The Data Quality Service
Under the new Health and Social Care bill, we will have lead responsibility for assuring the data quality of all nationally collected and published data, because all nationally collected data will be centralised here. We want to help all organisations achieve good data quality.
Our role will be to provide an assurance function, helping local organisations achieve their responsibilities in ensuring data quality. We will do this by:
- working with both local and national organisations to develop a framework which outlines standards, assures and improves the quality of data.
- producing our first national report during summer 2012. It will summarise our current data quality assurance activities and how we are developing our framework for wider roll out during 2013 and 2014.
Why does data quality matter?
Data quality has a direct impact on health and social care as patient care and safety depends on good quality data. Poor quality data can disrupt funding, damage the reputation of organisations and individuals and lead to flawed clinical, administrative and planning decisions.
Improving data quality improves patient care and value for money.
Read more about the impact of data quality.
What are we doing on data quality?
SUS data quality
Monitor your data quality in the Secondary Uses Service using the SUS data quality dashboards.
HES data quality
Read our discussion document highlighting how clinicians can drive better data quality in Hospital Episode Statistics. This document has been endorsed by the Academy of Royal Colleges.
Mental health data quality
Access our organisation-level data quality reports for the Mental Health Minimum Data Set (MHMDS).
PRIMIS+. Data quality for primary care
Read how our PRIMIS+ service can help GPs monitor the quality of their data.
Join our Data Quality Guild
Your network of data quality champions and practitioners in every health and social care organisation. Members can register with Espace, an online community providing access to tools and people who can help improve your organisation's data quality.
Data quality
“We will seek to centralise all data returns in the Health and Social Care Information Centre, which will have lead responsibility for data collection and assuring the data quality of those returns, working with other interested parties such as Monitor and the Care Quality Commission.”
Liberating the NHS White Paper
"Improving Data Quality: In order to maximise the benefits of transparency, it is vital data released by Government are accurate, consistent and easily manageable"
PM Letter to Cabinet Ministers on Transparency and Open Government