Health and Social Care Data Board meeting minutes: January 2024

Attendees and apologies

Chair

• Carol Sinclair (CS)

Board members

• Alan bell (AB)
• Colin Birchenall (CB)
• Jonathan Cameron (JC)
• Susan Cloke (SC)
• Euan Dick (ED)
• Mel Giarchi (MG)
• Roger Halliday (RG)
• Scott Heald (SH)
• Karen Hedge (KH)
• Lisa Hill (LH)
• Albert King (AK)
• Mavis Machirori (MM)
• Eilidh McLaughlin (EM)
• Martin Murchie (MMu)
• Lewis Ritchie (LR)
• Alison White (AW)
• Angie Wood (AWo)

Programme team

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

In attendance

• Caroline Anderson (CA)
• David Brown (DB)
• Rikke Iversholt (RI)
• Penni Rocks (PR)
• Samantha Leonard (SL)
• Dave Watson (DW)

Apologies

• Marion Bain (MB)
• Joe Deary (JD)
• Brian Hills (BH)
• Jonathan Todd (JT)

Items and actions

Welcome, Introductions and Apologies.

CS welcomed everyone to the eleventh meeting of the Health and Social Care Data Board.

Caroline Anderson - Aberdeen City Council was in attendance as an observer.

Apologies from Marion Bain (MB), Joe Deary (JD), Brian Hills (BH), and Jonathon Todd (JT).

Minutes and Action Log

The board noted:

• minutes of the previous meeting held on 07 November 2023 were agreed as true and published on our website
• all presentations from the previous meeting have been issued to board members

Outstanding actions:

• AK will provide feedback from lessons learned following participation in the upcoming Data Maturity cohort to a future data board meeting (Not possible to update at this time, will be advised at a future date)
• MG to consider the standards being used in the data collections underway through the Data for Insight work (update of action on 17/01/2024 -we are considering the analytical tolls being used. We also have meta data as part of the products we have to define what is included)
• Miren Elena Beratarbide to develop detailed KPI’s to bring to a future Data Delivery Sub-Board meeting to help clarify what the Information Governance – Code of Conduct will achieve in the short, medium and long term (update of action on 17/01/2024 - a business case for the code of conduct has been drafted which outlines options for delivery and the expected benefits for each option, which will be presented at the Data Delivery Sub-board date TBC )
• JD, SC, CB and AK to arrange a follow up to discuss data trust and how this can be adopted at a local government level (Seeking suitable dates)

All other action items have been completed and are up to date.

Policy update

Carol Sinclair invited Ruth Grifith and Ryan Anderson to provide an update on the work of COSLA and Digital Health and Care Scotland respectively.

Ruth Griffith advised:

• officers from COSLA and COSLA’s Digital Office have been developing the first iteration of the business case for the new Community Health Index (CHI) which outlined the benefits of using CHI in local government and social care.
• COSLA are working with colleagues in Scottish Government to progress the National Information Governance plan of work. To support this, COSLA are working collaboratively with SOLAR (Society of Local Authority Lawyers & Administrators in Scotland) to explore a more consistent approach to Information Governance across Local Government 

Ryan Anderson advised of the recent activity of the Data Delivery Sub-Board (DDSB) which included:

• a discussion on the principles of a prioritisation matrix for the Data Strategy. The matrix will be used to support reprioritisation of the deliverables.  Ryan and Gemma will complete this exercise and then discuss the outputs with delivery partners before presenting the results to a future DDSB
• a discussion about analytical tools and the principles that should be considered when selecting the correct tool for the correct task, these principles will be further refined before being incorporated into policy as part of the Data Strategy
• the Data Standards Sub-Board (DSSB), formed in October 2023, have undertaken an initial scoping exercise to understand the data standards landscape and agree the data standards that will be in/out of scope 

• the DSSB are engaging with Digital Health and Care Wales and NHS England to learn from their approach and adopt best practice where appropriate.  The sub-board will now begin to develop an assurance process for identifying, assuring and setting out the preferred standards for use across health and social care in Scotland 

• work is ongoing on the collection, storage and use of race and ethnicity data. Through more detailed scoping on the use of CHI it has become clear that the National Digital Platform Demographic Service offers a second viable option for collecting protected characteristics data. An options appraisal will now take place to determine which technological solution would be best
• a policy instruction has been sent to the Scottish Government Legal Department to amend section 37 of the National Care Service Bill to include IT suppliers within the scope of the provision.  

The Board was asked:

• to acknowledge the updates.

Next steps:

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.

CB and GW to discuss alignment of Local Government standards board and DSSB.

GW/RA and KH to discuss why a BRIA was not completed for the Data Strategy.

RA and AK to have follow up discussion on analytical tooling.

Developing our Capabilities: National Cloud-based 'Shared Alarm Receiving Centre'

David Brown, Rikke Iversholt and Samantha Leonard provided an overview of the newly procured Shared Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC).

The presentation covered:

• the progress made to date on the transition from analogue to Digital technology for the Telecare sector in Scotland
• that Shared ARC is a truly collaborative Programme which is co-designed with seventeen service providers across housing, health and social care and local authorities contributing to its development
• an overview of the ARC platform, potential benefits and ambitions for phase 2 of the programme

The Board was asked:

• to endorse the work of the Shared ARC and the data programme for telecare as set out for 2024/25
• to support this work as a best practice example of the use of citizen focused data

The Board discussed:

• the importance of ensuring this data is used ethically
• potential opportunities for use of this data and predictive analytics
• that moving from analogue to digital can lead to digital exclusion however this changeover should facilitate improvements for people, their health and their care needs
• COSLA’s Digital Office hosted webinars with both the Equalities and Human Rights Commission and the ICO which has provided advice to Councils on the use of telecare and smart home monitoring in the home to ensure that privacy and ethics are upheld

The Board agreed:

• to endorse this work as a best practice example of the use of citizen focused data

Next steps:

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 of work.

Data Strategy Update 

Gemma Wilson provided an overview of the Data Strategy Update.

The presentation covered:

• the proposed structure of the Data Strategy update including;
  • what has been achieved in 2023/24 for each of the eight key themes of the strategy.
  • how this has helped to achieve the vision of the strategy
  • next steps for 2024/25
• timescales for publishing the Update – this will be launched at the Health and Care Transformation Conference on 16 April 2024  

The Board was asked:

• to provide feedback and advice on the content and structure of the update,
• highlight anything that has been missed and advise on areas that require improvement
• consent to providing final sign-off via written correspondence

The Board discussed:

• the importance of capturing use cases throughout the Update to demonstrate impact
• publishing an executive summary to accompany the Strategy Update
• how each of the organisations represented at the Data Board can support the launch of the Data Strategy update, in the form of blogs or good news stories to demonstrate the real impact that the Strategy is having on their programmes of work

The board agreed:

• that they are content with the initial draft and proposed structure and are happy to support comms when the Strategy Update is launched
• to clear the final draft of the Update via correspondence

Next steps:

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

COSLA – CHI Business Case: (Strategic Development of CHI in Local Government)

Ruth Griffith and Dave Watson presented the draft business case for the adoption of CHI within Local Government.

The presentation covered:

• the approach for delivery, progress made both locally and nationally on how to best share information across health, social care and social work, the importance of stakeholder engagement and associated risks
• the benefits for local government in adopting CHI and how this can be used as a common identifier to enable better information sharing and enhance integrity for services
• how embedding the use of CHI in Local Government supports the commitments of both the Digital and Data strategies and lays the foundations for the development of a Digital front Door and Integrated Social Care and health Record

The board was asked:

• to note the ongoing work underway with COSLA and COSLA’s Digital Office
• to provide feedback on and agree the attached draft business case
• to ensure that the work outlined in the draft business case is aligned with national work

The board discussed:

• the importance of supporting councils to embed CHI matching to better manage the info they hold:
  • the scope of using CHI in Local Government, and the importance of extracting value beyond the primary use of CHI
  • the importance of articulating the benefits of this work  
  • how the new CHI makes it easier to share information in care home environments
  • CHI makes it easier for new citizens to register via GP practices or A&E departments when required
  • citizens who don’t have a CHI number can obtain one from their local government’s services register

The Board agreed:

• to support the business case for CHI in Local Government

Any Other Business

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