Agenda item

To receive a report from the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Commissioning and Public Health, the Director of Public Health, the Strategic Commissioner and the Director of Strategy, Policy, Relationships and Corporate Assurance on an integrated data tool which will support future strategic commissioning decisions.  Members are asked to note progress and support the proposed development and use of the Kent Integrated Dataset.  

Mr G Abi-Aad, Head of Health Intelligence, was in attendance for this item.

1.            Mr Abi-Aad presented a series of slides (not included in the agenda pack) which set out the work and structure of the Public Health Observatory (PHO) and the data it generated. The Kent Integrated Dataset (KID) was part of the PHO’s work and allowed data from different sources to be brought together and used for a range of strategic purposes, including monitoring of services, for example NHS health checks.  Most of the data in the KID was generated by the NHS. The PHO also undertook deep-dive studies, for example on childhood obesity.

2.            Mr Scott-Clark explained how the KID related to the Dahlgren and Whitehead model used to explain the role of public health, as set out in item 7 of the agenda (Minute 6, above). Kent’s Integrated Dataset had been identified as an example of best practice and many other local authorities sought to copy it. STP consultants had also praised Kent’s ability to analyse data once collated. 

3.            Mr Scott-Clark and Mr Abi-Aad responded to comments and questions from Members, including the following:-

a)    asked who held children’s health data, and how well protected this was, Mr Scott-Clark explained that the County Council was the data holder for Specialist Children’s Services and Adult Social Care data; 

b)    asked what would happen if people did not want to ‘opt in’ to have their data included in the KID, Mr Abi-Aad explained that every patient had the right to request that their data be segregated and not used, but this provision was to be reviewed. Mr Scott-Clark assured Members that data used was always anonymised and would be related to local areas but not to a level at which an individual’s address could be identified. Providers already shared some data on a regular basis, for example for safeguarding purposes;

c) concern was expressed that, although data was pseudonymised before sharing, the full data was lodged somewhere on an IT system and could be vulnerable to cyber attack. Mr Scott-Clark reassured Members that the County Council would always mitigate against cyber attack and its data handling procedures complied with Information Governance Standards and NHS Digital guidelines for data security . Mr Abi-Aad explained that the County Council did not have the scope to re-identify any pseudonymised data collated by the NHS and would only ever have access to the pseudonymised version; and

d) concern was expressed that, the more people chose to opt out of having their data added to the KID, the less accurate the data would be, overall, but Mr Abi-Aad explained that only a small number of people chose to opt out and that these numbers were monitored and could be ‘adjusted’ for.

4.            RESOLVED that:-

a)     the progress to date on the development of the KID and the opportunities this provides for the County Council and Kent public service partners be noted;

b)     the KID become the underpinning dataset upon which County Council strategic commissioning decisions and planning are based;

c)      the need to speed up progress on ensuring County Council datasets flow into the KID, and that the Strategic Commissioner will co-ordinate this be noted; and

d)     that the County Council support the system-level governance of the KID through the NHS Sustainability Transformation Plan/Partnership governance arrangements.