of care. Clinical teams are often delivering appropriate care. Therapists assess patients, goals are set and follow-up clinics take place. However, without a consistent way to record this work, the data cannot be pulled together and reporting cannot be completed.

Teams often struggle at the first hurdle, not because the work is not being done, but because there is no formal way to capture morbidity risk assessments.

Gemma Millen, Clinical Data Analyst at Mela Solutions

This matters beyond the administrative burden. SSQD data feeds into NHS England’s understanding of rehabilitation provision across the country. Units that do not submit or that submit incomplete data are effectively invisible in that picture. The national conversation about critical care rehabilitation, about where investment goes and what standards get set, is shaped by the data that does get submitted.

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Why SSQD Data Matters

1. Reveals hidden insights: Accurate SSQD data provides a comprehensive national view of rehabilitation, influencing future funding and planning. Accurate SSQD data builds a national picture of rehabilitation that is currently incomplete and shapes future funding and planning.
2. Identifies patients who need more support: Consistent morbidity risk assessment ensures at-risk patients are recognised early and not missed.
3. Strengthens the case for follow-up services: Reliable ACC19 data shows demand and gaps, providing evidence to secure investment in follow-up care.
4. Drives consistency within your own unit: SSQD processes encourage clear, standardised approaches to assessment, handover, and follow up.
5. Supports the case for counting virtual follow-up: Strong data highlighting gaps in in person care helps build the case for recognising virtual follow up.

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Getting Morbidity Risk Assessment Right

ACC18 and ACC19 both depend on one thing: consistent recording of morbidity risk. If this is unreliable, the metrics are unreliable. NICE QS158 allows flexibility, but units need clear, agreed criteria applied at every admission.

A practical approach:

• Use a simple tick box assessment on admission
• Have therapy teams review and act as a safety check
• Define exclusions (e.g. routine post operative patients) to keep the denominator accurate

Units tend to struggle here not because care is missing, but because morbidity risk is not recorded in a consistent way.

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Smarter SSQD Reporting with Medicus

SSQD reporting is time consuming not because care is lacking, but because data is not structured. Medicus addresses this by embedding rehabilitation data capture into routine workflows and streamlining quarterly submission.

✔︎ Turns a week’s work into minutes. Submissions that once took days can be completed in around 20 minutes with Medicus Superquery reporting tool, or as little as five minutes with Medicus Analytics.

✔︎ Captures data at the point of care. SSQD fields sit within the clinical record, so there is no separate system or retrospective data entry.

✔︎ Reduces the risk of missing patients. Key fields such as morbidity risk, assessment dates, and follow up are built into the patient record, making gaps easy to identify.

✔︎ Makes the denominator reliable. Consistent capture of morbidity risk assessments ensures accurate baseline figures.

✔︎ Supports follow up teams. Provides a structured record of follow up activity to support planning and investment.

✔︎ Builds the evidence base. Clear data shows demand and gaps, strengthening the case for service improvement.

✔︎ Simplifies quarterly submission. Without Analytics, data can be exported through the Superquery but may require some additional steps submit reports. With Medicus Analytics, dedicated dashboard automates patient selection, calculations, and produce ready to submit SSQD figures directly into the NHS England Futures platform with no spreadsheets required.