***Due to the coronavirus illness (COVID-19) disruption, it would seem that this is now starting to affect the quality and coverage of some of our statistics, such as an increase in non-submissions for some datasets. We are also starting to see some different patterns in the submitted data. For example, fewer patients are being admitted to and discharged from hospital. Therefore, data should be interpreted with care over the COVID-19 period.***
Latest monthly statistics on Learning Disabilities and Autism (LDA) from the Assuring Transformation collection and Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS).
This publication brings together LDA data from the Assuring Transformation collection and the LDA service specific statistics from the MHSDS.
There are differences in the inpatient figures between the MHSDS and AT data sets and work is underway to better understand these. NHS Digital plans to publish additional monthly comparator data from this work in future publications. The MHSDS LDA data are currently labelled experimental as they are undergoing evaluation. Further information on the quality of these statistics is available in the data quality page above. It is planned that the MHSDS will become the sole source of inpatient LDA data in the future, replacing Assuring Transformation.
There is a slight difference in scope between the two data collections. The MHSDS data is from providers based in England and includes care provided in England but may be commissioned outside England. Whereas the Assuring Transformation data are provided by English commissioners and healthcare will typically be provided in England but also includes data on care commissioned in England and provided elsewhere in the UK.
The release comprises:
Assuring Transformation Publication: This statistical release published by NHS Digital makes available the most recent data relating to patients with learning disabilities and/or autistic spectrum disorder receiving inpatient care commissioned by the NHS in England.
MHSDS LDA Publication: This publication provides statistics relating to NHS funded secondary mental health, learning disabilities and autism services in England. These statistics are derived from submissions made using version 4.1 of the Mental Health Services Dataset (MHSDS). Prior to May 2018 the LDA service specific statistics were included in the main MHSDS publication.
Each publication consists of the following documents:
• A report which presents England level analysis of key measures.
• A monthly CSV file which presents key measures at England level.
• A metadata file to accompany the CSV file, which provides contextual information for each measure.
• An easy read version of both main reports highlighting key findings in an easy-to-understand way.
A number of changes to NHS organisations were made operationally effective from 1 April 2020. These changes included: 74 former Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) merging to form 18 new CCGs; alterations to commissioning hubs; provider mergers; and the incorporation of Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs) into the NHS commissioning hierarchy. The Organisation Data Service (ODS) is responsible for publishing organisation and practitioner codes, along with related national policies and standards. A series of ODS data amendments are required to support the introduction of these changes. This would normally result in a number of organisations becoming ‘legally’ closed including the 74 former CCGs. However, to minimise any burden to the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic and remove any non-critical activity, these organisations remain open within ODS data. ODS aim to both legally and operationally close predecessor organisations involved in April 2020 Reconfiguration on 30 September 2020.
As all former and current organisations remain legally open, both may be presented within this publication. Activity may be recorded against either former or current organisations, depending on data providers and processors ability to transition to the new organisation codes at this time. The same activity will not be recorded against both former and current organisations. NHS Digital are working to understand the implications of this on how you can interpret these statistics and will provide more information in future editions of this publication series.
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