The United Kingdom Health Statistics theme groups

Aim 1

We aim to improve accessibility and coherence of official statistics.

Aim 2

We aim to reduce the need for duplication in data collection and analysis to make sure producers of official statistics are working effectively.

Aim 3

We aim to harmonise methods and definitions used, where possible, and help users understand differences between methods and terminology used in analysis.

Aim 4

We aim to identify evidence gaps and priority areas for improvement and contribute to the development of statistics.

Aim 5

We aim to share learning and updates on projects to improve our understanding of the data landscape and act as a conduit between producers of statistics across the UK.

Aim 6

We aim to improve our understanding of our users and coordinate user engagement.

Contact

For further information on this theme group, contact Bethan Sherwood, Welsh Government on GSS.Health@ons.gov.uk.

Members

• Department of Health and Social Care
• Department of Health, Northern Ireland
• NHS England
• Office for National Statistics
• Scottish Government
• Welsh Government

The action plan for this theme group will be added once available.

Aim 1

Harmonise methods. Identify where cancer statistics cover similar topics.

Progress

We created a framework that categorised statistical releases into ‘epidemiology’, ‘pathways’, and ‘outcomes’, and mapped all of our statistical releases onto that framework to identify gaps and areas of overlap.

Aim 2

Harmonise methods. Where statistics cover similar topics, we aim to remove or justify methodological differences.

Progress

For areas of overlap, we have convened Task & Finish groups consisting of producers of those statistics, with the aim of identifying whether it is possible to align methodologies. These are currently underway.

Aim 3

Improve coherence. We will aim to coordinate releases of cancer data across producers and nations.

Progress

For areas of overlap, we have convened Task & Finish groups consisting of producers of those statistics, with the aim of identifying whether alignment is possible. These are currently underway.

Aim 4

Improve coherence. We aim to make our terminology clearer and more consistent across outputs.

Progress

For areas of overlap, we have convened Task & Finish groups consisting of producers of those statistics, with the aim of identifying whether alignment is possible. These are currently underway. Further, we have invited Cancer Research UK representatives into the group to support ways that we can make data more accessible.

Aim 5

Improve accessibility. We will aim to improve the access to cancer data by creating a centralised hub for available data.

Aim 6

Improve accessibility. We will improve signposting of cancer statistics across producers through a publication matrix and where the data can be found. This will be published on the Analysis Function webpages and on statistics producers own web pages.

Aim 7

Understand user needs. We will aim to engage with our users to understand how best to present statistics.

Aim 8

Understand user needs. We will aim to engage with our users to identify any gaps in cancer data available.

Contact

For further information on this theme group, contact Paul Jennings, NHS England on GSS.Health@ons.gov.uk.

Members

• Cancer Research UK
• Department of Health and Social Care
• Department of Health, Northern Ireland
• NHS England
• Public Health Scotland
• Public Health Wales
• Welsh Government

Aim 1

We aim to improve the visibility of outputs across theme group organisations. This also involves identifying areas that would benefit from coordination to improve coherence.

Aim 2

We aim to improve our understanding of our users and coordinate user engagement.

Aim 3

We aim to identify evidence gaps and priority areas for development across the topics.

Aim 4

We aim to work together to develop requirements to improve the availability of children’s population data by ethnicity, and possibly other measures, for use as denominators and the production of rates by ethnicity.

Aim 5

We aim to review the use of geographical breakdowns in outputs, particularly Office for National Statistics (ONS) outputs that cover England and Wales combined.

Aim 6

We aim to monitor post-pandemic recovery in our statistics. Some new opportunities to share data were developed in response to the pandemic. We will identify which of these which opportunities were most useful and continue to support them.

Contact

For further information on this theme group, contact Greg Ceely, Office for National Statistics (ONS) on GSS.Health@ons.gov.uk.

Members

• Department of Health and Social Care
• NHS England
• Office for National Statistics
• UK Health Security Agency
• Welsh Government

Aim 1

We aim to provide meaningful comparisons of secondary care waiting time and performance statistics across the UK. The comparisons should concentrate on similarities between the data rather than differences.

Progress

Articles have been published on the analyst function website and ONS website detailing coherence of key metrics in performance statistics covering Ambulances, waiting times for planned care, A&E waiting times, and Cancer. The group continues to monitor and review these to ensure any changes to publications are captured and make improvements or additions as these are identified.

Aim 2

We aim to look at and inform novel ways of comparing secondary care performance including use of survey data, outcome and other quality metrics.

Progress

This work is ongoing.

Aim 3

Contribute to the development of statistics and act as a conduit between producers of statistics across the UK. This will help ensure coherence across the UK in the longer term.

Progress

This work is ongoing.

Contact

For further information on this theme group, contact Ted Goshawk-Dumbrell, Department for Health and Social Care on GSS.Health@ons.gov.uk.

Members

• Department of Health and Social Care
• Department of Health, Northern Ireland
• NHS England
• Office for National Statistics
• Public Health Scotland
• Scottish Government
• Public Health Wales

Aim 1

We aim to improve accessibility and coherence of official statistics.

Aim 2

We aim to reduce the need for duplication in data collection and analysis to make sure producers of official statistics are working effectively.

Aim 3

We aim to harmonise methods and definitions used, where possible, and help users understand differences between methods and terminology used in analysis.

Aim 4

We aim to identify evidence gaps and priority areas for improvement and contribute to the development of statistics.

Aim 5

We aim to share learning and updates on projects to improve our understanding of the data landscape and act as a conduit between producers of statistics across the UK.

Aim 6

We aim to improve our understanding of our users and coordinate user engagement.

Contact

For further information on this theme group, contact Andy Pring, Department for Health and Social Care on GSS.Health@ons.gov.uk.

Members

• Care Quality Commission
• Department of Health and Social Care
• NHS England
• Office for National Statistics
• Public Health Scotland
• Public Health Wales

Aim 1

We will keep group members informed of ongoing and upcoming work, including publications, on the topic of health inequalities.

Aim 2

Use the group as a forum of expertise to share and discuss methodologies and data.

Aim 3

We aim to improve accessibility and coherence of health inequalities related statistics.

Aim 4

We aim to improve user engagement with statistics, data and publications.

Aim 5

We aim to keep a UK-wide scope with representatives of the four nations in the group.

Contact

For further information on this theme group, contact Alistair Rose, Department of Health and Social Care on GSS.Health@ons.gov.uk.

Members

• Department of Health and Social Care
• Department of Health, Northern Ireland
• NHS England
• Office for National Statistics
• Scottish Government
• Welsh Government

Aim 1

We aim to work together to:

• improve the visibility of outputs
• co-ordinate publications
• improve the coherence of Official Statistics across producers and within the four nations

Aim 2

We aim to work together to:

• harmonise methods and definitions used in mental health analysis, where possible
• help users understand differences between methods and terminology used in mental health analysis

Aim 3

We aim to:

• improve our understanding of our users
• coordinate user engagement

This will enable us to identify evidence gaps and priority areas for development and improvement.

Aim 4

We aim to:

• improve the coverage and quality of mental health data
• reduce the need for duplication of data collections

Aim 5

We aim to share knowledge and insights to help monitor post-pandemic recovery of mental health.

Aim 6

We aim to improve the support and training available to users of mental health data.

Contact

For further information on this theme group, contact Cher Cartwright, NHS England on GSS.Health@ons.gov.uk.

Members

• Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Trust
• Care Quality Commission
• Department of Health and Social Care
• NHS England
• Office for Health Improvement and Disparities
• Office for National Statistics
• University College London

Aim 1

We will keep group members informed of upcoming mortality publications, as well as informing each other of changes and developments of any new and existing methods and definitions.

Progress

We hold a monthly meeting of the group which is an opportunity for members to share information on published mortality releases as well as upcoming mortality publications.

Aim 2

We aim to ensure group members are kept informed of changes to death certification as a result of the introduction of medical examiners and the likely impact on statistics.

Progress

There is a change in the death certification process that will come into force on 9 September. This will change the way deaths are scrutinised and certified in England and Wales with the introduction of a statutory medical examiner system. The lead on this work at ONS (Gemma Quayle) has been providing regular updates to the group. There will also be a presentation from ONS at the August meeting to run through plans for assessing the impact of this change with members given the opportunity to raise any questions or concerns.

Aim 3

We aim to coordinate publications, analysis and advice. Reduce duplication and deliver efficiencies.

Progress

We have discussed the results of the recent health and social care consultation. The group have produced a mortality action plan which provides details on what actions will be taken following the consultation feedback. The action plan includes several proposals to merge publications and deliver efficiency savings.

Aim 4

Coordinate user engagement and deliver a seamless service to users.

Progress

User engagement was coordinated by the group through the recent consultation on health and social care outputs which has provided a range of feedback from users on mortality outputs. This feedback has been analysed by the group and incorporated into an action plan.

Contact

For further information on this theme group, contact David Mais, Office for National Statistics on GSS.Health@ons.gov.uk.

Members

• Department of Health and Social Care
• Department of Health, Northern Ireland
• National Records Scotland
• Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
• Office for National Statistics
• Public Health Wales
• Scottish Government
• UK Health Security Agency
• Welsh Government

Aim 1

We will develop an understanding of the coherence of experience data in the UK and identify areas where it is feasible and desirable to improve coherence.

Aim 2

We aim to identify topics where it would be beneficial to coordinate releases of experience data across producers and nations.

Aim 3

We aim to identify topics where it would be feasible and beneficial to harmonise methods. We aim to remove methodological differences, or to explain and justify them.

Aim 4

We aim to identify data gaps in experience data and explore possibilities for filling these gaps.

Aim 5

We will facilitate and promote collaborative working.

Contact

For further information on this theme group, contact Euan Smith, Scottish Government on GSS.Health@ons.gov.uk.

Members

• Care Quality Commission
• Department of Health, Northern Ireland
• NHS England
• Office for National Statistics
• Scottish Government
• Welsh Government

Aim 1

Create a resource to improve the understanding of existing workforce statistics from across the four nations, highlighting areas that are and are not comparable. This will help users understand the differences and whether comparisons across the four nations are advisable.

Aim 2

Develop a shared understanding of specific workforce metrics (for example vacancies, absence and turnover) to further build the resource above and share knowledge and known issues which could feed into potential improvements across the four nations. This could potentially improve the range and comparability of metrics available to users.

Aim 3

We aim to improve our understanding of our users, share knowledge and coordinate user engagement where practical. This should enable us to better meet our user’s needs and in particular better understand any gaps in our data.

Aim 4

We aim to share analytical techniques, methodologies and processes and promote consistency.

Aim 5

We will share upcoming developments keeping each other informed so we can continue to learn.

Contact

For further information on this theme group, contact Alyson Whitmarsh, NHS England on GSS.Health@ons.gov.uk.

Members

• Department of Health and Social Care
• Department of Health, Northern Ireland
• NHS Education for Scotland
• NHS England
• NHS Scotland
• Welsh Government

Aim 1

Ensure the group has representation from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland by the end of 2022.

Progress

This aim has been achieved.

Aim 2

Group members will meet at least 2 or 3 times each year to share updates on recent projects to improve statistics on obesity, physical activity and nutrition. This will help to promote harmonisation and avoid duplication.

Progress

This aim is currently being achieved. This objective is ongoing.

Aim 3

Identify evidence gaps and priorities.

Progress

This aim is currently being achieved by having of policy analysts in the group. This objective is ongoing.

Aim 4

Investigate the possibility of publishing UK estimates of obesity prevalence by the end of 2024.

Progress

This aim is ongoing. This work is not currently possible because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on health surveys and national child measurement programmes, which has reduced comparability across the four nations. This will be reconsidered as these data collections evolve following the pandemic. Meanwhile, the group has produced a matrix exploring similarities and differences in current data collections and methodologies. If you would like a copy of the matrix, please email GSS.Health@ons.gov.uk.

Aim 5

Oversee and implement the response to the Health and Social Care Statistics consultation.

Progress

This aim is ongoing. A draft action plan has been submitted to the central team running the consultation.  We will then move on to implementing the action plan once the response to the consultation is published.

Contact

For further information on this theme group, contact Paul Niblett, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) on GSS.Health@ons.gov.uk.

Members

• Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Department of Health, Northern Ireland
• NHS England
• Office for Health Improvement and Disparities
• Office for National Statistics
• Public Health Scotland
• Scottish Government
• Sport England
• Welsh Government

Aim 1

We aim to improve access to Primary Care and Dental Data by creating a centralised “hub” of available data.

Aim 2

We aim to reduce duplication and align terminology by reviewing existing publications that cover similar topics.

Aim 3

We aim to identify any gaps in the Primary Care and Dental Data through user research.

Aim 4

We aim to co-ordinate data releases of relevant publications – for example, ensuring publications about GP Appointments and Workforce are released on the same day.

Aim 5

We aim to identify opportunities for any cross team working.

Aim 6

We aim to identify ways which we can develop publications to support the new NHS commissioning structure.