The document emphasizes the critical importance of data quality in health and social care, outlining its role in informed decision-making. It references the Francis and Caldicott reports, which highlight issues with data accuracy and recommend measures such as vigilant local auditing and continuous professional development for providers. The HSCIC's role involves assessing data quality, improving systems, and collaborating with stakeholders to establish a national data quality assurance framework.

1. Improving Data Quality
John Sharp, Head of Data Quality

2. Importance
• Good quality data is, and has always been,
a key part of improving services.
• It supports informed decision making.
• Those decisions can affect a single individual
or the whole of the health and social care
system.

3. Importance
• The Francis report of the Mid Staffs Public Inquiry
acknowledges the importance of data quality.
• The second Caldicott review of information governance
acknowledges the importance of data quality.
• They both highlight issues with the quality of data
recorded and used in health and social care.
• They both describe the impact these issues have on
direct and indirect uses of data, including patient care.
• They both recommend how these issues can be
resolved.

4. Francis comments
• Accuracy of records is obviously vital if safe
care is to be delivered to patients.
• There is potential for providers’ data from which
healthcare statistics are produced to be
inaccurate to an extent that undermines the
reliability of subsequent analysis.

5. Francis recommendations
• The only practical way of ensuring reasonable
accuracy is vigilant auditing at local level of the
data put into the system. This is important work
which must be continued and where possible
improved.
• Each provider organisation should have a
board level member with responsibility for
information.

6. Caldicott comments – direct care
• Poor data quality can directly affect the quality
of direct patient care.
• It can be caused by poor practice.
• It can result from poor standards, processes or
systems.

7. Caldicott comments – indirect care
• Data is derived from health and social care
records for direct care that are themselves of
poor quality.
• The way in which data sets are created, in
particular those that rely on human
transcription.
• Data transcription errors can be significant with
rates of 6.5% or 650 errors per 10,000 data
items quoted in research studies.

8. Caldicott recommendations
• Regulatory, professional and educational
bodies should ensure that sound record
keeping and the importance of data quality are
part of continuous professional development.
• This should be assessed as part of any
professional revalidation process.

9. Duties and responsibilities
It is clear from Francis and Caldicott that:
• Care providers are responsible for ensuring that the
quality of the data they collect is fit for its primary use.
• National bodies are responsible for ensuring that care
providers requirements are prioritised when designing
and developing data sets and data collection systems.
• Regulatory, professional and educational bodies are
responsible for putting data quality firmly on their
agendas and keeping it there.

10. The HSCIC’s role
The key responsibility of the
HSCIC with regard to data quality,
as set out in the Health and
Social Care Act (2012), is to
assess and report on the quality
of the data it collects

11. Assessment and reporting
Assessing and reporting on the quality of data
received against published standards:
• Supports the investigation and resolution of data issues.
• Highlights opportunities for improvements to standards,
processes and systems.
• Allows users of the data to make evidence-based
decisions on the fitness of the data for their specific
purposes

12. Collaboration
The HSCIC will work collaboratively to develop
its data quality assurance role with its
customers and key stakeholders including:
• Public and patients
• NHS England
• Royal Colleges
• Monitor
• Care Quality Commission
• Public health England
• NICE

13. Continuous improvement
The HSCIC intends that its data quality assurance role will support
continuous improvement in data quality by:
• Developing and implementing processes and systems based on
customer requirements.
• Assessing the extent to which current and future collection systems
comply with national data standards.
• Identifying best practice and innovation in data quality assurance
and sharing it with customers and data providers.
• Collaborating with customers and other key stakeholders in the
development of a national data quality assurance framework.

14. Engagement
The HSCIC will engage with its customers and
other key stakeholders through:
• Consultation on its key data quality assurance
proposals
• Requesting feedback on its data quality reports
and statements
• Direct contact with organisations perceived to
be using good or poor data quality practices

15. Contact
The HSCIC is always keen to hear from anyone
with an interest in, or ideas for, improving the
quality of health and social care data. If this is
you, please contact:
enquiries@hscic.gov.uk
with the subject of your enquiry being: Data Quality Assurance

16. Any questions?