In February 2016 the UK Statistics Authority convened a meeting – a Round Table – of many of the leaders of the English health and care system to discuss how English health and care statistics could be enhanced to better serve the public good: how the statistics might be improved, in order to support better decision making.
Health and Care Statistics in England – The Statistics Authority’s direction of travel summarises the outcomes of the Round Table.
There was support for the UK Statistics Authority’s strategy for UK Statistics – Better Statistics, Better Decisions – which starts from the independence and professionalism of statisticians as the essential pre-requisite to trustworthiness, and looks for systems of statistics which then demonstrate the following attributes: Helpful ; Innovative; Professional ; Efficient; Capable.
The Round Table agreed that at its best the health and care statistical system in England satisfies these criteria but concluded that generally the service provided for users by the decentralised system was incoherent and inconsistent.
List of annexes
Annex A – Round table attendees