REVIEW OF EQUALITIES DATA
NHS Health Scotland is leading a review of equalities health data needs. The review will cover routine data on age, gender, ethnicity, disability, religion and belief, sexual orientation and transgender. The review will identify priorities for equalities data in Scotland.
Background
Considerable work has taken place over a number of years in Scotland to understand the health of different people in our population and to ensure that NHS services are fair for all; however the lack of equalities data is one constraint on our ability to make further progress in this area. Equalities health data in Scotland is very limited, particularly for the non-age and gender equality strands where we have virtually no data in Scotland. Equalities data is needed to:
- understand health outcomes and their determinants for different people
- ensure appropriate services are available and accessible to those who need them
- understand patient experience
- assist with performance management
What will the review involve?
The review will build on and complement ongoing work to develop equalities health data in Scotland, including the Equality and Diversity Information Programme (external link), which is run by the NHS Information Services Division (ISD). The review will:
- detail the current availability of equalities health data in Scotland for routinely collected data sources
- consult on the priorities for equalities data in Scotland, including priorities for NHS Boards, GPs, government, academics and equality groups
- assess the feasibility of data collection and process changes, including NHS infrastructure and patient/population readiness to answer equalities questions
- make recommendations, with milestones, for equalities data development.
Timescales and reporting
The lack of data in Scotland was recognised in the Office for National Statistics’ Review of Equality Data (external link) and in Equally Well the report of the Ministerial Task Force on Health Inequalities (external link), both of which made a recommendation to review equalities health data in Scotland. The timescale set is to complete the review work by the end of 2009 with a review report due to be submitted to Equally Well and the Mutuality, Equality and Human Rights Board in early 2010.
How to feed in your views
The review is keen to examine the current and potential use of equalities health data across Scotland. If you would like to contribute to the review or find out more about this work, then please contact Lynn Graham (contact details below)
Further information
Further information can be obtained from:
Lynn Graham (Project Manager)
Equalities Intelligence Manager
NHS Health Scotland
email: lynn.graham@nhs.net
tel: 0141 354 2982
Useful links
- Equality & Diversity Information Programme website (ISD) (external link)
- Ethnic MonitoringToolkit (external link)DVD Training Resource to support patient monitoring/profiling (external link)
- NHS Board Ethnicity Completeness reports (external link)
Reviewed 21 April 2010