Health Survey for England
Consultation
Summary
Presented by
Alison Neave
1
Why did we do the consultation?
To find out:
• how the survey data are used and by who
• how important the data are to them
• what users' priorities are
• what things to keep the same
• what innovations are wanted
• what information is wanted in future
Why?
• To help us make informed decisions about
the future content and design of the survey
and keep it relevant and meaningful for users
• To help us justify the need for the survey and
the public expenditure
Who replied?
94 organisations or individuals
Organisation Type
Percentage
Academic
42%
Public sector – central government
18%
Public sector – local authority
18%
NHS and other public sector
7%
Charity or voluntary sector
Member of the public
14%
1%
What did they tell us?
• ‘quality and precision of data’ & ‘consistency of
questions over time ‘ are highly valued
• majority rated publications as ‘very good’ or ‘good’
• requests for analyses in future reports
• 67% of respondents are interested in on-line
interactive visual displays of key survey data
• 70% thought an HSE dataset linked to cancer,
mortality and hospital episode statistics would be
very useful to them
Purposes for using HSE information
Writing media articles
9
For my personal interest
11
Planning services
15
For my studies or student projects
20
Research and analysis – other
27
Comparing local indicators with national figures
28
Policy monitoring and evaluation
37
Research and analysis – academic
45
Informing policy making
46
Monitoring the prevalence of health or illness
54
Monitoring changes in health and / or lifestyles
58
0
10
20
30
40
50
Number of respondents
60
Core topics
• All are used and nearly all are important or very
important to 60% - 95% of respondents
• Few can get all the data they need on these
topics from other sources
• Data is wanted annually or 2 yearly by most
• Additions to the core wanted
Core measurements
• Waist and hip, blood pressure, saliva
cotinine, blood and urine measurements
• All had been used and were wanted again
• Kidney & liver disease measurements wanted
Additional topics
• All used
• Most popular topics to repeat were
physical activity
diabetes, cardio-vascular disease, hypertension
respiratory disease
well-being
• Many new topics or questions were suggested
e.g. more diet variables, food allergy tests, eczema,
musculoskeletal health, cycling & walking, stress,
loneliness and social isolation, mental health
Design aspects
• Current survey design is the most popular of the
three affordable options offered
• 14 wanted local authority level statistics
• 28 wanted urban/rural breakdowns
• 78% were interested in a sample boost to
provide comparative data across ethnic groups.
• Some respondents would like sample boosts for
older people, children, people aged 16-24, local
authority areas
What will the HSCIC do next?
• continue to commission the Health Survey for
England for years 2016 - 2019
• use this feedback to inform the future development
of the survey within cost and feasibility constraints
• publicise UK Data Service HSE resources more
• inform respondents who want mental health and
wellbeing data about the 2014 Adult Psychiatric
Morbidity Survey.
• consider ways to increase awareness of the range
of health and care surveys we do
Where can you find out more?
The report about the consultation findings is
available on the HSCIC website at
http://www.hscic.gov.uk/article/3659/HealthSurvey-for-England