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Data Insight

Issue 4
18/09/2014

Welcome to issue 4

In this issue, we include details of the latest data application position and news about our recently published annual report of Guardianship under the Mental Health Act 1983, showing a 4% rise in new guardianship cases. We also include news of a detailed report about Registered Blind and Partially Sighted People which is produced every three years and is of particular interest to a number of organisations who represent the interests of blind and partially sighted people.

I would encourage you to take the time to participate in two of our current consultation exercises as it is important for us to gauge the opinions of our stakeholders. The content of our current survey about secure data access was influenced by discussions at our stakeholder event in July and the survey offers an opportunity to influence our approach to this very important subject. Similarly, we would welcome responses to our Publication Strategy consultation and details of both of these exercises are below.

I would, as always, very much appreciate any feedback you have about how useful and informative the bulletin is as this will enable us to tailor the content of future bulletins to your needs and preferences. Please use either of the email addresses quoted at the end of this bulletin to provide comments about any aspect of the bulletin. Thank you.

Max Jones
Director of Information and Analytics

Data Application and Release Service Dashboard

The Data Access Request Service (DARS) provides a single service point for the management of all data access requests submitted to the HSCIC. The dashboard (above) shows the number of applications received and progress made to date. The dashboard is updated regularly on our DARS web pages.

Your contributions are needed

Customer survey: requirements for secure access to data

In June this year, the HSCIC published a review of data released by the NHS Information Centre (NHS IC), one of our predecessor organisations. One of the nine recommendations in the review report was that the HSCIC should actively pursue a technical solution to allow access to data, without the need to release them out of the HSCIC to external organisations.

To support this, we are currently conducting a survey to gather the high level requirements of stakeholders and users of data provided by the HSCIC. This will help us shape the technical solution and enable the delivery team to plan further customer input to secure data access. There is still time to contribute to the survey. The closing date is 23 September and we would very much welcome your input.

HSCIC Publication Strategy consultation

We are currently consulting a wide range of stakeholders to seek feedback on our draft HSCIC publication strategy which looks at what, when, where, how and why we publish information and data. We are very keen to ensure that our strategy reflects the needs and preferences of our customers and would like to encourage all users and suppliers of data and information to contribute to this exercise. The consultation is open until 8 October.

Meet the team

22 September: Jo Simpson, Senior Project Manager, Community and Mental Health will be speaking at the ‘Payment Systems in Mental Health’ conference. She will be speaking about ‘Data Assurance and Data Quality’ in the Mental Health Minimum Data Set

24 September: Don’t forget that we’ll be exhibiting and speaking at the Healthcare Efficiency Through Technology show. Come to stand 397 to talk to a member of our team or ask a question.

07 October: Garry Coleman, Head of Data Services will be taking part in a round table debate at the Royal Statistical Society: Social Statistics meeting. The topic of discussion is ‘Linking healthcare records for statistrical analysis: care.data, possibilities and problems'

Registered Blind and Partially Sighted People

The Registered Blind and Partially Sighted People report is published every three years by HSCIC and contains detailed statistics on adults and children registered with councils with social services responsibilities in England, as being blind or partially sighted. The data are compiled from the triennial SSDA 902 return submitted by councils to HSCIC.

Among the findings of the report were that there were seven per cent fewer people aged 75 or above registered as blind compared to 2011 when the report was last published. However, the report also shows a 17 per cent increase in children under five registered as partially sighted and a three per cent increase in those registered as blind, when compared to 2011 figures.

Statistics from the report are used by a range of organisations for a variety of purposes, for example

local authorities use the data to help complete their Joint Strategic Needs Assessments and for commissioning purposes
the Guide Dogs organisation uses data to anticipate future demand for services and to inform planning
the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) use registration statistics to plan services and to monitor registration trends

Find out more
Read the report

New guardianship cases up by 4 per cent

Guardianship under the Mental Health Act 1983 provides a framework of care to help a person achieve as independent a life as possible while protecting their safety or that of others. A guardian has the power to specify where a patient may live; that they attend specific places for treatment, education, occupation or training, and access is granted to the patient by a doctor, approved mental health professional or other specified person.

This annual report provides the latest statistics regarding cases of Guardianship in England, for the reporting period 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014. The data are supplied to the Health and Social Care Information Centre from all Local Authorities with Social Services Responsibilities.

The report will be relevant to anyone responsible for handling Guardianship applications or those involved in monitoring Mental Health Law and the rights of people with mental disorders. It will be of particular interest to local social services authorities who are the named guardians in the majority of cases and who supply the data used for these statistics.

The number of new Guardianship cases rose by four per cent in England in 2013-14, signalling the first year-on-year rise in the number of new cases since 2009-10.

Find out more
Read the report

Publications calendar

Our publications calendar provides details of previous and scheduled publications.

Find data in our catalogue

Browse our data catalogue containing official statistics, surveys, audits and reports.

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Get in touch

If you have any feedback or have a topic you'd like to know more about then email us at:
enquiries@hscic.gov.uk or max.jones@hscic.gov.uk

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