Assuring Transformation Data Collection Version 4.0

Overview

This consultation has been extended to allow completion of responses by those who have requested more time.

The Learning Disability & Autism programme at NHS England uses the Assuring Transformation (AT) data collection as the definitive source of information on inpatient numbers and activity.

A recent review of AT has identified several new and additional information requirements. These changes will ensure that NHS England can effectively monitor the quality of care of patients in hospital, better understand health inequalities for this group, and more accurately report on NHS commitments.

NHS England implemented numerous changes when it updated Assuring Transformation to version 3 in December 2020. Since then, the additional data from version 3 has been used to:

• Understand whether Commissioner Oversight Visits are being undertaken within the timescales required, and to follow up with commissioners where visits are not being undertaken with the frequency required.
• Provide insight as to why patients are being admitted to hospital for treatment and to highlight differences in reasons for admission between different groups of patients.
• Better understand the extent to which patients are diagnosed with a Learning Disability and/or autism after admission to hospital.
• Better understand who has access to what type of advocate, in which units, and / or where there is poor or no engagement.
• Provide information about whether patients are on a Dynamic Support Register prior to admission and whether additional work may be required to improve Register coverage
• Enable NHS England to work with commissioners to identify and unblock barriers to discharge. Data quality linked to delayed discharges is improving.
• Improve monitoring of compliance with Care (Education) Treatment Review Policy.

Note: This consultation is aimed primarily at commissioners (Integrated Care Boards, NHS England specialised commissioners and Provider Collaboratives). However, it is public and therefore open to all people with an interest in this area. If you fall into this category, you are welcome to review/answer any questions.

We need to know your opinions on these changes and, if you are a commissioner, how long you think these changes will take, so we can plan accordingly.

If you are not a commissioner/data submitter, please share this consultation with people and organisations you know who may be affected by the proposed changes to Assuring Transformation. It is important that we hear from as many people affected as possible.

In summary, the changes in version 4.0 encompass:

• New questions to better understand the quality of patient care; improve information on health inequalities; report progress against NHS commitments This includes the following areas:
  • Local Authority
  • Legal status for those who are a Looked After Child
  • Whether wards are mixed sex or not
  • Gender identity
  • Date of most recent change to the Dynamic Risk Register
  • Pre-admission Local Area Emergency Protocol (LAEP) date
  • Independent Care (Education) Treatment Reviews (IC(E)TRs)
  • Annual Health Checks
  • Segregation due to patient opting to self-isolate
  • If Local Authority and ICS are aware of planned discharge/transfer.
• Amendment of some data items to better reflect activity for inpatients, and to improve data accuracy and completeness.

• Amendment of some data items to align with the NHS Data Dictionary.

A list of the full changes is available in the draft Data Set Specification. 

Assuring Transformation v4.0 will replace Assuring Transformation v3.0 (ref: DCB2007: Assuring Transformation - NHS Digital), which was published in December 2020, and updated in March 2021.

Why your views matter

As part of the application to obtain approval from the Data Alliance Partnership Board (DAPB), we are asking for feedback on:

• our proposals for Assuring Transformation v4.0
• anticipated timeframes for commissioners to incorporate these changes.

Extensive engagement has taken place internally, and we are asking any interested parties to participate and provide feedback before Version 4.0 is produced.

Consultation feedback will be reported back to the DAPB before publication of an Information Standards Notice (ISN) is agreed.

This consultation runs until 11 September 2022 and we are looking to submit our application to the December 2022 meeting of the DAPB.

Please review the draft Data Set Specification before answering our consultation questions.

More information about the AT data collection can be found on our website at: DCB2007: Assuring Transformation - NHS Digital  The developer is the Data Set Development Service within NHS Digital.

If you would like to discuss what the consultation is asking about, and/or if you have any accessibility needs, please contact alice.luetchford@nhs.net

If you prefer to submit a Word version of your response, please email your response to standards.assurance@nhs.net. 

All other enquiries about this consultation should be directed to enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk (ref AT Consultation in the subject line).