Health and Social Care Data Board meeting minutes: April 2024

Attendees and apologies

Chair

• Carol Sinclair (CS)

Board members

• Alan bell (AB)
• Colin Birchenall (CB)
• Jonathan Cameron (JC)
• Joe Deary (JD)
• Euan Dick (ED)
• Mel Giarchi (MG)
• Roger Halliday (RG)
• Scott Heald (SH)
• Albert King (AK)
• Brendan O'Brien (BO'B)
• Donald Wilson (DW)

Programme team

• Ryan Anderson (RA)
• Simon Crawley (SCr)
• Ruth Griffith (RG)
• Alistair Hodgson (AH)
• Gemma Wilson (GW)

In attendance

• Ananda Allan (AA)
• Tracey Gill (TG)
• Arfan Iqbal (AI)
• Michael Mwdsley (MMa)
• Micheala Omelkova (MO)
• Penni Rocks (PR)
• Joe Rose (JR)
• Silvia Soriano-Rivera (SSR)
• Corrine Loughran (CL)
• Eleanor Platt (EP)
• Stuart Roebuck (SR)
• Keith Tait (KT)

Apologies

• Lisa Hill (LH)
• Mavis Machirori (MM)
• Eilidh McLaughlin (EM)
• Lewis Ritchie (LR)
• Angie Wood (AWo)

Items and actions

Welcome, Introductions and Apologies. 

Carol Sinclair welcomed everyone to the twelfth meeting of the Health and Social Care Data Board.  

Carol welcomed two new members to the Data Board, Brendan O’Brien (Chief Clinical Informatics Officer – NSS and Medical Director DaS) and Donald Wilson (Director of Information and Digital – NHS Lanarkshire). 

Carol welcomed Ananda Allan, Performance and Intelligence Manager, NHS Dumfries and Galloway, who will be presenting agenda item five. 

Carol also welcomed Tracey Gill who is replacing Alan Bell representing NHS Grampian. 

Corrine Loughran, Principal Data Analyst at Scottish Government, Eleanor Platt, Senior Data Analyst at Scottish Government, Stuart Roebuck, Principal System Analyst at Scottish Government and Keith Tait, Lead Technical Architect attended as observers. 

Penni Rocks attended on behalf of Lisa Hill and Michaela Omelkova attended on behalf of Eilidh McLaughlin. 

Apologies were noted from Lisa Hill, Mavis Machirori, Eilidh McLaughlin, Lewis Ritchie and Angie Wood.

Minutes, Action Log and Policy update 

The board noted: 

• minutes of the previous meeting held on 30 January 2024 were agreed as true and published on our website 

• all presentations from the previous meeting have been issued to board members. 

Completed actions: 

• JD, CB and AK to arrange a follow up to discuss data trust and how this can be adopted at a local government level  

• AB offered to act as liaison officer and introduce RG and LH to NHS Scotland’s Information Governance colleagues ensuring collaboration regarding the National Information Governance Plan. 

• RI to contact RH, AK and SH to fully explore the use and utility of the data captured for citizens and how this can facilitate other programmes 

• GW/RA and KH to discuss why a BRIA was not completed for the Data Strategy (Gemma to email Karen)  

• RA and AK to have follow up discussion for analytical tooling  

• GW and SC to develop a comms plan for the launch of the Data Strategy update.  

Policy Update: 

• Ruth Griffth and Ryan Anderson provided written updates that were issued to board members in advance of this meeting. 

National Care Service (NCS) Bill 

Ryan Anderson provided an overview of the NCS Bill. 

The overview covered: 

• The NCS Bill has now passed Stage 1 of the legislative process and progresses to Stage 2, where amendments can be made to the legislation as introduced.  

• The NCS (Scotland) Bill Part Two contains two provisions, Section 36 and section 37 that will apply equally to the NCS and the NHS. 

• Section 36 will allow safe, secure and efficient sharing of social care and health data across relevant care settings, including with the individual and will ensure up-to-date information is available to those who support and provide care. 

• Section 37 allows Scottish Ministers to ensure information is stored, formatted, and indexed in consistent way, by way of an information standard, that certain institutions and contractors must abide by. 

The Board was asked: 

• to note the update on the progress of the NCS Bill and its anticipated impact on the health and social care sector  

The Board discussed: 

• the updates on the NCS Bill. 

Next steps: 

Ryan Anderson to scope out other standards used within Scotland particularly around schools and justice, to explore how IT providers have achieved data standards across Local Government in these areas. 

Euan Dick to forward the A Clause used in the NHS that provides the process and definitions used with the NHS for consideration. 

Ryan Anderson and Ruth Griffth to discuss informing COSLA of the amendments of the NCS Bill so that permission can be sought for COSLA to engage on the proposed amendments.  

Near Real Time Data/Data for Insight 

Mel Giarchi, Joe Rose, Albert King and Scott Heald provided an update on the lessons learned from Near Real Time Data Service which is part of the Data for Insight programme.  

The update covered: 

• an overview of the lessons identified from the work associated with Near Time Data for Insight and an outline of next steps including: 

• the development and successful launch of two new dashboards in time for Winter 2023/24 which are:  

• Whole System Winter Dashboard (WSW) 

• Social Care and Delayed Discharge Dashboard (SCDD) 

• engagement was undertaken to gather feedback from users of the dashboards, including recommendations for improvement 

• next steps which are as follows: 

• review detailed findings from user engagement to support planning design and prioritisation 

• develop detailed roadmap, prioritise and align resource to wider insights from data work.  

The Board was asked: 

• to agree the next steps for progressing this work. 

The Board discussed: 

• the recommendations following the trial of a Minimum Viable Product for both the “Whole System Winter Dashboard” and the “Social Care Delayed Discharge Dashboard” which has been rolled out to 800 users in Health and Social care are: 

  • the dashboard parameters and scope should be well defined​ 

  • consider consolidating SCDD indicators into the WSW dashboard.​ 

  • improve user awareness of the indicators available​ 

  • improve signposting to other data sources (e.g. discovery)​ 

  • review and address specific user suggestions 

• further engagement with Local Government and COSLA is required. Colin Birchenall advised there is an opportunity to engage with IT Managers, Security Officers and Data Protection Officers from across councils to assist and advise with this work. 

The Board agreed: 

• to note the update and agree next steps as appropriate alongside offers of support during this item. 

Next steps: 

Mel Giarchi, Joe Rose, Scott Heald, Carol Sinclair and Albert King to take forward lessons learned and discussions from today's meeting to further develop the process in the alpha product, this includes. 

• continued engagement with the wider Near Time Data group to review user engagement recommendations, with consideration for feedback from Data Board​ 

• User engagement findings will be shared with users, including those who took part in the user engagement research and a streamlined ‘Summary’ report will be externally published​ 

• develop detailed roadmap and project backlog, prioritise and align to resource as part of the broader Creating Insights from Data commitment. 

Mel Giarchi to follow up with Joe Deary to discuss the statutory duty and responsibilities of social care, where the data is held and its links to operating care recordings.  

Mel Giarchi to follow up with Colin Birchenall to discuss arranging a follow up session with Local Government Officers to discuss technical design and technical architecture of “Data for Insight”. 

Simon Crawley to invite Mel Giarchi to bring a detailed roadmap with timescales to the next Data Board in Aug 2024 or via correspondence in advance of this.

Data Standards Assurance Process 

Ananda Allan and Joe Deary provided an overview of the Data Standards Assurance process, supported by Gemma Wilson. 

The overview covered: 

• the progress made on developing an assurance process for setting out data standards for use in health and social care 

• an overview of a draft assurance process for setting standards in Scotland 

• any risks and or issues that have been identified 

• next steps.  

The Board was asked: 

• to provide views on progress to date 

• to provide views on how we address challenges and proposed next steps  

• to provide views on the role of the Board for approving standards 

• to confirm they are content with the current trajectory of the Data Standards Sub-Board and approve the next steps. 

The Board discussed: 

• the lack of resource to effectively drive this work forward and acknowledged that the draft assurance process will need to be piloted to fully determine resource requirements  

• whether a senior data standards board is required to provide appropriate assurance and governance for publishing data standards 

• the Data Board is not the right board to approve standards. It was suggested that PHS could support with resourcing this and that the Virtual Centre of Excellence may be able to facilitate with ensuring the right expertise and senior oversight for this work. It was suggested that consideration be given to having a joint senior board that covers the wider public sector as well as standards for health and social care  

• the need to consider if there should be two specialist sub-groups under a senior data standards board, one for health and one for social care to ensure the standards are fit for purpose 

The board agreed: 

• to pilot the assurance process.  

Next steps: 

Ananda Allan and Joe Deary to follow up with Jonathan Cameron regarding the publication of Standards. 

Ananda Allan, Joe Deary and Gemma Wilson to arrange a follow up with Scott Heald, Janice Watson and Brendan O’Brien regarding existing platforms and the work being carried out in the UK Information Representation Services Strategy Board. 

Race and Ethnicity Data 

Scott Heald and Jonathan Cameron provided an update on the work of the Racialised Health and Inequalities Steering Group. 

The update covered: 

• the rational and plan for improving collection of race and ethnicity data. 

• Community Health Index (CHI) and the National Digital Platform (NDP) are currently the two technical options being considered for collecting this data 

• funding will be required to undertake this work. 

The board was asked: 

• to note progress made since June 23, including the new approach to selecting a technical solution following an appraisal of options  

• to provide input and guidance to the chairs (Scott Health & Jonathan Cameron) of the Racialised Health and Inequalities Steering Group. 

The board discussed: 

• working in parallel with Public Health Scotland and the work they are doing around Race and Ethnicity data could allow a methodology to be developed, whereby Race and Ethnicity data would be collected from a range of data sets to effectively produce a Race and Ethnicity index 

• we must ensure that the correct information is collected, as many people have more than one Race and Ethnicity record 

• Digital Front Door may have the ability to capture Protected Characteristics and will allow citizens to see what information is recorded regarding Race and Ethnicity 

• the importance of the collection of Protected Characteristics data being handled with sensitively to ensure public confidence is maintained regarding the handling, safety and security of this data   

• there may be significant workforce and funding challenges in realising this work 

The Board agreed: 

• to note the update. 

Next Steps: 

Scott Heald and Jonathan Cameron are continuing their engagement with stakeholders around the programme and will bring this item back to Data Board in due course. 

Scott Heald and Jonathan Cameron will follow up with Joe Deary around the work going on with Local Councils to establish crossover. 

Scott Heald and Jonathan Cameron to reach out to the Racialised Health and Inequalities Steering Group to consider what resources they may be able to offer to help successfully conclude this work. 

Any Other Business 

Next Data Board meeting: Tuesday 27 August 2024 13:00-15:30