The internal conflict of collecting outcome measures

A service evaluation was undertaken to learn about the consistency of outcome data collection by a psychology service within the NHS. Nine clinical psychologists (CPs), were interviewed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. An analysis of quantitative data was carried out and represented using graphs. The qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis, and the results are discussed. The analysis from the quantitative data showed a discrepancy between outcome measures collected at the start of an intervention compared to the end of an intervention. The attitudes of these nine CPs were also collected through interviews, and the analysis showed an overall positive attitude towards outcome measures, suggesting that this did not have an impact on outcome collection. However, the analysis of the qualitative data found possible themes which could explain why outcome measures are not collected consistently. These themes were: ‘forgetfulness’, ‘responsibility’, ‘internal struggle’ and ‘outcome measure needs to change’. Recommendations are discussed based on the findings of this service evaluation.