NHS England - Pilot Ambulance Data Set for commissioning purposes

NHS England and NHS Improvement have directed NHS Digital to pilot the collection and analysis of Ambulance Service data in England with a view to improving the quality and consistency of this data as laid out in the Ambulance Services Data Set Discovery Directions 2020; https://digital.nhs.uk/about-nhs-digital/corporate-information-and-documents/directions-and-data-provision-notices/nhs-england-directions/ambulance-services-data-set-discovery-directions-2020

This Ambulance Service pilot data set is required by NHS England and NHS Improvement to contribute to the assessment of the pilot collection.

The NHS Long-Term Plan 2019 sets out a commitment to develop an ambulance data set to: “…bring together data from all ambulance services nationally in order to follow and understand patient journeys from the ambulance service into other urgent and emergency healthcare settings”. The Ambulance Data Set project seeks to deliver that long-term plan commitment. The project is owned by NHS England and NHS Improvement, operating with the authority of the Urgent and Emergency Care Transformation programme under the title of the ‘Joint Ambulance Improvement Programme’

Additionally, in response to the significant demand for Ambulance Services and data to support pandemic research and planning, NHS England and NHS Improvement have statutory responsibilities to continue to improve quality of health care services at all times, and requires data to do this.

Processing Conditions

Data must only be used as stipulated within this Data Sharing Agreement.

Data Processors must only act upon specific instructions from the Data Controller.

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 i.e.: employees, agents and contractors of the Data Recipient who may have access to that data).

No record level data will be linked other than as detailed within this application/agreement. Data will only be shared with those parties listed and will only be used for the purposes laid out in the application/agreement.

All access to data (by data controllers and data processors) is managed under Role and task-Based Access Controls. Users can only access data authorised by their role, for a task they are undertaking.

Pre-publication data:

• Where unpublished management information/data have been supplied, the following additional ‘conditions of use’ are applicable to reduce the risk of a breach of the Code of Practice for Statistics which may damage the public trust in Official Statistics. Unpublished management information includes data which has been supplied in advance of release of the data as an Official Statistic.

o Access to unpublished management information will be kept to a minimum. A record of which groups of people have access to this data should be maintained by the IAO of the NCDR. Unpublished management information will be under separate access to ensure that only those who can access the data prior to publication can do so and that purposes linked to access to the data are recorded. It is expected that access will only be for staff in NHS E/I Teams and Direct Commissioning (Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit).

o There cannot be any public use of unpublished management information which could undermine the official statistics and thus breach the Code of Practice for Statistics. This includes any public statement that prejudges or pre-empts the contents of any subsequent statistical release, or any ad hoc or selective comments on, or reporting of, unpublished data.

o Access to unpublished management information has been granted for managerial, operational, commissioning or other appropriate decision-making purposes. You must not share or discuss the data, or any results or documents based on it, with anyone else or use it for any other purpose.

o Unpublished management information may be discussed between other people who have access to the information and with the relevant NHS Digital production team

o Any results or documents produced should show that the data are pre-publication restricted.

o All users of unpublished management information must abide by these ‘conditions of use’.

o Any accidental or wrongful release of the data must be reported immediately to NHS Digital. Wrongful release includes indications of content, including descriptions such as “favourable” or “unfavourable”. If in doubt you should consult the NHS Digital production team in the first instance who can advise.

o Any breach in these ‘conditions of use’ may result in removal of access to unpublished management information.

Data Processor Specific Conditions

Microsoft Limited provide Cloud Services for Arden and GEM 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 Salford Royal 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.

Data processor 1&2 - NHS England and NHS Improvement

NHS England and NHS Improvement will be provided access to analyse a pseudonymised version of the pilot Ambulance Data Set via the NHS Digital Data Access Environment (DAE).

The project team will analyse the data on DAE in line with the purposes listed above only.

Once the data has been analysed it will be destroyed in line with NHS Digital's Data destruction policy.

Only registered DAE users will have access to record level data downloaded from the system. Following completion of the analysis the record level data will be securely destroyed

Data processor 3 - NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit

The pilot ambulance dataset is also made available through Arden and Greater East Midlands DSCRO as follows:

1. The pilot dataset is pseudonymised at the Arden and Greater East Midlands DSCRO.

2. The pseudonymised extract of the dataset is securely sent from the Arden and Greater East Midlands DSCRO to NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit.

3. The data is then processed by NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit for the purposes set out in this Agreement only.

Testing and evaluation reports of the Pilot Ambulance Data Set.

As the data being shared is from a pilot for a proposed Data Collection the benefits are in the potential of what could be delivered by the end product data set. This future data set will enable NHS England and NHS Improvement to improve the commissioning of services involved in Emergency Care leading to better outcomes for users of the related services.

Yielded Benefits is not a requirement for new applications.