INFORMATION RESOURCES ON JOINT STRATEGIC NEEDS ASSESSMENT
< Local context | Tools >
Data
This section gives examples of some data sources which may be useful for completing Joint Strategic Needs Assessment. Further links will be added as the JSNA process develops.
Small Area Health Data
Small area datasets which aim to inform local health inequalities work. They enable the downloading of a range of small area health indicators worksheet. Examples of the datasets include; life expectancy, under 75 mortality and synthetic lifestyle estimates.
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES)
Hospital admission rates from the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) database. These indicators contain details of admissions to hospital for key diagnoses and procedures. Each indicator provides the Aged Standardised Rate for each procedure/diagnosis by local authority of residence per 100,000 population.
Community Health Profiles
Health Profiles give a general outline of the health of people in different local authorities areas in England. These Health Profiles can be used by local authorities and the health service to highlight the health issues for their local authority area and to compare them with other areas. The profiles are designed to show where there are important problems with health or health inequalities.
Clinical and Health Outcomes Knowledge Base
The National Centre for Health Outcomes Development is a source of information on health outcomes including comparative data for 700 health and local government organisations in England. It also offers advice on how to measure health and the impact of health care.
Neighbourhood statistics
Neighbourhood statistics from the Office for National Statistics contain a wide range of health and social care measures varying from crime, education, health and housing. Information is available at various geographical levels usually including Local Authority but in some cases lower levels. (click on I want to 'view or download data by topic', then click on topic of choice e.g. Health and Care under 'Neighbourhood Statistics' topics.)
Office for National Statistics (ONS)
The ONS produces information which features extensively in the JSNA core dataset. Its data is often updated yearly and is normally available at PCT or LA level (or both). Examples of the data provided are: mid-year population estimates, experimental population estimates at LSOA and MSOA level, sub-national population projections, births (rates and counts) and population estimates broken down by ethnicity.
Information Centre
The information centre holds data sources, including the Quality and Outcomes Framework (practice-reported data on nineteen chronic diseases, including prevalence and management) and the Health Survey for England (see below).
Department of Children, School and Families (DCSF)
DCSF contains a lot of child-related information. Of particular interest is the (publicly available) information on children at school such as levels of special educational needs, school absenteeism, exclusions and GCSE attainment. Looked-after children are also covered.
Prevalence estimates for chronic diseases
The Association of Public Health Observatories (APHO) is in the process of creating models to predict disease prevalence. There are currently models for Diabetes, Coronary Heart Disease, Hypertension, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and chronic kidney disease. All models provide estimates at PCT level; the COPD model also provides estimates at LA level whilst the Diabetes model includes estimates for LA, GOR and SHA areas. Possible future models may be for Mental Illness, Cancer, and Dementia.
It should be noted that it is possible to compare the estimates from all the models to publicly-available Quality and Outcomes Framework data.
Health Survey for England (HSfE)
This provides data for England as a whole on a variety of topics, including risk factors and disease prevalence. Whilst the data is not provided at a local (PCT or LA) level, it can be used to create local synthetic estimates; for example the CHD model referred to above uses data from the HSfE. The Information centre has also commissioned synthetic estimates – based on the HSfE - of smoking, binge drinking, obesity, and fruit and vegetable consumption.
Local Basket of Indicators
Produced by the London Health Observatory, the basket includes about 60 indicators, with the data available at a local level; e.g. PCT and LA. The areas are divided into 13 themes covering a wide variety of topics.
The intention of the basket is that the indicators are used at a local level to track progress against local priorities for action on health inequalities.
2001 Census
A wealth of information is available from the 2001 Census; it can normally be obtained at very small levels and is generally considered to be very accurate. However, the data is now several years old.
< Local context | Tools >