Standard Cost Model - NCMP
NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care
Standard Cost Model - Data Collection Review
Review of:
National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP)
April 2010
Information Standards team
NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre
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Standard Cost Model - NCMP
1. Standard Cost Model
In response to a request from the Cabinet Office Better Regulation Executive, the
Information Centre for health and social care (IC) has adopted the Standard Cost
Model (SCM) methodology as a way of measuring the burden imposed on the
NHS through the collection of centrally required data by the public sector.
2. Coverage
There is one ROCR approved data collection for National Child Measurement
Programme that this report covers:
ROCR/OR/0234/001MAND National Child Measurement Programme
3. Introduction
Extract from the ROCR licence application 208/024 (June 2008);
The Government has set itself a new ambition: of being the first major country to
reverse the rising tide of obesity and overweight in the population by ensuring
that all individuals are able to maintain a healthy weight. Our initial focus is on
children: by 2020 we will have reduced the proportion of overweight and obese
children to 2000 levels. This new ambition forms part of the Government’s new
Public Service Agreement (PSA) 12: to improve the health and well-being of
children and young people under 11. The Department of Health is responsible for
the overall ambition on healthy weight and is jointly responsible with the
Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) for delivering the PSA on
Child Health. We set out our immediate plans towards the new ambition in
Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: A Cross-Government Strategy For England,
which was published in January 2008.
The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) is one part of this
strategy, and involves children in Reception and Year 6 being weighed and
measured during the school year to:
 gather population-level surveillance data to allow analysis of trends in
growth patterns and obesity (appendix 1 lists the data collected); and
 Provide Primary Care Trusts (PCT) and lower geographical level data on
prevalence and distribution of child overweight and obesity to inform local
planning and delivery of services for children.
 PCTs and local authorities use the data from the NCMP to set local goals
as part of the NHS Operating Framework vital signs and the National
Indicator Set, agree them with Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) and
Government Offices, and then monitor performance.
Further information can be found in the 2009/10 Guidance for Primary Care
Trusts:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digita
lasset/dh_103360.pdf
Information Standards team
NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre
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Standard Cost Model - NCMP
4. Approach
The exercise was undertaken across a sample of Primary Care Trusts (PCTs).
We issued a questionnaire, to be completed by a manager in each organisation
who had an overview of the whole process.
Organisations were asked to provide burden and feedback on the whole end to
end process, including collecting, collating, validating and submission of data.
Some organisations did not provide data for all of these areas.
The overview questionnaire asked 5 main questions:

Within your organisation what is the estimated time taken by colleagues in
each occupational group to complete the data request in a typical year?

Indicate, the percent breakdown (estimate) of the above time split by
collection, collating, validating and submitting the data

How is the data recorded at the time of measurement in school?

What problems, if any, have you encountered when completing this data
request?

Have you any other feedback that you would like to give about this
collection?
5. Results
The following table illustrates the number of Trusts from which responses to the
questionnaires were received.
Type of Trust
Acute Trusts
Mental Health Trusts
PCTs
Ambulance Trust
Care Trust
Total
Number
contacted
Number of
responses
% response
rate
0
0
20
0
0
20
0
0
6
0
0
6
0.0%
0.0%
30.0%
0.0%
0.0%
30.0%
Information Standards team
NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre
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Standard Cost Model - NCMP
A number of staff groups are involved in the NCMP collection. The proportions of
which are shown in the table below:
Occupational Group
Senior Manager
Manager
Clerical & Admin
Maintenance & works
Healthcare Ass.
Healthcare scientists
Nurses
GPs
Other
Total
Proportion %
1.0%
1.2%
42.5%
7.7%
27.5%
8.3%
10.8%
0.0%
1.0%
100.0%
Data from the participating organisations indicates that the end to end process
creates a significant burden. The data collected is extrapolated below to give a
total burden for all Organisations for one year.
Collecting
Collating
Validate
Input
TOTAL
Proportion %
31.0%
37.0%
17.0%
15.0%
100.0%
Years
51.3
61.3
28.2
24.8
165.6
Note:
165.6 years equates to an estimated cost of £8.5m.
As collecting the data and the majority of the time spent collating the data all
ready occurred before the data collection started this is not included in the ROCR
process. From the above table the ROCR burden is deemed to be Validating and
Input 53.0 person years (estimated cost £2.7m) this compares with an estimate of
2.2 years (estimated cost £0.1m) provided by the collection sponsor.
The following responses were received to the question “How is the data recorded
at the time of measurement in school?”





on paper (nominal rolls)
paper excel sheet
Using a form template but paper record.
The measurements are taken and then recorded on a piece of paper which is
then hand delivered back to the NCMP admin office and locked in a secure
filling system.
The data is recorded manually.
Information Standards team
NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre
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Standard Cost Model - NCMP
6. Issues
In response to the question “What problems, if any, have you encountered when
completing this data request?” The following responses were received.
Response
Arranging times with schools
Submitting data to the
Information Centre
Keeping data confidential
Unclear questions / guidance
Proportion of the 6
responding
Organisations %
50.0%
25.0%
0.0%
16.6%
7. Comments received during the review

Guidance often late, waiting for correct data from education (usually October)

Schools not supportive of the programme and often wont send out necessary
letters, leaflets or complete template ready for school nurse going in

I don’t believe the collection of this data is of a qualitative source at all.
Children are measured at all different times across the country and we know
that at certain times of the year we weigh heavier than also and also children
will have large growth spurts which may impact upon the results. There is
also a lack of equity as private schools don’t have to do therefore missing a
key group of children. Schools regularly don’t support the programme and
some still refuse but this then impacts upon us as a PCT as we may not
achieve our target for the numbers completed. Having a target linked to this is
ridiculous, especially as it is an opt out service and schools aren’t implicitly
told they have to do but left for them to decide. Little support from education
authority to get schools to comply.

I find the whole process very long-winded and frustratingly slow to upload
onto the tool. The spreadsheet is not flexible and many of the functions aren't
available. The summary information is confusing and the final report contains
information which makes no sense.

upload tool is not available soon enough. We use our own standard letter for
feedback merged from info on SystmOne which cannot pick up the child's
weight status

Sometimes location are offered by schools that might compromise
confidentiality

It is sometimes a problem finding a suitable place in school to measure the
children i.e. somewhere private and with sockets for the scales
Information Standards team
NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre
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Standard Cost Model - NCMP

Technical issues- In each of the last 3 years, we have encountered technical
problems which have massive effects on other areas of work or on our
intervention programmes as they take forever to fix or find a solution.

As well as collating and collecting the data, when letters are sent out to
parents we often get parents ringing in. This also takes up time depending on
the nature of the phone call.
8. Summary & Recommendations
Data from the participating organisations indicates that the end to end process
creates a significant burden to Trusts. It is recommended that at the time of next
years ROCR submission the sponsor takes in to account the time burden highlighted
in this report and possibly carries out their own assessment across a wider selection
of PCTs.
We recommend that the issues highlighted in section 7 regarding the spreadsheet
and tool are investigated to make the process more efficient.
Information Standards team
NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre
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Standard Cost Model - NCMP
APPENDIX 1
Data Items collected1
PCTs will return the following data fields to the Information Centre for Health and
Social Care (IC) NCMP data-capture tool (available at www.icweb.nhsuk/ncmp)
Essential Information
• DCSF School Unique Reference Number (six-digit number)
• school name
• sex (1 character, coded to M for male, or F for female)
• age in months at time of measurement (converted from DOB automatically
during data upload)
• date of measurement (format 22/12/2007)
• height (in centimetres, to first decimal place—ie, measured to the nearest
millimetre)
• weight (in kilograms, to first decimal place—ie, measured to the nearest 100
grams)
• home lower super output area (converted automatically from home postcode
during data upload)
• ethnicity (either single-character NHS Codes or four-character DCSF
Extended Codes)
Supplementary information
• name and contact information of the PCT obesity lead (or other person
responsible for the NCMP);
• where data have been stored—eg, loaded direct into NCMD data-capture tool,
or previously stored in child health system or other;
• number of children withdrawn from the measurement and reason—ie,
- parental opt out
- child opt out
- child unable to stand on scales or height measure unaided
- child absent on the day of measurement
- other reason;
• reason for any differences between the PCT’s pupil number denominators and
those supplied within the data-capture tool—eg, list of schools incorrect,
schools’ pupil numbers incorrect;
• number of requests by parents for feedback.
Information Standards team
NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre
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Standard Cost Model - NCMP
APPENDIX 2
Data Items reported1
The IC will provide the Vital Signs and National Indicator Set teams with the
following fields for each PCT:
Reception
Line 1: Total number of primary school age children in Reception recorded as
obese for their age in the past school year.
Line 2: Total number of primary school age children in Reception with height
and weight recorded in the past school year.
Line 3: Total number of primary school age children in Reception.
Line 4: Percentage of children in Reception with height and weight recorded
who are obese. This is a calculated field using [Line 1] / [Line 2]*100
Line 5: Percentage of children in Reception with height and weight recorded.
This is a calculated field using [Line 2] / [Line 3]*100
Year 6
Line 6: Total number of primary school age children in Year 6 recorded as
obese for their age in the past school year.
Line 7: Total number of primary school age children in Year 6 with height and
weight recorded in the past school year.
Line 8: Total number of primary school age children in Year 6.
Line 9: Percentage of children in Year 6 with height and weight recorded who
are obese. This is a calculated field using [Line 6] / [Line 7]*100
Line 10: Percentage of children in Year 6 with height and weight recorded. This
is a calculated field using [Line 7] / [Line 8]*100
Information Standards team
NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre
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Standard Cost Model - NCMP
1 from the ROCR licence application 208/024 (June 2008)
APPENDIX 3
2008/09 Data collection and validation methodology2
Measurement of children's heights and weights, without shoes and coats and
in normal, light, indoor clothing, was overseen by healthcare professionals
and undertaken in school by trained staff. PCT staff entered these data into
specially designed spreadsheets: the NCMP Upload Tool. Measurements
could be taken at any time during the 2008/09 academic year. Consequently,
some children were almost two years older than others in the same school
year at the point of measurement; however, Body Mass Index (BMI) centile
results are adjusted for age.
The data that PCTs uploaded to the NCMP database underwent a series of
data quality checks before being included in the national dataset. Full details
of these checks can be found in: National Child Measurement Programme:
NHS Information Centre validation process for NCMP data. This document
was provided as guidance for PCTs. The validation process is summarised
below.
Checks were done at each stage of the data submission:
i.
As the PCT entered data: the Upload Tool checked that each
variable met certain required conditions. For example, the height
and weight were checked for extreme values;
ii.
Before the PCT uploaded data to the NCMP database: the tool
provided a data quality report to highlight if there were any possible
areas of concern for the PCT to check and correct. For example,
the percentage of duplicate records was calculated;
iii.
After the PCT uploaded data: PCTs were given access to a secure
website providing data quality information about their uploaded
data. For example, PCTs were provided with a list of schools, within
their boundary, for which no data had been returned. PCTs were
able to review this information and correct their data or, if they were
satisfied with data quality, they could confirm this and ‘finalise’ their
data;
iv.
After the PCT had ‘finalised’ their data: the NHS IC carried out
further validation through, for example, comparing data across
PCTs and over time. The NHS IC contacted a number of PCTs to
query unexpected findings and, where necessary, requested that
data be corrected.
Information Standards team
NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre
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Standard Cost Model - NCMP
2 The NHS Information Centre,
http://www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/publications/ncmp/ncmp0809/NCMP_England_2008_09_school
_year_report_2.pdf
Information Standards team
NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre
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