Public consultation on health and social care statistics
The COVID-19 pandemic placed health and social care statistics into the headlines, encompassing a wide range of important topics such as mortality, vaccine uptake, mental health, and other health impacts.
Nearly four years after the first news reports about the ‘coronavirus’, interest in health statistics has continued to grow. Statistical leaders from the Health and Social Care Statistics Leadership Forum explain how they are working together to improve health and social care statistics, and how you can have your say.
Health and social care statistics highlight the challenges facing our population. They inform policy makers and provide evidence for health interventions at a local and national level. These statistics serve a wide range other users beyond government, including charities, local authorities, and academic researchers.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, health and social care statistics gave insight that informed responses to the evolving public health emergency. The Office for Statistics Regulation’s COVID-19 lessons learned report noted the remarkable work of statistics producers who worked together at pace to overcome new challenges. The report calls for us to build on the statistical achievements of the last three years and ensure even stronger co-ordination of health and social care statistics.
The Health and Social Care Statistics Leadership Forum
The Health and Social Care Statistics Leadership Forum (HSCSLF) brings together statisticians from across the health statistics system in England. It includes representatives from:
- the Department of Health and Social Care
- the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities
- the Office for National Statistics
- NHS England
- NHS Business Services Authority
- the UK Health Security Agency
The group has worked together to launch a public consultation on health and social care statistics.
About the consultation
This consultation looks across all of the regular health and social care statistical products produced by HSCSLF’s member organisations. It sets out proposals to change those products and move towards an improved and more efficient health and social care statistical landscape.
Health and social care statistics encompass a diverse and complex range of topics, from primary and community care to child health. The consultation seeks general feedback from users, as well as responses to proposals to change specific products. We encourage users to tell us about the aspects of these products that are particularly valuable to them.
The consultation covers over 200 statistical products, but we recognise that not every user is interested in statistics on every aspect of health and social care. So, to help users navigate the consultation, we have structured it into different topic areas. This means that users only need to give responses about topics that are of most relevance and interest to them.
The scale and ambition of this consultation represents the combined effort of statisticians to improve our work and produce valuable statistics for the public good. This will help us build a more coordinated understanding of the nation’s health.
Who can respond to the consultation
We welcome all types of users to respond to this consultation, including users in:
- academia
- government
- the local or national healthcare system
- industry
We also welcome responses from interested members of the public.
When the consultation closes
The consultation will close at 11:59pm on Tuesday 5 March 2024.
The Health and Social Care Statistics Leadership Forum (HSCSLF)
Lucy Vickers is Head of Profession for Statistics at the Department of Health and Social Care, and Chair of the Health and Social Care Statistics Leadership Forum.
Julie Stanborough is the Deputy Director for Data & Analysis for Social Care and Health at the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Chris Roebuck and Mark Svenson are joint Heads of Profession for Statistics at NHS England.
Nadine Morrisroe is Head of Data Science, Advanced Analytics & Statistics at NHS Business Services Authority.