NHS Atlas of Variation in Diagnostic Services

Significant differences in how health conditions are identified and monitored have been published in the first NHS Atlas of Variation in Diagnostic Services.

Featuring 69 different maps of England, the NHS Atlas of Diagnostics identifies local variations for a range of diagnostic services including imaging, endoscopy, physiological diagnostics, pathology, and genetics. They show that patients in certain areas are hundreds of times less likely to be offered some tests than in other parts of the country.

The maps provide information down to the level of local primary care trusts and, in some cases, there are also maps for the new Clinical Commissioning Groups.

The Atlas is published by Public Health England, working with NHS Right Care, other organisations and expert clinicians.

The NHS Atlas of Variation in Diagnostic Services and previous atlases focusing on other areas of healthcare are available at www.rightcare.nhs.uk/index.php/nhs-atlas.