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Ethnicity data collection

Statistical Publication Notice

23 February 2010

Improving ethnic data collection for equality and diversity monitoring.

INTRODUCTION

A key aim of The Equality and Diversity Information Programme (EDIP) is that:
 
  • all health information systems should be able to collect and share diversity information to support individual care.
  • the NHS in Scotland should be able to monitor inequalities and demonstrate compliance with equalities legislation.
Complete routine equalities data would allow the NHS to monitor services to ensure that all the people of Scotland are being treated fairly and equally and to help assess the health needs of different groups.
 
The fact that ethnic group is recorded in hospital discharge data in England in over 90% of episodes demonstrates that better recording is feasible. The current low level of recording highlights the need for further action to improve information about the health of different ethnic groups in Scotland.

KEY POINTS

  • For Scotland as a whole there have been substantial improvements in the recording of ethnic group. Completeness of recording approximately doubled between mid 2008 and mid 2009 for both hospital discharges and new outpatient appointments.
  • Despite this improvement, the recording of ethnicity remains low: a valid ethnic group code was recorded in only 31% of inpatient and daycase records (SMR01) in the quarter to September 2009 and only 21% of new outpatient appointment records (SMR00).
  • Over the last two years Golden Jubilee National Hospital (GJNH), NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC) and NHS Borders in particular have made significant improvements in recording, with some other NHS Boards achieving modest improvements.
  • However, some NHS Boards continue to shown little or no improvement in recording. For SMR01 records and/or SMR00 records, Forth Valley, Tayside and the Island Boards continue to have recording levels persistently below 1%.

INTERPRETATION

Percentage with a valid ethnic group relates to records completed with a valid ethnic group or patient refusal codes only. Records completed with 'Not Known' codes or left blank are not deemed to include a valid ethnic group.
 
Patients are not compelled to provide information about their ethnic group and a 'declined to provide' response is included in the total of valid codes in these figures.
 
Ethnic Group cannot be recorded on the Patient Administration System at some hospitals at present, and so this information may be collected locally but not recorded on SMR returns submitted to the national database.
 
These figures may not correspond exactly with figures released previously. This is because databases are continually updated and corrected.
 
Data from July to September 2009 are provisional and may not be entirely complete, although the figures are not expected to change significantly.

DETAILED FINDINGS

For inpatient and day case discharges, (the SMR01 database) the overall level of completeness for ethnic group recording was 30.8% for Scotland as a whole for the quarter ending September 2009. The highest level of recording for this quarter was Golden Jubilee National Hospital (86.4%), closely followed by NHS Lanarkshire (83.9%). Continuing improvement was also noted in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (40.3%). However, five NHS Boards (Forth Valley, Tayside, Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles) had recording levels persistently below 1% throughout the period (October 2007 to September 2009).

For new outpatient appointments (the SMR00 database) the overall level of completeness for ethnic group recording was 21.2% for Scotland as a whole for the quarter ending September 2009. The highest level of recording for this quarter was for NHS Lanarkshire (62.4%), followed by NHS Borders (40.7%) and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (35.8%).

Six NHS Boards (Dumfries and Galloway, Forth Valley, Tayside, Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles) had recording levels persistently below 1% throughout the period (October 2007 to September 2009).

CONCLUSIONS

The lack of relevant and complete data means that NHS Scotland is unable to monitor inequalities in the health of the Scottish population by ethnic group (or by disability, sexual orientation or other determinants of inequality). The current low level of recording highlights the need for further action to improve information about the health of different ethnic groups in Scotland.

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MAIN CONTACTS:

Joan Jamieson
Equality and Diversity Development Programme Manager
Joan.Jamieson@nhs.net
07917086987

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GLOSSARY:

Ethnicity is "the social group a person belongs to, and either identifies with or is identified with by others, as a result of a mix of cultural and other factors including language, diet, religion, ancestry and physical features traditionally associated with race". (Bhopal, 2004). Ethnicity is essentially self-defined and may change over time. Classification of ethnicity is based on categories that include common self-descriptions, are acceptable to respondents and that identify variations that are important for research or policy. Ethnicity is different from country of origin, since many countries include more than one ethnic group.

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PRE-RELEASE ACCESS:

Under terms of the "Pre-Release Access to Official Statistics (Scotland) Order 2008", ISD are obliged to publish information on those receiving Pre-Release Access ("Pre-Release Access" refers to statistics in their final form prior to publication). The standard maximum Pre-Release Access is five working days. Shown below are details of those receiving standard Pre-Release Access and, separately, those receiving extended Pre-Release Access.
 
Standard (five day) Pre-Release Access:
Scottish Government Health Department (Analytical Services Division)
NHS Board Chief Executives
NHS Board Communication leads
 
Extended Pre-Release Access:
Scottish Government Health Department (Analytical Services Division)
This extended Pre-Release Access is given to a small number of named individuals in the Scottish Government Health Department (Analytical Services Division). This Pre-Release Access is for the sole purpose of enabling that department to gain an understanding of the statistics prior to briefing others in Scottish Government (during the period of standard Pre-Release Access).
 
 
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HISTORY OF THIS PUBLICATION:

Last Published: August 2009
Next Due: August 2010
Data Available Since: November 2008

 


Main contact: Email Joan Jamieson