Review of improving health statistics

The Regulatory Arm of the UK Statistics Authority undertakes a range of work, including examining sets of statistics across particular thematic areas. We have for some time been working to try and improve the coherence of health statistics in England where the system is characterised by many producer bodies without an overall lead, and this has resulted in a lack of system wide coherence in the statistics produced and hence a failure to maximise the public value of the statistics in this important area. The same issues are not found in the same way in other parts of the UK and hence the current focus on England.

Producers of Government Health and Care statistics acknowledge the issues we have helped identify and there is now a commitment to improve the situation. An English Health Statistics Steering Group with representatives from the key statistics producers has been set up and has produced an action plan. Our role in the next year will be to help keep up the pressure on the statisticians to deliver against this, recognising the competing demands on constrained resources. Groups are being set up to look at particular areas of health and care across producer bodies, and in the next phase of our work, we are keen to get a more detailed understanding of the issues at this lower level, to ensure our voice continues to be credible. We have begun taking stock of the data sources and statistics in some of the thematic areas, but do not have specific health expertise within the team and do not have sufficient resource to complete the set. We are therefore looking to commission some inputs to aid our work, which will involve producing analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of data sources and statistics in thematic areas, as well as potentially being called upon for other advice as we proceed with this work.

Further information can be found in the "Invitation to Tender" attached to this notice.

The tendering process will be completed through the e-sourcing portal, In-tend. Please use the link supplied in additional information.

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