13.01.16
CCGs to investigate dementia variation using new PHE platform
A new interactive platform will enable, for the first time, bespoke comparison between CCG and council data on dementia in an effort to build a ‘dementia profile’.
The ‘Dementia Profile’ tool, developed by Public Health England (PHE), was created to help commissioners fulfil the objectives outlined in NHS planning guidance by identifying and investigating possible variation in readily-available data.
Data already shows, for example, that the national rate for the amount of people with dementia aged over 65 admitted to hospital as an emergency was around 3,000 per 100,000 in 2013-14. Looking at data regionally will allow CCGs to pinpoint which areas have a significantly higher proportion of emergency admissions compared to this figure, thus warranting further investigation.
According to Prof Alastair Burns, NHS England’s national clinical director for dementia, having a ‘one stop shop’ for this kind of data will help the NHS improve services and available treatment.
The profile will share information such as how many people have dementia broken down by area and age, the number of people who have received an NHS health check, the amount of people who have depression, emergency hospital admission numbers and where people with dementia die.
As well as to the NHS and councils, data will also be relevant to care home managers, clinicians, nurses and other health professionals involved with these services.
Prof John Newton, chief knowledge officer at PHE, said: “The launch of this profile puts information on dementia into the hands of people who can use it to make a difference. Having all this data available in one place presents major opportunities to commissioners, local authorities and decision makers to change how dementia and dementia services look across the country.
“In collaboration with the NHS, Alzheimer’s Society and other partners we have developed a tool to support the whole system – from national and local government to the third sector and the general public. It is early days but we hope that local areas will use this tool to ensure services are appropriately commissioned and to make sustainable improvements of real benefit to patients with dementia and their families.”
PHE has also published a ‘Data Catalogue’ today which lists and highlights all currently available dementia data at both CCG and council level.
This catalogue will be the first step in filling gaps in dementia care across the health system, sparking further conversation and joint working down the line across organisations. The extra data made available through these collaborations could then be included in the Dementia Profile tool to build its accuracy and breadth.
Data updates will take place “periodically”, and intelligence briefing will be published later in the year.
(Top image c. John Stillwell, PA Images)