NHS Halton and St Helens
Using data mapping visualisations to address health inequalities
Background
Halton and St Helens primary care trust (PCT) was established in October 2006, replacing Halton PCT and St Helens PCT. The organisation matches the boundaries of Halton Borough Council and St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council.
The PCT provides NHS services in the community and also works with local health trusts, local authorities and other organisations to ensure health services are provided and that the health needs of local people are being met. The PCT looks after the health of around 300,000 people.
The aim of PCT’s Public Health Evidence and Intelligence Unit is to improve the health of the population by providing robust public health information, intelligence, evidence and research findings which will support decision making locally. The unit provides support to staff internally, to colleagues in the borough councils and other provider services.
Starting point
The PCT’s public health team started working with InstantAtlas in 2009. It had previously set about producing four-page long printed narratives about each ward but felt that the interactive reports would be a better way of communicating the data to the various audience groups. These include: local strategic partners, local healthcare professionals, clinicians and PCT commissioners. The InstantAtlas reports will also be used to help with joint strategic needs assessments (JSNAs) for both Halton and St Helens.
Jonathan Olsen is a public health intelligence analyst in the Public Health Evidence and Intelligence Unit. He says that the InstantAtlas reports take less time than compiling paper reports and writing descriptions about each ward. There is currently little narrative on the InstantAtlas reports because the data is easy to understand and interrogate.
Meeting the need
The data is collected from various sources, including Secondary Uses Service (SUS) data using business intelligence software. The unit works with the data to produce rates, such as mortality rates (both crude and standardised), before the data is compiled ready for the reports.
One aspect of their work that has created interest amongst clinicians is mortality rates by GP practice which can then be compared with Quality and Outcome Framework (QoF) points.
This data is presented to the PCT’s clinical executive committee and is reported using InstantAtlas funnel plots. This enables the unit to plot individual GP practices and then look at mortality rates by condition such as stroke.
The data has been used for various projects including both Local Authority Healthy Schools initiative where it has aided schools to choose their own health priorities. In addition, the InstantAtlas reports are available to the public and the unit uses analytics to monitor activity and to see where most interest is coming from.
Making the project work
The plan is to produce a narrative guide that sits alongside the InstantAtlas reports to explain what all the indicators mean. The reports and guide will be presented to each commissioning team and feedback gathered.
Key Benefits
- The unit no longer has to compile lengthy reports
- The reports makes data available to everyone in a more user-friendly way
- Information is now available that can help commissioners address local health inequalities and determine the impact on health of certain policies (health impact assessment)
- Once initially set up InstantAtlas is simple to refresh as new data becomes available
Jonathan Olsen says: “InstantAtlas was a straightforward product to get to grips with and to begin with I started off with the online user guides. As I became more familiar with it I decided that I wanted to get more out of so I went on the advanced course for a day. The support has been really good and InstantAtlas always get back straight away.”
To access the Halton and St Helens Interactive Health Atlas click on a links below.
Single map health profile of Halton and St Helens
This Atlas shows Health Statistics at Ward Level for Halton and St Helens
Comparator Scatter Plot Interactive Atlas
Ward Level Health statistics at ward level allowing comparisons between two health indicators to explore possible relationships
If you would like to find out more about this project please contact Jonathan Olsen, Public Health Intelligence Analyst, NHS Halton and St Helens
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South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust
How data mapping software is helping one local community get immediate access to data
BackgroundSouth Staffordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) is one of the largest PCTs in the country. It serves a population of approximately 615,000 and is located within the geographical boundaries of Staffordshire County Council. The PCT’s Public Health Intelligence Team provides specialist research and information analysis support to the Public Health Directorate and South Staffordshire PCT as a whole and has links with Local Authority analysts and university researchers.
The team uses data and information from a variety of sources to help measure and monitor the health of people in South Staffordshire and to show patterns of disease and illness. This information is used to highlight inequalities in health which are translated into health protection and health improvement plans to improve health overall and also to reduce differences in health across the population.
These data and information sources include: births, deaths, hospital activity, surveys, census, information from the Office for National Statistics, deprivation information, scientific research and information on the wider determinants of health, for example unemployment and crime. (more information on datapacks >>)
The team leads on, or contributes to, health needs assessments, health impact assessments, and service reviews to support the practice based commissioners who commission services for South Staffordshire residents. It also monitors indicators that aim to measure how successful the PCT and its partners are in improving the health of everyone in South Staffordshire. These measures are mainly covered by the PCT’s Local Delivery Plan, the Local Area Agreement (between the PCT and partners) and the Healthcare Commission Annual Health Check.
Martin Dudgon is the Senior Public Health Analyst within the team. We spoke to him to find out more about how InstantAtlas is being used to meet the team’s objectives.
Starting point
The Public Health Intelligence Team has access to a wide range of data and wanted a data visualisation software package that could give access to the data online, rather than asking individuals to contact the team to ask for specific reports. Martin explains that now they are using InstantAtlas, the online reports help to answer some of the basic queries and in time they might answer the majority of these queries. Where individuals want more detail they can approach the team directly. “It’s the first port of call for the general public and our other users,” he says. “It gives immediate access to data and means that initial questions can be answered straight away.”
As the reports are available from the PCT’s website, users have easy access but Martin believes that colleagues in the PCT’s partner organisations, local councilors and voluntary organisations are getting the most from it.
Meeting the need
The Public Health Intelligence team has presented the InstantAtlas reports to partner organisations and the feedback has been very positive. The team has now developed the scope of the reports. This was done first by adding new data sets and second by including more up-to-date data. In addition the team has added different levels of geography in middle layer and lower layer super output areas.
Making the project work
With changes to the way that healthcare services are being delivered, roles and responsibilities will alter in the future and Martin believes that there will be opportunities to work together on this project with other organisations. In particular, the team is linking its Instant Atlas work with Staffordshire Observatory (part of Staffordshire County Council) which is also using InstantAtlas to develop a Local Intelligence System. This links the PCT’s health data with a wide range of data on the wider determinants of health and other sources of research and evidence. The team is also using InstantAtlas and the Local Intelligence System to explore opportunities to link to our Joint Strategic Needs Assessment process.
In the team is continuing to develop the reports and is just about to launch a double map function which would allow users to view two maps (showing different data sets) alongside each other.
Key Benefits
- InstantAtlas data visualisation software has freed up time and resource that was previously spent producing paper reports.
- The online reports are helping to fulfil the PCT’s obligation to get information out into the community.
- The reports have enabled a wider audience to have access to local data.
- The Public Health Intelligence team doesn’t have multiple licences for its in-house GIS solution and InstantAtlas therefore works very well alongside this.
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