Dear Mark and Chris
Assessment of Accident and Emergency (A&E) Statistics in England
Thank you for inviting us to assess NHS England’s suite of Accident and Emergency (A&E) statistics against the Code of Practice for Statistics. We have completed the assessment and have today published our Assessment Report. We judge that these statistics can be become accredited official statistics (called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007) once we have confirmed that the improvements outlined in the six requirements set out in the report have been made. I would like to thank you and your team for your positive engagement throughout the assessment.
The performance of the National Health Service in England, and specifically that of A&E departments, continues to be hugely topical. These statistics are likely to attract increased interest as we approach the next general election. It is encouraging that prior to this assessment commencing you started publishing statistics on 12-hour waits from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge in response to user feedback and our intervention. We also welcomed your team’s positive response to requests from users for more-granular information, particularly site-level breakdowns. We are aware that some of these improvements may take time to implement. Keeping users updated on progress, as well as providing the additional information around development plans and quality outlined in our requirements, will help increase the transparency of the statistics and the insight they offer during this time of increased scrutiny.
As discussed, we expect you to report back to us by July 2024 on how you have met the requirements outlined in our report. We will also keep in touch with your team on a regular basis to monitor progress towards meeting the requirements and to provide support and guidance where necessary.
Yours sincerely
Ed Humpherson
Director General for Regulation
Related Links:
Mark Svenson and Chris Roebuck to Ed Humpherson: Request for assessment of A&E outputs