DSfC - Joint Controller Agreement: NHS Birmingham and Solihull CCG, Birmingham City Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council - Comm
NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB · Sub ICB Location
Listed under NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board.
Expired The latest version ended on 16 February 2025. The September 2026 register still lists the agreement, but its term has passed.
- Reference
- DARS-NIC-360432-Z1Q8K
- Latest version
- v2.2
- Term of latest version
- 17 February 2022 to 16 February 2025
- Start date
- 19 November 2020
- Data controller
- Joint Data Controller
- Commercial purposes
- No
- Sublicensing
- No
- Files released to date
- 0
Data controllers
Why the data was released
Objective for processing
The data accessed through this NHS Digital agreement will be used by the Clinical Commissioning Group and Local Authorities in the fulfilment of statutory duties of commissioners and public health functions.
For commissioners, these duties under section 26 of the 2012 Health & Social Care Act include duties for Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) to:
- (14Q) Exercising functions effectively, efficiently, and economically.
- (14R) Secure continuous improvement in the quality of services provided to individuals for or in connection with the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness, and securing continuous improvement in the outcomes that are achieved from the provision of the services.
- (14T) Reduce inequalities between patients with respect to their ability to access health services and reduce inequalities between patients with respect to the outcomes achieved by the provision of health services.
- (14Z1) Exercise its functions with a view to securing that the provision of health services is integrated with the provision of health-related services or social care services.
For local authorities, these duties will include fulfilment of its public health function, specifically to support and improve:
- Provision of the duty under 2013 Regulations statutory ‘core offer’ public health advice and support provided to local NHS commissioners, and support commissioners in their duty under section 26 of the Health & Social Care Act 2012 to obtain advice appropriate for enabling CCGs to appropriately discharge its functions for the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness, and the protection of public health.
- Support the duty of the local authority under section 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to take appropriate steps to improve the health of the population.
- Support the duty of the local authority under sections 192 and 193 of the 2012 Act to consult on and publish Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNAs) and Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategies (JHWSs) produced in collaboration with NHS and voluntary sector partners on the Health and Wellbeing Board.
- Conduct health impact assessments, assessing the potential impacts on health and the wider social economic and environmental determinants of health of Local Authority and CCG strategic plans, policies and services.
- The capability of the local public health intelligence service to undertake comparative longitudinal analyses of patterns of and variations in the incidence and prevalence of disease and risks to public health; demand and access to treatment and preventative care services’ variations in health outcomes between groups in the population; the level of integration between local health and care services; the local associations between causal risk factors and health status and outcomes.
The CCGs and Local Authorities commission services from a range of providers covering a wide array of health and care functions. Each of the data flow categories requested supports the commissioned activity of one or more providers. Pseudonymised (containing both clinical and financial information) data will be utilised to provide intelligence to support the commissioning of these health and care services, to ensure that adequate services are commissioned to meet patient need within the CCG area, and that these services are designed in such a way as to maximise opportunities for improving efficiency, efficacy, reducing inequalities, and improving outcomes.
The data controllers under this agreement are;
CCG: NHS Birmingham and Solihull CCG
Local Authority: Birmingham City Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council.
The data controllers also process data
The data processors under this agreement are
- Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit - process data for the purpose of commissioning & provide IT Infrastructure for NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit
- Microsoft Limited - Provide cloud services for Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit
- LIMA Networks Limited - Provide IT Infrastructure for Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit
- NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit - process data for the purpose of commissioning
- NHS Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust - Provide IT Infrastructure for NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit
No other organisations are involved in the project.
Legal Basis for Processing Data:
Data accessed under this Agreement will be processed in accordance with GDPR Article 6(1)(e) (processing is necessary for the performance of a task in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller) and Article 9(2)(h) (processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive or occupational medicine, for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services on the basis of Union or Member State law or pursuant to contract with a health professional and subject to the conditions and safeguards referred to in paragraph 3 of the Article).
The following pseudonymised datasets are required to provide this support for the commissioning of health services:
- Secondary Uses Service (SUS+)
- Local Provider Flows
o Acute
o Ambulance
o Community
o Demand for Service
o Diagnostic Service
o Emergency Care
o Experience, Quality and Outcomes
o Mental Health
o Other Not Elsewhere Classified
o Population Data
o Primary Care Services
o Public Health Screening
- Mental Health Minimum Data Set (MHMDS)
- Mental Health Learning Disability Data Set (MHLDDS)
- Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS)
- Maternity Services Data Set (MSDS)
- Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT)
- Child and Young People Health Service (CYPHS)
- Community Services Data Set (CSDS)
- Diagnostic Imaging Data Set (DIDS)
- National Cancer Waiting Times Monitoring Data Set (CWT)
- Civil Registries Data (CRD) (Births)
- Civil Registries Data (CRD) (Deaths)
- National Diabetes Audit (NDA)
- Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs)
- e-Referral Service (eRS)
- Personal Demographics Service (PDS)
- Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI)
- Medicines Dispensed in Primary Care (NHSBSA Data)
- Adult Social Care Data
Processing of the Medicines Dispensed in Primary Care (NHSBSA Data) dataset is only permitted to provide intelligence about the safety and effectiveness of medicines, as specified by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) Medicines Data Directions 2019.
The pseudonymised data is required to for the following purposes:
Population health management:
• Understanding the interdependency of care services
• Targeting care more effectively
Data Quality and Validation – allowing data quality checks on the submitted data
Thoroughly investigating the needs of the population, to ensure the right services are available for individuals when and where they need them
Understanding cohorts of residents who are at risk of becoming users of some of the more expensive services, to better understand and manage those needs
Monitoring population health and care interactions to understand where people may slip through the net, or where the provision of care may be being duplicated
Modelling activity across all data sets to understand how services interact with each other, and to understand how changes in one service may affect flows through another
Service redesign
Health Needs Assessment – identification of underlying disease prevalence within the local population
Patient stratification and predictive modelling - to highlight cohorts of patients at risk of requiring hospital admission and other avoidable factors such as risk of falls, computed using algorithms executed against linked de-identified data, and identification of future service delivery models
Demand Management - to improve the care service for patients by predicting the impact on certain care pathways and support the secondary care system in ensuring enough capacity to manage the demand.
Support measuring the health, mortality or care needs of the total local population
Provide intelligence about the safety and effectiveness of medicines.
Allow analysis of patient pathways across healthcare and social care.
NHS Arden and GEM Commissioning Support Unit:
NHS Birmingham and Solihull (BSOL) CCG commissioned NHS Arden and GEM CSU to carry out a population needs assessment relating to musculoskeletal conditions (MSK) for the population of NHS BSOL CCG, including that of newly joining practices.
Initially this will be an epidemiological needs assessment using pseudonymised SUS+ data. Further work to support prioritisation and service development has been considered after completion of this work. The CCG has requested NHS Arden and GEM CSU to expand their processing for all commissioning datasets in support of wider commissioning/population health management purposes.
Published literature from key national sources such as NICE and Public Health England will be reviewed to summarise the most common MSK conditions, the conditions that result in the greatest health burden, risk factors for MSK conditions and for higher health burden from MSK conditions, and the groups that are most vulnerable to these. This information will be used to drive the collection and analysis of relevant population demographics and the analysis of MSK need and service use.
Processing activities
Data must only be used for the purposes stipulated within this Data Sharing Agreement. Any additional disclosure / publication will require further approval from NHS Digital.
Data Processors must only act upon specific instructions from the Data Controller.
Data can only be stored at the addresses listed under storage addresses.
All access to data is managed under Role-Based Access Controls. Users can only access data authorised by their role.
Patient level data will not be linked other than as specifically detailed within this Data Sharing Agreement.
Data released will only be shared with those parties listed and will only be used for the purposes laid out in the application/agreement.
The data to be released from NHS Digital will not be national data.
NHS Digital reminds all organisations party to this agreement of the need to comply with the Data Sharing Framework
Contract requirements, including those regarding the use (and purposes of that use) by Personnel (as defined within the Data Sharing Framework Contract ie: employees, agents and contractors of the Data Recipient who may have access to that data).
ONWARD SHARING:
In the development of cohorts of pseudonymised patients considered to be at risk, the data controllers may need the facility to provide identifiable results back to direct health or care professionals for the purpose of direct care. Additionally clinicians, made aware of a number of cases that they believe would need intervention may request re-identification for that direct care purpose. These instances of re-identification will generally be carried out as programmes of work or, rarely, on an individual/small group basis.
NHS Digital provides a re-identification service for this process. All re-id requests will be processed and authorised by NHS Digital on a case by case basis. National data opt outs are not applied in these cases as they are for the purposes of direct care which follows the legal basis of implied consent.
The following are typical examples of instances where a CCG might want to use the re-identification process:
A&E High Attendance usage
The CCG can filter data to show for example the number of A&E attendances in a given period for each patient. The CCG can then flag to the relevant GP of the patient any patients that require intervention. An outcome of this is earlier intervention in the patient(s) care thus potentially reducing future costs and minimising future risk.
Polypharmacy re-IDs
CCGs can request re-ID of a list of patients to be sent to the relevant GP with a high number of medications (ingredient count) and review the medication for these patients. This can help address the risk of polypharmacy which is recognised as an adverse risk factor for patient safety. A by-product of such reviews may be to reduce costs of medication.
The Re-identification process for direct care is as follows:
1. The CCG identifies a patient cohort to be re-identified for the purpose of direct care.
2. The CCG sends a re-id request to the DSCRO. This may be done through the CCG or CSU’s Business Intelligence (BI) Tool, or through a manual form.
3. The DSCRO assesses as to whether the request passes the specified re-identification process checks. Checks include if the requester is authorised to access identifiable data, if the number of patients in the cohort is appropriate, and that the request does not seem inappropriate or outside of expected parameters, including for example around timings and the requestor’s relationship with patients in the data. These checks are carried out either by DSCRO staff using pre-approved information (timing’s, requester’s identity etc) or via an automated system.
4. For automated systems, steps 1 - 3 wouldn’t apply in most cases as it would be the direct care professional who identifies the cohort and as long as they are an approved re-id user and have gone through security checks initially, they will be able to re-id without further checks.
5. If successful/approved, the DSCRO re-identifies the relevant data item(s) for the appropriate patients and returns the identifiable fields to Health or Care professional(s) with a legitimate relationship to the patient. The CCG does not see the identifiable record.
6. DSCROs retain an audit trail of all re-id requests
Aggregated reports only with small number suppression can be shared externally as set out within NHS Digital guidance applicable to each data set.
Segregation
Where the Data Processor and/or the Data Controller hold both identifiable and pseudonymised data, the data will be held separately so data cannot be linked.
All access to data is auditable by NHS Digital.
Data Minimisation
Data Minimisation in relation to the data sets listed within the application are listed below. This also includes the purpose on which they would be applied -
For the purpose of Commissioning:
- Patients who are normally registered and/or resident within the NHS Birmingham and Solihull CCG (including historical activity where the patient was previously registered or resident in another commissioner).
and/or
- Patients treated by a provider where NHS Birmingham and Solihull CCG is the host/co-ordinating commissioner and/or has the primary responsibility for the provider services in the local health economy this is only for commissioning and relates to both national and local flows.
and/or
- Activity identified by the provider and recorded as such within national systems (such as SUS+) as for the attention of NHS Birmingham and Solihull CCG - this is only for commissioning and relates to both national and local flows.
There is no other mechanism to achieve the same result. Both CCG and Local Authority teams will require access to record-level, linkable (within the boundaries of the NHSD agreement) datasets to be able to fulfil statutory obligations around commissioning, commissioning support and health and wellbeing analyses.
Microsoft Limited provide Cloud Services for Arden and GEM Commissioning Support Unit & NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit and are therefore listed as a data processor. They supply support to the system, but do not access data. Therefore, any access to the data held under this agreement would be considered a breach of the agreement. This includes granting of access to the database[s] containing the data
NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit and Greater Manchester Shared Services (hosted by Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust) supply IT infrastructure for Arden and GEM Commissioning Support Unit and are therefore listed as data processors. They supply support to the system, but do not access data. Therefore, any access to the data held under this agreement would be considered a breach of the agreement. This includes granting of access to the database[s] containing the data.
Ilkeston Community Hospital (Part of Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust) and Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust do not access data held under this agreement as they only supply the building. Therefore, any access to the data held under this agreement would be considered a breach of the agreement. This includes granting of access to the database[s] containing the data."
Lima Networks LTD supply IT infrastructure for NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit and are therefore listed as a data processor. They supply support to the system, but do not access data. Therefore, any access to the data held under this agreement would be considered a breach of the agreement.
Data will be stored within a single platform hosted by NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit, and will be accessed by Birmingham and Solihull CCG, Solihull MBC and Birmingham CC using this platform exclusively, and will not be re-hosted in any other platform outside of this environment. This includes granting of access to the database[s] containing the data. The majority of locations belong to the CSU who host the data. The additional locations specified within this Agreement are to allow the data from the system to be extracted if necessary.
In addition to the dissemination of Cancer Waiting Times Data via the DSCRO, the CCG is able to access reports held within the CWT system in NHS Digital directly. Access within the CCG is limited to those with a need to process the data for the purposes described in this agreement.
A CCG user will be able to access the provider extracts from the portal for any provider where at least 1 patient for whom they are the registered CCG for that individuals GP practice appears in that setting
Although a CCG user may have access to pseudonymised patient information not related to that CCG, users should only process and analyse data for which they have a legitimate relationship (as described within Data Minimisation).
The Data Services for Commissioners Regional Office (DSCRO) obtains the following data sets:
1. SUS+
2. Local Provider Flows (received directly from providers)
a. Acute
b. Ambulance
c. Community
d. Demand for Service
e. Diagnostic Service
f. Emergency Care
g. Experience, Quality and Outcomes
h. Mental Health
i. Other Not Elsewhere Classified
j. Population Data
k. Primary Care Services
l. Public Health Screening
3. Mental Health Minimum Data Set (MHMDS)
4. Mental Health Learning Disability Data Set (MHLDDS)
5. Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS)
6. Maternity Services Data Set (MSDS)
7. Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT)
8. Child and Young People Health Service (CYPHS)
9. Community Services Data Set (CSDS)
10. Diagnostic Imaging Data Set (DIDS)
11. National Cancer Waiting Times Monitoring Data Set (CWT)
12. Civil Registries Data (CRD) (Births)
13. Civil Registries Data (CRD) (Deaths)
14. National Diabetes Audit (NDA)
15. Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs)
16. e-Referral Service (eRS)
17. Personal Demographics Service (PDS)
18. Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI)
19. Medicines Dispensed in Primary Care (NHSBSA Data)
20. Adult Social Care Data
Data Processor 1 NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit
1. Pseudonymised SUS+, Local Provider data, Mental Health data (MHSDS, MHMDS, MHLDDS), Maternity data (MSDS), Improving Access to Psychological Therapies data (IAPT), Child and Young People’s Health data (CYPHS), Community Services Data Set (CSDS), Diagnostic Imaging data (DIDS), National Cancer Waiting Times Monitoring Data Set (CWT), Civil Registries Data (CRD) (Births and Deaths), National Diabetes Audit (NDA), Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs), e-Referral Service (eRS), Personal Demographics Service (PDS), Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI), Medicines Dispensed in Primary Care (NHSBSA Data) and Adult Social Care data only is securely transferred from the DSCRO to NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit.
2. NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit add derived fields by using existing data, link data and provide analysis to:
a. See patient journeys for pathways or service design, re-design and de-commissioning.
b. Check recorded activity against contracts or invoices and facilitate discussions with providers.
c. Undertake population health management
d. Undertake data quality and validation checks
e. Thoroughly investigate the needs of the population
f. Understand cohorts of residents who are at risk
g. Conduct Health Needs Assessments
3. Allowed linkage is between the data sets contained within point 1. No other data linkage will take place.
4. NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit then pass the processed, pseudonymised and linked data to the Data Controllers.
5. Aggregation of required data will be completed by NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit or the Data Controllers.
6. Patient level data will not be shared outside of the Data Controllers / Processors and will only be shared within the Data Controllers / Processors on a need to know basis, as per the purposes stipulated within the Data Sharing Agreement. External aggregated reports only with small number suppression can be shared as set out within NHS Digital guidance applicable to each data set.
Data Processor 2 - NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit:
1. Pseudonymised SUS+, Local Provider data, Mental Health data (MHSDS, MHMDS, MHLDDS), Maternity data (MSDS), Improving Access to Psychological Therapies data (IAPT), Child and Young People’s Health data (CYPHS), Community Services Data Set (CSDS), Diagnostic Imaging data (DIDS), National Cancer Waiting Times Monitoring Data Set (CWT), Civil Registries Data (CRD) (Births and Deaths), National Diabetes Audit (NDA), Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs), e-Referral Service (eRS), Personal Demographics Service (PDS), Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI), Medicines Dispensed in Primary Care (NHSBSA Data) and Adult Social Care data only is securely transferred from the DSCRO to NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit.
2. NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit add derived fields by using existing data, link data and provide analysis to:
a. See patient journeys for pathways or service design, re-design and de-commissioning.
b. Check recorded activity against contracts or invoices and facilitate discussions with providers.
c. Undertake population health management
d. Undertake data quality and validation checks
e. Thoroughly investigate the needs of the population
f. Understand cohorts of residents who are at risk
g. Conduct Health Needs Assessments
h. Analyse population needs around musculoskeletal conditions (MSK).
3. Allowed linkage is between the data sets contained within point 1. No other data linkage will take place.
4. NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit then pass the processed, pseudonymised and linked data to the CCG.
5. Aggregation of required data for CCG management use will be completed by the CSU as instructed by the CCG.
6. Patient level data will not be shared outside of the CCG and will only be shared within the CCG on a need to know basis, as per the purposes stipulated within the Data Sharing Agreement. External aggregated reports only with small number suppression can be shared.
Expected output
Commissioning and Service Improvement Analyses
- Commissioner reporting:
a. Summary by provider view - plan & actuals year to date (YTD).
b. Summary by Patient Outcome Data (POD) view - plan & actuals YTD.
c. Summary by provider view - activity & finance variance by POD.
d. Planned care by provider view - activity & finance plan & actuals YTD.
e. Planned care by POD view - activity plan & actuals YTD.
f. Provider reporting.
g. Statutory returns.
h. Statutory returns - monthly activity return.
i. Statutory returns - quarterly activity return.
j. Delayed discharges.
k. Quality & performance referral to treatment reporting.
- Readmissions analysis.
- Production of aggregate reports for CCG Business Intelligence.
- Production of project / programme level dashboards.
- Monitoring of acute / community / mental health quality matrix.
- Clinical coding reviews / audits.
- Budget reporting down to individual GP Practice level.
- GP Practice level dashboard reports.
- Comparators of CCG performance with similar CCGs as set out by a specific range of care quality and performance measures detailed activity and cost reports.
- Data Quality and Validation measures allowing data quality checks on the submitted data.
- Contract Management and Modelling.
- Patient Stratification, such as:
a. Patients at highest risk of admission
b. High cost activity uses (top 15%)
c. Frail and elderly
d. Patients that are currently in hospital
e. Patients with most referrals to secondary care
f. Patients with most emergency activity
g. Patients with most expensive prescriptions
h. Patients recently moving from one care setting to another
i. Discharged from hospital
j. Discharged from community
- Joint Strategic Needs Assessment
- Joint Health & Wellbeing Strategy
- The annual report of the Director of Public Health.
- Reports commissioned by the Health and Wellbeing Board.
- Public health and wider Local Authority health and wellbeing commissioning strategies and plans.
- Public health advice to NHS commissioners.
- Responses to licensing applications and other statutory Local Authority functions requiring public health input.
- Local health profiles.
- Health impact assessments and equity audits; and, among other outputs.
- Responses to internal and external requests for information and intelligence on the health and wellbeing of the population.
- Identify medication prescribing trends and their effectiveness.
- Linking prescribing habits to entry points into the health and social care system
- Identify, quantify and understand cohorts of patient’s high numbers of different medications (polypharmacy)
- Monitoring, at a population level, particular cohorts of service users and designing analytical models which support more effective interventions in health and adult social care
- Monitoring service and integrated care outcomes across a pathway or care setting involving adult social care
The outputs listed will support both the CCG and the local authorities to fulfil their statutory duties. This joint application will allow collaboration where these statutory duties overlap
All outputs are directly and indirectly related to commissioning
Expected measurable benefits
Commissioning and Service Improvement Analyses
- Supporting Quality Innovation Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) to review demand management, integrated care and pathways:
a. Analysis to support full business cases.
b. Develop business models.
c. Monitor in-year projects.
- Supporting Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) for specific disease types.
- Health economic modelling using:
a. Analysis on provider performance against 18 weeks wait targets.
b. Learning from and predicting likely patient pathways for certain conditions, in order to influence early interventions and other treatments for patients.
c. Analysis of outcome measures for differential treatments, accounting for the full patient pathway.
d. Analysis to understand emergency care and linking A&E and Emergency Urgent Care Flows (EUCC).
- Commissioning cycle support for grouping and re-costing previous activity.
- Enables monitoring of:
a. CCG outcome indicators.
b. Financial and Non-financial validation of activity.
c. Successful delivery of integrated care within the CCG.
d. Checking frequent or multiple attendances to improve early intervention and avoid admissions.
e. Case management.
f. Care service planning.
g. Commissioning and performance management.
h. List size verification by GP practices.
i. Understanding the care of patients in nursing homes.
- Feedback to NHS service providers on data quality at an aggregate and individual record level only on data initially provided by the service providers.
- Improved planning by better understanding patient flows through the healthcare system, thus allowing commissioners to design appropriate pathways to improve patient flow and allowing commissioners to identify priorities and identify plans to address these.
- Improved quality of services through reduced emergency readmissions, especially avoidable emergency admissions. This is achieved through mapping of frequent users of emergency services and early intervention of appropriate care.
- Improved access to services by identifying which services may be in demand but have poor access, and from this identify areas where improvement is required.
- Potentially reduced premature mortality by more targeted intervention in primary care, which supports the commissioner to meets its requirement to reduce premature mortality in line with the CCG Outcome Framework.
- Better understanding of the health of and the variations in health outcomes within the population to help understand local population characteristics.
- Better understanding of contract requirements, contract execution, and required services for management of existing contracts, and to assist with identification and planning of future contracts.
- Insights into patient outcomes, and identification of the possible efficacy of outcomes-based contracting opportunities.
- Providing greater understanding of the underlying courses and look to commission improved supportive networks, this would be ongoing work which would be continually assessed.
- Insight to understand the numerous factors that play a role in the outcome for multiple datasets. The linkage will allow the reporting both prior to, during and after the activity, to provide greater assurance on predictive outcomes and delivery of best practice.
- Provision of indicators of health problems, and patterns of risk within the commissioning region.
- Support of benchmarking for evaluating progress in future years.
- Allow reporting to drive changes and improve the quality of commissioned services and health outcomes for people.
- Assists commissioners to make better decisions to support patients
- Validation of programs implemented to improve patient pathway e.g. High users unable to validate if the process to help patients find the best support are working or did the patient die.
- Clinical - understand reasons why patients are dying, what additional support services can be put in to support.
- Understanding where patients are dying e.g. are patients dying at hospitals due to hospices closing due to Local authorities withdrawing support, or is there a problem at a particular trust.
- Manage demand - understanding the quantity of assessments required enable the ability improve the care service for patients by predicting the impact on certain care pathways and ensure the secondary care system has enough capacity to manage the demand.
- Understand admissions linked to overprescribing.
- Add value to the population health management workstream by adding prescribing data into linked dataset for segmentation and stratification.
- Developing, through evaluation of person-level data, more effective prevention strategies and interventions across a pathway or care setting involving adult social care
- Designing and implementing new payment models across health and adult social care
- Understanding current and future population needs and resource utilisation for local strategic planning and commissioning purposes including for health, social care and public health needs.
Benefits reported so far
NHS Birmingham and Solihull CCG produces and annual report which details the key developments and achievements for which processing of NHS Digital data is used to support.
The report can be found at the web location here: https://www.birminghamandsolihullccg.nhs.uk/about-us/publications/corporate/5485-nhs-birmingham-and-solihull-ccg-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-21/file
Datasets on the latest version
Legal basis for provision: Health and Social Care Act 2012 - s261(5)(d)
| Dataset | Type of data | Sensitivity | Frequency | Confidential data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acute-Local Provider Flows | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Adult Social Care | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Ambulance-Local Provider Flows | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Children and Young People Health | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Civil Registration - Births | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Civil Registrations of Death | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Community Services Data Set (CSDS) | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Community-Local Provider Flows | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Demand for Service-Local Provider Flows | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Diagnostic Imaging Data Set (DID) | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Diagnostic Services-Local Provider Flows | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| e-Referral Service for Commissioning | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Emergency Care-Local Provider Flows | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Experience, Quality and Outcomes-Local Provider Flows | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) v1.5 | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Maternity Services Data Set | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Medicines dispensed in Primary Care (NHSBSA data) | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Data Set (MHLDDS) | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Mental Health Minimum Data Set (MHMDS) | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS) | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Mental Health-Local Provider Flows | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| National Cancer Waiting Times Monitoring DataSet (NCWTMDS) | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| National Diabetes Audit | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Other Not Elsewhere Classified (NEC)-Local Provider Flows | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Personal Demographic Service | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Population Data-Local Provider Flows | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Primary Care Services-Local Provider Flows | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Public Health and Screening Services-Local Provider Flows | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI) | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| SUS for Commissioners | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Sensitive | Frequent Adhoc Flow | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
Files released
Files released counts only files released externally by DARS. Access granted in NHS England's own systems, such as its Secure Data Environment, is not included.
No files recorded as released under this agreement.
Version history
The register lists each renewal of this agreement as a separate row. This site has 3 versions.
DARS-NIC-360432-Z1Q8K-v2.2 17 February 2022 to 16 February 2025
- Title
- DSfC - Joint Controller Agreement: NHS Birmingham and Solihull CCG, Birmingham City Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council - Comm
- Commercial
- No
- Sublicensing
- No
- Datasets
- 31
- Files released
- 0
Datasets: Acute-Local Provider Flows; Adult Social Care; Ambulance-Local Provider Flows; Children and Young People Health; Civil Registration - Births; Civil Registrations of Death; Community Services Data Set (CSDS); Community-Local Provider Flows; Demand for Service-Local Provider Flows; Diagnostic Imaging Data Set (DID); Diagnostic Services-Local Provider Flows; e-Referral Service for Commissioning; Emergency Care-Local Provider Flows; Experience, Quality and Outcomes-Local Provider Flows; Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) v1.5; Maternity Services Data Set; Medicines dispensed in Primary Care (NHSBSA data); Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Data Set (MHLDDS); Mental Health Minimum Data Set (MHMDS); Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS); Mental Health-Local Provider Flows; National Cancer Waiting Times Monitoring DataSet (NCWTMDS); National Diabetes Audit; Other Not Elsewhere Classified (NEC)-Local Provider Flows; Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs); Personal Demographic Service; Population Data-Local Provider Flows; Primary Care Services-Local Provider Flows; Public Health and Screening Services-Local Provider Flows; Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI); SUS for Commissioners
What changed from DARS-NIC-360432-Z1Q8K-v1.4
Text removed is struck through; text added is underlined. Unchanged paragraphs are summarised rather than repeated.
| Field | Was | Became |
|---|---|---|
| Start date | 2022-02-17 | |
| End date | 2025-02-16 |
Objective for processing
[78 paragraphs unchanged]
Initially this will be an epidemiological needs assessment using pseudonymised SUS+ data. Further work to support prioritisation and service development could be considered separately or after completion of this work. Published literature from key national sources such as NICE and Public Health England will be reviewed to summarise the most common MSK conditions, the conditions that result in the greatest health burden, risk factors for MSK conditions and for higher health burden from MSK conditions, and the groups that are most vulnerable to these. This information will be used to drive the collection and analysis of relevant population demographics and the analysis of MSK need and service use.
Initially this will be an epidemiological needs assessment using pseudonymised SUS+ data. Further work to support prioritisation and service development has been considered after completion of this work. The CCG has requested NHS Arden and GEM CSU to expand their processing for all commissioning datasets in support of wider commissioning/population health management purposes.
Published literature from key national sources such as NICE and Public Health England will be reviewed to summarise the most common MSK conditions, the conditions that result in the greatest health burden, risk factors for MSK conditions and for higher health burden from MSK conditions, and the groups that are most vulnerable to these. This information will be used to drive the collection and analysis of relevant population demographics and the analysis of MSK need and service use.
Processing activities
[9 paragraphs unchanged]
Onward Sharing
ONWARD SHARING:
There is no requirement for the analytical teams to re-identify patients, but in
In
the development of cohorts of
pseudonymised
patients considered to be at risk, the data controllers may need the facility to provide identifiable results back to direct
healthcare
health or care
professionals
or local authority direct care staff only
for the purpose of direct care. Additionally clinicians, made aware of a
[5 words unchanged]
believe would need intervention may request re-identification for that direct care purpose.
These instances of re-identification will generally be carried out as programmes of work or, rarely, on an individual/small group basis.
These instances of
NHS Digital provides a
re-identification
will generally be carried out as programmes of work or, rarely, on an individual/small group basis.
service for this process.
All re-id requests will be processed and authorised by
the DSCRO
NHS Digital
on a case by case basis. National data opt outs are not
[9 words unchanged]
purposes of direct care which follows the legal basis of implied consent.
The following are typical
(generic)
examples of instances where a CCG might want to use the re-identification process:
[3 paragraphs unchanged]
CCG's
CCGs
can request re-ID of a list of patients to be sent to
[37 words unchanged]
A by-product of such reviews may be to reduce costs of medication.
[3 paragraphs unchanged]
3. The DSCRO assesses as to whether the request passes the specified
[60 words unchanged]
using pre-approved information (timing’s, requester’s identity etc) or via an automated system.
For automated systems, steps 1 -3 wouldn’t apply in most cases as it would be the direct care professional who identifies the cohort and as long as they are an approved re-id user and have gone through security checks initially, they will be able to re-id without more further checks.
4. If successful/approved, the DSCRO re-identifies the relevant data item(s) for the appropriate patients and returns the identifiable fields to Health or care professional(s) with a legitimate relationship to the patient. The CCG does not see the identifiable record.
4. For automated systems, steps 1 - 3 wouldn’t apply in most cases as it would be the direct care professional who identifies the cohort and as long as they are an approved re-id user and have gone through security checks initially, they will be able to re-id without further checks.
5. DSCROs retain an audit trail of all re-id requests
5. If successful/approved, the DSCRO re-identifies the relevant data item(s) for the appropriate patients and returns the identifiable fields to Health or Care professional(s) with a legitimate relationship to the patient. The CCG does not see the identifiable record.
6. National Data opt outs are not applied for the purpose of direct care
6. DSCROs retain an audit trail of all re-id requests
[13 paragraphs unchanged]
Microsoft Limited provide Cloud Services for
Arden and GEM Commissioning Support Unit &
NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit and
are therefore listed as a data processor. They supply support to the system, but
do not access
data held under this agreement as they only supply the building.
data.
Therefore, any access to the data held under this agreement would be considered a breach of the agreement.
This includes granting of access to the database[s] containing the data
NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit and Greater Manchester Shared Services (hosted by Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust) supply IT infrastructure for Arden and GEM Commissioning Support Unit and are therefore listed as data processors. They supply support to the system, but do not access data. Therefore, any access to the data held under this agreement would be considered a breach of the agreement. This includes granting of access to the database[s] containing the data.
Ilkeston Community Hospital (Part of Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust) and Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust do not access data held under this agreement as they only supply the building. Therefore, any access to the data held under this agreement would be considered a breach of the agreement. This includes granting of access to the database[s] containing the data."
Lima Networks LTD supply IT infrastructure for NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit and are therefore listed as a data processor. They supply support to the system, but do not access data. Therefore, any access to the data held under this agreement would be considered a breach of the agreement.
[52 paragraphs unchanged]
1. Pseudonymised SUS+ data is securely transferred from the DSCRO to NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit.
1. Pseudonymised SUS+, Local Provider data, Mental Health data (MHSDS, MHMDS, MHLDDS), Maternity data (MSDS), Improving Access to Psychological Therapies data (IAPT), Child and Young People’s Health data (CYPHS), Community Services Data Set (CSDS), Diagnostic Imaging data (DIDS), National Cancer Waiting Times Monitoring Data Set (CWT), Civil Registries Data (CRD) (Births and Deaths), National Diabetes Audit (NDA), Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs), e-Referral Service (eRS), Personal Demographics Service (PDS), Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI), Medicines Dispensed in Primary Care (NHSBSA Data) and Adult Social Care data only is securely transferred from the DSCRO to NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit.
2. NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit
use of a range of analytic approaches to analyse population needs around musculoskeletal conditions (MSK).
add derived fields by using existing data, link data and provide analysis to:
3. NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit then pass the processed, pseudonymised and linked data to the CCG.
a. See patient journeys for pathways or service design, re-design and de-commissioning.
4. Aggregation of required data for CCG management use will be completed by the CSU as instructed by the CCG.
b. Check recorded activity against contracts or invoices and facilitate discussions with providers.
5. Patient level data will not be shared outside of the CCG and will only be shared within the CCG on a need to know basis, as per the purposes stipulated within the Data Sharing Agreement. External aggregated reports only with small number suppression can be shared.
c. Undertake population health management
d. Undertake data quality and validation checks
e. Thoroughly investigate the needs of the population
f. Understand cohorts of residents who are at risk
g. Conduct Health Needs Assessments
h. Analyse population needs around musculoskeletal conditions (MSK).
3. Allowed linkage is between the data sets contained within point 1. No other data linkage will take place.
4. NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit then pass the processed, pseudonymised and linked data to the CCG.
5. Aggregation of required data for CCG management use will be completed by the CSU as instructed by the CCG.
6. Patient level data will not be shared outside of the CCG and will only be shared within the CCG on a need to know basis, as per the purposes stipulated within the Data Sharing Agreement. External aggregated reports only with small number suppression can be shared.
Benefits reported
The Data Controllers are unable to evidence any achieved yielded benefits as of yet as they have not been able to process the data for a substantial amount of time.
NHS Birmingham and Solihull CCG produces and annual report which details the key developments and achievements for which processing of NHS Digital data is used to support.
The report can be found at the web location here: https://www.birminghamandsolihullccg.nhs.uk/about-us/publications/corporate/5485-nhs-birmingham-and-solihull-ccg-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-21/file
Unchanged: Expected output, Expected measurable benefits.
DARS-NIC-360432-Z1Q8K-v1.4 1 September 2021 to 31 August 2024
- Title
- DSfC - Joint Controller Agreement: NHS Birmingham and Solihull CCG, Birmingham City Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council - Comm
- Commercial
- No
- Sublicensing
- No
- Datasets
- 31
- Files released
- 0
Datasets: Acute-Local Provider Flows; Adult Social Care; Ambulance-Local Provider Flows; Children and Young People Health; Civil Registration - Births; Civil Registrations of Death; Community Services Data Set (CSDS); Community-Local Provider Flows; Demand for Service-Local Provider Flows; Diagnostic Imaging Data Set (DID); Diagnostic Services-Local Provider Flows; e-Referral Service for Commissioning; Emergency Care-Local Provider Flows; Experience, Quality and Outcomes-Local Provider Flows; Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) v1.5; Maternity Services Data Set; Medicines dispensed in Primary Care (NHSBSA data); Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Data Set (MHLDDS); Mental Health Minimum Data Set (MHMDS); Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS); Mental Health-Local Provider Flows; National Cancer Waiting Times Monitoring DataSet (NCWTMDS); National Diabetes Audit; Other Not Elsewhere Classified (NEC)-Local Provider Flows; Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs); Personal Demographic Service; Population Data-Local Provider Flows; Primary Care Services-Local Provider Flows; Public Health and Screening Services-Local Provider Flows; Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI); SUS for Commissioners
What changed from DARS-NIC-360432-Z1Q8K-v0.3
Text removed is struck through; text added is underlined. Unchanged paragraphs are summarised rather than repeated.
| Field | Was | Became |
|---|---|---|
| Start date | 2021-09-01 | |
| End date | 2024-08-31 |
Datasets: + Adult Social Care; + Medicines dispensed in Primary Care (NHSBSA data)
Objective for processing
[18 paragraphs unchanged]
-
Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit - process data for the purpose of commissioning
& provide IT Infrastructure for NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit
-
Microsoft Limited - Provide cloud services for Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit
-
LIMA Networks Limited - Provide IT Infrastructure for Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit
- NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit - process data for the purpose of commissioning
- NHS Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust - Provide IT Infrastructure for NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit
[34 paragraphs unchanged]
- Medicines Dispensed in Primary Care (NHSBSA Data)
- Adult Social Care Data
Processing of the Medicines Dispensed in Primary Care (NHSBSA Data) dataset is only permitted to provide intelligence about the safety and effectiveness of medicines, as specified by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) Medicines Data Directions 2019.
[4 paragraphs unchanged]
• Using value as the redesign principle
[10 paragraphs unchanged]
Provide intelligence about the safety and effectiveness of medicines.
Allow analysis of patient pathways across healthcare and social care.
NHS Arden and GEM Commissioning Support Unit:
NHS Birmingham and Solihull (BSOL) CCG commissioned NHS Arden and GEM CSU to carry out a population needs assessment relating to musculoskeletal conditions (MSK) for the population of NHS BSOL CCG, including that of newly joining practices.
Initially this will be an epidemiological needs assessment using pseudonymised SUS+ data. Further work to support prioritisation and service development could be considered separately or after completion of this work. Published literature from key national sources such as NICE and Public Health England will be reviewed to summarise the most common MSK conditions, the conditions that result in the greatest health burden, risk factors for MSK conditions and for higher health burden from MSK conditions, and the groups that are most vulnerable to these. This information will be used to drive the collection and analysis of relevant population demographics and the analysis of MSK need and service use.
Processing activities
[10 paragraphs unchanged]
Patient level data will not be shared outside of the CCG and local authorities unless it is for the purpose of Direct Care, where it may be shared only with those health professionals who have a legitimate relationship with the patient and a legitimate reason to access the data.
There is no requirement for the analytical teams to re-identify patients, but in the development of cohorts of patients considered to be at risk, the data controllers may need the facility to provide identifiable results back to direct healthcare professionals or local authority direct care staff only for the purpose of direct care. Additionally clinicians, made aware of a number of cases that they believe would need intervention may request re-identification for that direct care purpose.
These instances of re-identification will generally be carried out as programmes of work or, rarely, on an individual/small group basis. All re-id requests will be processed and authorised by the DSCRO on a case by case basis. National data opt outs are not applied in these cases as they are for the purposes of direct care which follows the legal basis of implied consent.
The following are typical (generic) examples of instances where a CCG might want to use the re-identification process:
A&E High Attendance usage
The CCG can filter data to show for example the number of A&E attendances in a given period for each patient. The CCG can then flag to the relevant GP of the patient any patients that require intervention. An outcome of this is earlier intervention in the patient(s) care thus potentially reducing future costs and minimising future risk.
Polypharmacy re-IDs
CCG's can request re-ID of a list of patients to be sent to the relevant GP with a high number of medications (ingredient count) and review the medication for these patients. This can help address the risk of polypharmacy which is recognised as an adverse risk factor for patient safety. A by-product of such reviews may be to reduce costs of medication.
The Re-identification process for direct care is as follows:
1. The CCG identifies a patient cohort to be re-identified for the purpose of direct care.
2. The CCG sends a re-id request to the DSCRO. This may be done through the CCG or CSU’s Business Intelligence (BI) Tool, or through a manual form.
3. The DSCRO assesses as to whether the request passes the specified re-identification process checks. Checks include if the requester is authorised to access identifiable data, if the number of patients in the cohort is appropriate, and that the request does not seem inappropriate or outside of expected parameters, including for example around timings and the requestor’s relationship with patients in the data. These checks are carried out either by DSCRO staff using pre-approved information (timing’s, requester’s identity etc) or via an automated system. For automated systems, steps 1 -3 wouldn’t apply in most cases as it would be the direct care professional who identifies the cohort and as long as they are an approved re-id user and have gone through security checks initially, they will be able to re-id without more further checks.
4. If successful/approved, the DSCRO re-identifies the relevant data item(s) for the appropriate patients and returns the identifiable fields to Health or care professional(s) with a legitimate relationship to the patient. The CCG does not see the identifiable record.
5. DSCROs retain an audit trail of all re-id requests
6. National Data opt outs are not applied for the purpose of direct care
[13 paragraphs unchanged]
Microsoft Limited provide Cloud Services for NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support
[22 words unchanged]
held under this agreement would be considered a breach of the agreement.
This includes granting of access to the database[s] containing the data.
Lima Networks LTD supply IT infrastructure for NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit and are therefore listed as a data processor. They supply support to the system, but do not access data. Therefore, any access to the data held under this agreement would be considered a breach of the agreement.
[35 paragraphs unchanged]
19. Medicines Dispensed in Primary Care (NHSBSA Data)
20. Adult Social Care Data
[1 paragraph unchanged]
1. Pseudonymised SUS+, Local Provider data, Mental Health data (MHSDS, MHMDS, MHLDDS),
[44 words unchanged]
(NDA), Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs), e-Referral Service (eRS), Personal Demographics Service
(PDS) and
(PDS),
Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator
(SHMI)
(SHMI), Medicines Dispensed in Primary Care (NHSBSA Data) and Adult Social Care
data only is securely transferred from the DSCRO to NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit.
[12 paragraphs unchanged]
There is no requirement for the analytical teams (either CCG or local authority) to re-identify patients, but in the cases of the development of risk stratification or other similar primary use tools, the data controllers may need the facility to provide identifiable results back to direct healthcare professionals or local authority direct care staff only for the purpose of direct care. All re-id requests will be processed and authorised by the DSCRO on a case by case basis. National data opt outs are not applied in these cases as they are for the purposes of direct care.
Data Processor 2 - NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit:
An example of a request for the re-id of patients for direct care may be;
1. Pseudonymised SUS+ data is securely transferred from the DSCRO to NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit.
A&E High Attendance usage
2. NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit use of a range of analytic approaches to analyse population needs around musculoskeletal conditions (MSK).
Practices can filter data to show for example the number of A&E attendances in a given period for each patient. The Practice would then look into these patients to review their care and try and reduce A&E attendances and/or sign post the patients to community services/MH Services. An outcome of this is earlier intervention in the patient(s) care thus potentially reducing future costs and minimising future risk.
3. NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit then pass the processed, pseudonymised and linked data to the CCG.
Risk Stratification-type re-IDs
4. Aggregation of required data for CCG management use will be completed by the CSU as instructed by the CCG.
Practices can re-ID a list of patients with a high number of medications (ingredient count) and review the medication for these patients. This can help address the risk of polypharmacy which is recognised as an adverse risk factor for patient safety. A by-product of such reviews may be to reduce costs of medication.
5. Patient level data will not be shared outside of the CCG and will only be shared within the CCG on a need to know basis, as per the purposes stipulated within the Data Sharing Agreement. External aggregated reports only with small number suppression can be shared.
Expected output
[44 paragraphs unchanged] - Identify medication prescribing trends and their effectiveness. - Linking prescribing habits to entry points into the health and social care system - Identify, quantify and understand cohorts of patient’s high numbers of different medications (polypharmacy) - Monitoring, at a population level, particular cohorts of service users and designing analytical models which support more effective interventions in health and adult social care - Monitoring service and integrated care outcomes across a pathway or care setting involving adult social care [2 paragraphs unchanged]
Expected measurable benefits
[40 paragraphs unchanged] - Understand admissions linked to overprescribing. - Add value to the population health management workstream by adding prescribing data into linked dataset for segmentation and stratification. - Developing, through evaluation of person-level data, more effective prevention strategies and interventions across a pathway or care setting involving adult social care - Designing and implementing new payment models across health and adult social care - Understanding current and future population needs and resource utilisation for local strategic planning and commissioning purposes including for health, social care and public health needs.
Benefits reported
Yielded Benefits is not a requirement for new applications.
The Data Controllers are unable to evidence any achieved yielded benefits as of yet as they have not been able to process the data for a substantial amount of time.
Objective for processing
The data accessed through this NHS Digital agreement will be used by the Clinical Commissioning Group and Local Authorities in the fulfilment of statutory duties of commissioners and public health functions.
For commissioners, these duties under section 26 of the 2012 Health & Social Care Act include duties for Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) to:
- (14Q) Exercising functions effectively, efficiently, and economically.
- (14R) Secure continuous improvement in the quality of services provided to individuals for or in connection with the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness, and securing continuous improvement in the outcomes that are achieved from the provision of the services.
- (14T) Reduce inequalities between patients with respect to their ability to access health services and reduce inequalities between patients with respect to the outcomes achieved by the provision of health services.
- (14Z1) Exercise its functions with a view to securing that the provision of health services is integrated with the provision of health-related services or social care services.
For local authorities, these duties will include fulfilment of its public health function, specifically to support and improve:
- Provision of the duty under 2013 Regulations statutory ‘core offer’ public health advice and support provided to local NHS commissioners, and support commissioners in their duty under section 26 of the Health & Social Care Act 2012 to obtain advice appropriate for enabling CCGs to appropriately discharge its functions for the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness, and the protection of public health.
- Support the duty of the local authority under section 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to take appropriate steps to improve the health of the population.
- Support the duty of the local authority under sections 192 and 193 of the 2012 Act to consult on and publish Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNAs) and Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategies (JHWSs) produced in collaboration with NHS and voluntary sector partners on the Health and Wellbeing Board.
- Conduct health impact assessments, assessing the potential impacts on health and the wider social economic and environmental determinants of health of Local Authority and CCG strategic plans, policies and services.
- The capability of the local public health intelligence service to undertake comparative longitudinal analyses of patterns of and variations in the incidence and prevalence of disease and risks to public health; demand and access to treatment and preventative care services’ variations in health outcomes between groups in the population; the level of integration between local health and care services; the local associations between causal risk factors and health status and outcomes.
The CCGs and Local Authorities commission services from a range of providers covering a wide array of health and care functions. Each of the data flow categories requested supports the commissioned activity of one or more providers. Pseudonymised (containing both clinical and financial information) data will be utilised to provide intelligence to support the commissioning of these health and care services, to ensure that adequate services are commissioned to meet patient need within the CCG area, and that these services are designed in such a way as to maximise opportunities for improving efficiency, efficacy, reducing inequalities, and improving outcomes.
The data controllers under this agreement are;
CCG: NHS Birmingham and Solihull CCG
Local Authority: Birmingham City Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council.
The data controllers also process data
The data processors under this agreement are
- Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit - process data for the purpose of commissioning & provide IT Infrastructure for NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit
- Microsoft Limited - Provide cloud services for Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit
- LIMA Networks Limited - Provide IT Infrastructure for Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit
- NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit - process data for the purpose of commissioning
- NHS Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust - Provide IT Infrastructure for NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit
No other organisations are involved in the project.
Legal Basis for Processing Data:
Data accessed under this Agreement will be processed in accordance with GDPR Article 6(1)(e) (processing is necessary for the performance of a task in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller) and Article 9(2)(h) (processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive or occupational medicine, for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services on the basis of Union or Member State law or pursuant to contract with a health professional and subject to the conditions and safeguards referred to in paragraph 3 of the Article).
The following pseudonymised datasets are required to provide this support for the commissioning of health services:
- Secondary Uses Service (SUS+)
- Local Provider Flows
o Acute
o Ambulance
o Community
o Demand for Service
o Diagnostic Service
o Emergency Care
o Experience, Quality and Outcomes
o Mental Health
o Other Not Elsewhere Classified
o Population Data
o Primary Care Services
o Public Health Screening
- Mental Health Minimum Data Set (MHMDS)
- Mental Health Learning Disability Data Set (MHLDDS)
- Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS)
- Maternity Services Data Set (MSDS)
- Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT)
- Child and Young People Health Service (CYPHS)
- Community Services Data Set (CSDS)
- Diagnostic Imaging Data Set (DIDS)
- National Cancer Waiting Times Monitoring Data Set (CWT)
- Civil Registries Data (CRD) (Births)
- Civil Registries Data (CRD) (Deaths)
- National Diabetes Audit (NDA)
- Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs)
- e-Referral Service (eRS)
- Personal Demographics Service (PDS)
- Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI)
- Medicines Dispensed in Primary Care (NHSBSA Data)
- Adult Social Care Data
Processing of the Medicines Dispensed in Primary Care (NHSBSA Data) dataset is only permitted to provide intelligence about the safety and effectiveness of medicines, as specified by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) Medicines Data Directions 2019.
The pseudonymised data is required to for the following purposes:
Population health management:
• Understanding the interdependency of care services
• Targeting care more effectively
Data Quality and Validation – allowing data quality checks on the submitted data
Thoroughly investigating the needs of the population, to ensure the right services are available for individuals when and where they need them
Understanding cohorts of residents who are at risk of becoming users of some of the more expensive services, to better understand and manage those needs
Monitoring population health and care interactions to understand where people may slip through the net, or where the provision of care may be being duplicated
Modelling activity across all data sets to understand how services interact with each other, and to understand how changes in one service may affect flows through another
Service redesign
Health Needs Assessment – identification of underlying disease prevalence within the local population
Patient stratification and predictive modelling - to highlight cohorts of patients at risk of requiring hospital admission and other avoidable factors such as risk of falls, computed using algorithms executed against linked de-identified data, and identification of future service delivery models
Demand Management - to improve the care service for patients by predicting the impact on certain care pathways and support the secondary care system in ensuring enough capacity to manage the demand.
Support measuring the health, mortality or care needs of the total local population
Provide intelligence about the safety and effectiveness of medicines.
Allow analysis of patient pathways across healthcare and social care.
NHS Arden and GEM Commissioning Support Unit:
NHS Birmingham and Solihull (BSOL) CCG commissioned NHS Arden and GEM CSU to carry out a population needs assessment relating to musculoskeletal conditions (MSK) for the population of NHS BSOL CCG, including that of newly joining practices.
Initially this will be an epidemiological needs assessment using pseudonymised SUS+ data. Further work to support prioritisation and service development could be considered separately or after completion of this work. Published literature from key national sources such as NICE and Public Health England will be reviewed to summarise the most common MSK conditions, the conditions that result in the greatest health burden, risk factors for MSK conditions and for higher health burden from MSK conditions, and the groups that are most vulnerable to these. This information will be used to drive the collection and analysis of relevant population demographics and the analysis of MSK need and service use.
Expected output
Commissioning and Service Improvement Analyses
- Commissioner reporting:
a. Summary by provider view - plan & actuals year to date (YTD).
b. Summary by Patient Outcome Data (POD) view - plan & actuals YTD.
c. Summary by provider view - activity & finance variance by POD.
d. Planned care by provider view - activity & finance plan & actuals YTD.
e. Planned care by POD view - activity plan & actuals YTD.
f. Provider reporting.
g. Statutory returns.
h. Statutory returns - monthly activity return.
i. Statutory returns - quarterly activity return.
j. Delayed discharges.
k. Quality & performance referral to treatment reporting.
- Readmissions analysis.
- Production of aggregate reports for CCG Business Intelligence.
- Production of project / programme level dashboards.
- Monitoring of acute / community / mental health quality matrix.
- Clinical coding reviews / audits.
- Budget reporting down to individual GP Practice level.
- GP Practice level dashboard reports.
- Comparators of CCG performance with similar CCGs as set out by a specific range of care quality and performance measures detailed activity and cost reports.
- Data Quality and Validation measures allowing data quality checks on the submitted data.
- Contract Management and Modelling.
- Patient Stratification, such as:
a. Patients at highest risk of admission
b. High cost activity uses (top 15%)
c. Frail and elderly
d. Patients that are currently in hospital
e. Patients with most referrals to secondary care
f. Patients with most emergency activity
g. Patients with most expensive prescriptions
h. Patients recently moving from one care setting to another
i. Discharged from hospital
j. Discharged from community
- Joint Strategic Needs Assessment
- Joint Health & Wellbeing Strategy
- The annual report of the Director of Public Health.
- Reports commissioned by the Health and Wellbeing Board.
- Public health and wider Local Authority health and wellbeing commissioning strategies and plans.
- Public health advice to NHS commissioners.
- Responses to licensing applications and other statutory Local Authority functions requiring public health input.
- Local health profiles.
- Health impact assessments and equity audits; and, among other outputs.
- Responses to internal and external requests for information and intelligence on the health and wellbeing of the population.
- Identify medication prescribing trends and their effectiveness.
- Linking prescribing habits to entry points into the health and social care system
- Identify, quantify and understand cohorts of patient’s high numbers of different medications (polypharmacy)
- Monitoring, at a population level, particular cohorts of service users and designing analytical models which support more effective interventions in health and adult social care
- Monitoring service and integrated care outcomes across a pathway or care setting involving adult social care
The outputs listed will support both the CCG and the local authorities to fulfil their statutory duties. This joint application will allow collaboration where these statutory duties overlap
All outputs are directly and indirectly related to commissioning
Benefits reported
The Data Controllers are unable to evidence any achieved yielded benefits as of yet as they have not been able to process the data for a substantial amount of time.
DARS-NIC-360432-Z1Q8K-v0.3 19 November 2020 to 31 July 2023
- Title
- DSfC - Joint Controller Agreement: NHS Birmingham and Solihull CCG, Birmingham City Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council - Comm
- Commercial
- No
- Sublicensing
- No
- Datasets
- 29
- Files released
- 0
Datasets: Acute-Local Provider Flows; Ambulance-Local Provider Flows; Children and Young People Health; Civil Registration - Births; Civil Registrations of Death; Community Services Data Set (CSDS); Community-Local Provider Flows; Demand for Service-Local Provider Flows; Diagnostic Imaging Data Set (DID); Diagnostic Services-Local Provider Flows; e-Referral Service for Commissioning; Emergency Care-Local Provider Flows; Experience, Quality and Outcomes-Local Provider Flows; Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) v1.5; Maternity Services Data Set; Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Data Set (MHLDDS); Mental Health Minimum Data Set (MHMDS); Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS); Mental Health-Local Provider Flows; National Cancer Waiting Times Monitoring DataSet (NCWTMDS); National Diabetes Audit; Other Not Elsewhere Classified (NEC)-Local Provider Flows; Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs); Personal Demographic Service; Population Data-Local Provider Flows; Primary Care Services-Local Provider Flows; Public Health and Screening Services-Local Provider Flows; Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI); SUS for Commissioners
Objective for processing
The data accessed through this NHS Digital agreement will be used by the Clinical Commissioning Group and Local Authorities in the fulfilment of statutory duties of commissioners and public health functions.
For commissioners, these duties under section 26 of the 2012 Health & Social Care Act include duties for Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) to:
- (14Q) Exercising functions effectively, efficiently, and economically.
- (14R) Secure continuous improvement in the quality of services provided to individuals for or in connection with the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness, and securing continuous improvement in the outcomes that are achieved from the provision of the services.
- (14T) Reduce inequalities between patients with respect to their ability to access health services and reduce inequalities between patients with respect to the outcomes achieved by the provision of health services.
- (14Z1) Exercise its functions with a view to securing that the provision of health services is integrated with the provision of health-related services or social care services.
For local authorities, these duties will include fulfilment of its public health function, specifically to support and improve:
- Provision of the duty under 2013 Regulations statutory ‘core offer’ public health advice and support provided to local NHS commissioners, and support commissioners in their duty under section 26 of the Health & Social Care Act 2012 to obtain advice appropriate for enabling CCGs to appropriately discharge its functions for the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness, and the protection of public health.
- Support the duty of the local authority under section 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to take appropriate steps to improve the health of the population.
- Support the duty of the local authority under sections 192 and 193 of the 2012 Act to consult on and publish Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNAs) and Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategies (JHWSs) produced in collaboration with NHS and voluntary sector partners on the Health and Wellbeing Board.
- Conduct health impact assessments, assessing the potential impacts on health and the wider social economic and environmental determinants of health of Local Authority and CCG strategic plans, policies and services.
- The capability of the local public health intelligence service to undertake comparative longitudinal analyses of patterns of and variations in the incidence and prevalence of disease and risks to public health; demand and access to treatment and preventative care services’ variations in health outcomes between groups in the population; the level of integration between local health and care services; the local associations between causal risk factors and health status and outcomes.
The CCGs and Local Authorities commission services from a range of providers covering a wide array of health and care functions. Each of the data flow categories requested supports the commissioned activity of one or more providers. Pseudonymised (containing both clinical and financial information) data will be utilised to provide intelligence to support the commissioning of these health and care services, to ensure that adequate services are commissioned to meet patient need within the CCG area, and that these services are designed in such a way as to maximise opportunities for improving efficiency, efficacy, reducing inequalities, and improving outcomes.
The data controllers under this agreement are;
CCG: NHS Birmingham and Solihull CCG
Local Authority: Birmingham City Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council.
The data controllers also process data
The data processors under this agreement are
Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit - process data for the purpose of commissioning
Microsoft Limited - Provide cloud services for Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit
LIMA Networks Limited - Provide IT Infrastructure for Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit
No other organisations are involved in the project.
Legal Basis for Processing Data:
Data accessed under this Agreement will be processed in accordance with GDPR Article 6(1)(e) (processing is necessary for the performance of a task in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller) and Article 9(2)(h) (processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive or occupational medicine, for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services on the basis of Union or Member State law or pursuant to contract with a health professional and subject to the conditions and safeguards referred to in paragraph 3 of the Article).
The following pseudonymised datasets are required to provide this support for the commissioning of health services:
- Secondary Uses Service (SUS+)
- Local Provider Flows
o Acute
o Ambulance
o Community
o Demand for Service
o Diagnostic Service
o Emergency Care
o Experience, Quality and Outcomes
o Mental Health
o Other Not Elsewhere Classified
o Population Data
o Primary Care Services
o Public Health Screening
- Mental Health Minimum Data Set (MHMDS)
- Mental Health Learning Disability Data Set (MHLDDS)
- Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS)
- Maternity Services Data Set (MSDS)
- Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT)
- Child and Young People Health Service (CYPHS)
- Community Services Data Set (CSDS)
- Diagnostic Imaging Data Set (DIDS)
- National Cancer Waiting Times Monitoring Data Set (CWT)
- Civil Registries Data (CRD) (Births)
- Civil Registries Data (CRD) (Deaths)
- National Diabetes Audit (NDA)
- Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs)
- e-Referral Service (eRS)
- Personal Demographics Service (PDS)
- Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI)
The pseudonymised data is required to for the following purposes:
Population health management:
• Understanding the interdependency of care services
• Targeting care more effectively
• Using value as the redesign principle
Data Quality and Validation – allowing data quality checks on the submitted data
Thoroughly investigating the needs of the population, to ensure the right services are available for individuals when and where they need them
Understanding cohorts of residents who are at risk of becoming users of some of the more expensive services, to better understand and manage those needs
Monitoring population health and care interactions to understand where people may slip through the net, or where the provision of care may be being duplicated
Modelling activity across all data sets to understand how services interact with each other, and to understand how changes in one service may affect flows through another
Service redesign
Health Needs Assessment – identification of underlying disease prevalence within the local population
Patient stratification and predictive modelling - to highlight cohorts of patients at risk of requiring hospital admission and other avoidable factors such as risk of falls, computed using algorithms executed against linked de-identified data, and identification of future service delivery models
Demand Management - to improve the care service for patients by predicting the impact on certain care pathways and support the secondary care system in ensuring enough capacity to manage the demand.
Support measuring the health, mortality or care needs of the total local population
Expected output
Commissioning and Service Improvement Analyses
- Commissioner reporting:
a. Summary by provider view - plan & actuals year to date (YTD).
b. Summary by Patient Outcome Data (POD) view - plan & actuals YTD.
c. Summary by provider view - activity & finance variance by POD.
d. Planned care by provider view - activity & finance plan & actuals YTD.
e. Planned care by POD view - activity plan & actuals YTD.
f. Provider reporting.
g. Statutory returns.
h. Statutory returns - monthly activity return.
i. Statutory returns - quarterly activity return.
j. Delayed discharges.
k. Quality & performance referral to treatment reporting.
- Readmissions analysis.
- Production of aggregate reports for CCG Business Intelligence.
- Production of project / programme level dashboards.
- Monitoring of acute / community / mental health quality matrix.
- Clinical coding reviews / audits.
- Budget reporting down to individual GP Practice level.
- GP Practice level dashboard reports.
- Comparators of CCG performance with similar CCGs as set out by a specific range of care quality and performance measures detailed activity and cost reports.
- Data Quality and Validation measures allowing data quality checks on the submitted data.
- Contract Management and Modelling.
- Patient Stratification, such as:
a. Patients at highest risk of admission
b. High cost activity uses (top 15%)
c. Frail and elderly
d. Patients that are currently in hospital
e. Patients with most referrals to secondary care
f. Patients with most emergency activity
g. Patients with most expensive prescriptions
h. Patients recently moving from one care setting to another
i. Discharged from hospital
j. Discharged from community
- Joint Strategic Needs Assessment
- Joint Health & Wellbeing Strategy
- The annual report of the Director of Public Health.
- Reports commissioned by the Health and Wellbeing Board.
- Public health and wider Local Authority health and wellbeing commissioning strategies and plans.
- Public health advice to NHS commissioners.
- Responses to licensing applications and other statutory Local Authority functions requiring public health input.
- Local health profiles.
- Health impact assessments and equity audits; and, among other outputs.
- Responses to internal and external requests for information and intelligence on the health and wellbeing of the population.
The outputs listed will support both the CCG and the local authorities to fulfil their statutory duties. This joint application will allow collaboration where these statutory duties overlap
All outputs are directly and indirectly related to commissioning
Benefits reported
Yielded Benefits is not a requirement for new applications.
Register history
When this agreement appeared in, or was edited in, each monthly edition of the register. Built by comparing every edition this site holds, the earliest of which is July 2021.
-
July 2021 —
already listed in the earliest edition this site holds, so it may be older. 1 version: DARS-NIC-360432-Z1Q8K-v0.3
-
February 2022
1 version added: DARS-NIC-360432-Z1Q8K-v1.4
-
April 2022
1 version added: DARS-NIC-360432-Z1Q8K-v2.2
-
October 2022
Succeeded Applicant organisation: NHS Birmingham and Solihull CCG succeeded by NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB from 1 July 2022, according to NHS ODS. Not counted as a change.Succeeded Data controllers: NHS Birmingham and Solihull CCG succeeded by NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB from 1 July 2022, according to NHS ODS. Not counted as a change.
Cite this page
NHS England (2026) Data Uses Register, September 2026 edition, agreement DARS-NIC-360432-Z1Q8K, “DSfC - Joint Controller Agreement: NHS Birmingham and Solihull CCG, Birmingham City Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council - Comm”. Read via NHS Data Access Explorer (unofficial), https://healthdatauses.uk/agreements/dars-nic-360432-z1q8k/ (accessed [date]).
This address stays the same, but the page is rebuilt with each monthly edition, so the citation names the edition it shows. Every edition's data is kept in the facts store.
Source: datausesregister_september2026.xlsx, September 2026 edition of the NHS England Data Uses Register. Search that workbook for DARS-NIC-360432-Z1Q8K to see the original rows.