...data collection Tools used for collecting research data MUST be standardised, but when designing tools for collecting routine data, the following must be kept into consideration: Purpose of data collection (patient care or monitoring) Type of data (patient or aggregated) Health facility environment (number of patients, small facility with integrated care, large facility with specialised care...) Available resources (staff, computers, networks...) Paper based (tick or tally, daily or longitudinal registers) Electronic for monitoring Electronic for patient management