Services that use CORE software are automatically signed up to the CORE user network when they purchase a license and are encouraged to adopt a common methodology. This includes induction training for practitioners, data management training for service managers, and adoption of a common reporting framework. The report function in CORE PC offers a pragmatic structure that aligns with the Department of Health’s performance and service quality assessment requirements (Organising and Delivering Psychological Therapies.  London: Department of Health July 2004)  and also reflects the client’s journey through therapy. Among the 12 key indicators are: waiting time between referral and first contact, patient intake, therapy duration, client initiated termination of therapy, clinical outcomes, and risk assessment.

Membership of the CORE user network has a number of significant advantages. Chief among these is that it allows service benchmarking to identify, develop and disseminate best practice in the provision of psychological therapy. Services collectively pool anonymous data to populate a unique national research database (NRD) of practice based evidence, with a current growth rate of around 75,000 clients per annum. The NRD is used to develop and evolve a set of comparative service quality indicators – benchmarks – designed to help members explore the performance of their own service and of individual practitioners within their service.

The benchmarking indices are commonly presented in the form of anonymised, traffic-light ‘thermometers’. The band at the top of the thermometer, profiling the percentage range for services making up the top quartile, is coloured green; subsequent quartiles are sequentially coloured yellow, amber and red, with red denoting the percentage range for the lowest quartile of services.

Since 2004, CORE IMS, in conjunction with the CORE user network, has begun to develop data sources for the creation of benchmark indicators in specific sectors, including primary care 1,  workplace and student counselling services.

CORE user network members are also encouraged towards active and open participation in group benchmarking workshops. Thus, the network provides a level of peer support to CORE-using services in keeping with the participatory, ground-up learning ethos that has underpinned CORE since its inception.


1 Mellor-Clark, J, Curtis-Jenkins, A, Evans, R, Mothersole G, McInnes, B.  2006.  Resourcing a CORE Network to develop a National Research Database to help enhance psychological therapy and counselling service provision.  Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 6, 16-22.