A Department of Health circular released the day after the August bank holiday is proposing a 25 per cent reduction in the collection of data as part of a “cut red tape” programme. Among information to be curtailed are statistics on waiting times, hospital capacity, mental health, and the skills of the workforce.
Officially, the proposal is supposed to save £10 million a year to put into patient care – but careful reading of the consultation paper reveals that the reduction in data collection is designed to fit in with the government’s new vision of a more privatised and less centrally-run National Health Service. The result is that some of the information will no longer be collected to provide a national picture of the NHS.
Particularly affected will be mental health, where nearly half (45 per cent) of the 11 statistical surveys will be abandoned – all of them relating to national data on patient services. Also badly affected will be statistics on the NHS workforce – used to forecast demand for trained staff – more than half the information (55 per cent) will no longer be collected.
The consultation paper says: “This will be of significance for non-NHS providers of NHS services as it will determine the minimum workforce information they would be required to provide.”
Another area almost halved is the collection of data on waiting times, hospital capacity and activity and targets. The report says: “The content and frequency… should remain under review so that the right information is provided by the NHS at a sensible frequency and in so doing the burden to the NHS is minimised.”
What is not clear from the document is exactly what information is no longer to be collected-adding to concerns. The one exception is cancer statistics where collection is to be improved.
Public health minister Anne Milton agreed the figures are the “lifeblood of the NHS” but said: “We know that some of the data that is being gathered is of limited use, taking up valuable staff time and resources.
“This is why we want to cut red tape in the NHS so that staff can focus on what matters most – improving front line care and services for patients.”
