Creating A Coherent Picture Of Health In The UK

1st November 2023

From the National Statistical blog.

How do we create an overall picture of health in the UK, when the data produced by each of the four nations can be different?.

Statistical coherence is about bringing together statistics on the same topic to give a better understanding of the part of the world they describe. In this blog, Becky Tinsley explains how the ONS, the devolved administrations, and health bodies, are working together to improve the comparability of UK health data, allowing us to better join the pieces of the puzzle.

When systems, legislative power, and subsequent policies are devolved (such as in health and social care), the data produced by each country can be different as it responds to different policies and represents the different needs of the populations of each nation. This can create challenges in directly comparing or joining up statistics across the UK.

A joined-up, UK-wide, statistical picture allows for deeper and wider insight, which in turn helps users and policy makers in their decision making. Coherence is a key aspect of high-quality official statistics as the inability to compare statistics creates challenges to service planning, as well as to evaluation and development of new policies across the UK.

Indeed, the pandemic has accelerated the joining up of analysts in government and strengthened links across departments and the devolved administrations - both at an operational and a strategic level.

That's where we come in.

The ONS is working with partners across the UK statistical system (government departments, health departments, and health bodies) to make it easier to understand the comparability of health data for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, whilst respecting the devolved nature of these statistics.

This blog from August 2022 sets out how the Government Statistical Service (GSS) has driven forward change to make health statistics more coherent in England.

We have now expanded this work to support the production of UK-wide coherent health statistics. Cross-Government initiatives, led through the UK Health Statistics Steering Group, are working to make sure data are coherent, accessible, and meet users' needs.

Read the full blog report HERE