Understanding the extent of product-related injuries through Emergency Care Data Set

The Department for Business and Trade requires access to NHS England data to help support Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) operations to protect the public from product-related harm.

The following is a summary of the aims of the analysis provided by the Department for Business and Trade:

The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is part of the Department for Business and Trade, and exercises the powers of the Secretary of State in relation to a range of regulations. OPSS’ primary purpose is to protect people and places from product-related harm, ensuring consumers and businesses can buy and sell products with confidence. OPSS work with local, national, and international regulators, with consumer representatives and with businesses to deliver effective protections and to support compliance. To help OPSS achieves its purpose, it is vital for OPSS to understand the injuries caused by products. A wide range of consumer products will be investigated, such as washing machines, fireworks and button batteries, but the research will not extend to food or medicinal products There is a lack of quantitative data to support and underpin decisions. This request is part of the injury data acquisition which is one of the priority areas in OPSS.

The aim of this proposed analysis is to gain an insight into injury nationally. In particularly to:

> Quantify and track injury over time

> Identify emerging trends in injury

> Gain insight into underlying patients’ characteristics, and behaviours associated with the injury

Data analysis will include exploratory analysis, bivariate analysis (determining if there is a statistical link between two variables) and multivariate analysis (determining if there is a statistical link between more than two variables) to investigate product safety risk areas. The data will also be used to respond to ad-hoc queries, and to develop the decision support system to provide insights and support works in OPSS. The analysis on NHS England data is expected to complement the analysis results from other health data sets OPSS has acquired to create a holistic view to support and underpin decisions.

NHS England data will be compared with non-NHS England data to try to identify the cause of the products-related injuries, to determine whether the injury was caused a by a product fault, unclear product instructions, or another cause not related to the product itself (e.g., human error).

The following NHS England data will be accessed:

> Emergency Care Data Set (ECDS) – necessary to see the full range of injuries and how prevalent product-related ones are within that. The data fields relevant to provide insights into product-related harm such as demographics, injuries details, treatments, and the organisation involved are required. To achieve the purpose outlined, ECDS data set containing following information is required:

1) Patients’ demographics including age, gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status

2) Injury information such as intent, place of injury, injury type, injury mechanism, and circumstances around injury

3) Clinical diagnosis, outcomes, intervention, admission, and discharge outcome

The level of the data will be:

> Pseudonymised - Some of the cases of interest may be in small number e.g., firework incidents, therefore record level data is needed.

The data will be minimised as follows:

> Limited to data from April 2022: One of the objectives is to quantify and track current injury trend, therefore historical data from 2022 only is required. Ongoing data is required to monitor and detect if there are changes to the trend so appropriate actions can be carried out.

> Complete data is required to see the full range of injuries and how prevalent product related ones are within that. Only by accessing the full range of injuries can the injury reason be understood, as it is not possible for the Data to be filtered by product-related injuries. The data fields which will be relevant to provide insights into product-related harm such as demographics, injuries details, treatments, and organisation involved are requested.

> ECDS data may provide vital information in relation to injuries, even though it did not specifically include information relating to consumer products. This is due to the potential national improvement in data collection and the systematic approach it aims to achieve.

Understanding the entirety of injury data, including instances where no injury-related incident is flagged, is key for several reasons. Firstly, it enables the Department for Business and Trade to quantify and track injury occurrences over time, providing a comprehensive view of the landscape. By including all data points, the Department for Business and Trade can accurately identify emerging trends in injury patterns, which is essential for proactive intervention.

Additionally, accessing data on individuals without injury-related incidents allows the Department for Business and Trade to gain insight into underlying patient characteristics and behaviours associated with injuries. This holistic approach aids in understanding the broader context surrounding injuries and enables the the Department for Business and Trade to develop targeted prevention strategies

Furthermore, distinguishing between product-related injuries and other forms of injury may not always be straightforward for healthcare systems like the NHS.. Specific details on injuries, such as those caused by items like button batteries, are vital for identifying potential hazards and informing product safety measures.

Lastly, obtaining intelligence on the location and nature of injuries, regardless of their relation to products, provides valuable guidance for further research and intervention efforts. By examining the place and type of injury activity, the Department for Business and Trade can pinpoint areas of concern and allocate resources effectively.

The Department for Business and Trade is the controller as the organisation responsible for ensuring that the data will only be processed for the purpose described above. They also process the data.

The lawful basis for processing personal data under the UK GDPR is:

Article 6(1)(e) - processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.

The lawful basis for processing special category data under the UK GDPR is:

Article 9(2)(g) - processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, on the basis of Domestic Law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject. Part 2 of Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 includes the substantial public interest condition of processing for "statutory and government purposes".

There are 23 conditions set out in paragraphs 6 to 28 of Part 2 of Schedule 1 of the DPA 2018, The Department for Business and Trade has determined that condition 11 (protecting the public) aligns with their primary goal of protecting individuals and communities from product-related harm. It encompasses scenarios beyond regulatory obligations and offers flexibility to address evolving concerns related to product safety

This processing is in the public interest because it is expected to help support OPSS operations to protect the public from product-related harm such as targeted enforcement, targeted campaigns to raise awareness, monitoring and evaluation, and improve policy and regulation to influence behaviour and promote positive action

The funding is provided by the Department for Business and Trade. The funding is for the department and is not specifically limited to the project described. Funding is in place indefinitely.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides IT hosting services to the Department for Business and Trade and will store the data as contracted by the Department for Business and Trade.

Data will be accessed by:

 Contractors – contractors may be taken on to assist with the project. These individuals, contracted to the Department of Business and Trade, will be subject to the same conditions and disciplinary action as substantive employments of the Department of Business and Trade.

No data will flow to NHS England for the purposes of this Agreement.

NHS England data will provide the relevant records from the ECDS dataset to OPSS of the Department for Business and Trade. The data will:

> Contain no direct identifying data items. The data will be pseudonymised and individuals cannot be reidentified through linkage with other data in the possession of the recipient.

OPSS will securely transfer the data into the secured Cloud-Based Analytical System (AWS) in a password protected folder.

The data will be stored on servers at the Department for Business and Trade.

The Department for Business and Trade stores data on the Cloud provided by Amazon Web Services.

The Data will be accessed by authorised personnel via remote access.

The Controller(s) must confirm and provide evidence upon audit by NHS England that access via any remote device complies with the data security obligations within this DSA and the Data Sharing Framework Contract.

For remote access:

- Remote access will only be from secure locations situated within the territory of use (as further restricted elsewhere within the DSA if so done) stated within this DSA;

- Access controls granting users the minimum level of access required are in place;

- Remote access is only via secure connections (e.g., VPNs or secure protocols) to protect data;

- Multifactor authentication (MFA) is required for remote access;

- Device security, including up-to-date software and operating systems, antivirus software, and enabled firewalls are utilised for the remote access;

- All remote access is undertaken within the scope of the organisation’s DSPT (or other security arrangements as per this DSA) and complies with the organisation’s remote access policy.

The above applies in addition to any condition set out elsewhere within the DSA (e.g. who may carry out processing, and for what purpose).

Personnel are prohibited from downloading or copying data to local devices.

The data will not leave the UK at any time.

Access is restricted to individuals within the OPSS of the Department for Business and Trade who have authorisation from the Head of Analysis. All such individuals are substantive employees or contractors of the Department for Business and Trade.

All personnel accessing the data have been appropriately trained in data protection and confidentiality.

The NHS England data may be compared, but not linked, to other data, such as:

> Partial data provided by stakeholders such as Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), British Toy and Hobby Association.

> A&E text data: Obtained from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

> Button Batteries: Obtained from the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit (BPSU).

> Magnet study: Obtained from British Paediatric Surveillance Unit (BPSU).

> Citizen’s advice bureau complaints data

> Fire services data

The data will not be linked with any other data.

There will be no requirement and no attempt to reidentify individuals when using the data.

Analysts from the OPSS will analyse the data for the purposes described above.

The expected outputs of the processing will be:

> Reports of findings to OPSS teams: including an initial preliminary findings report, and subsequent reports on an ad-hoc basis.

> Submissions to peer reviewed journals: one or two submissions expected once processing has been completed.

> Presentations to OPSS teams

> Power BI dashboards, accessed by the Department for Business and Trade, will be produced to visualise insights from the data

> Presentations at appropriate conferences

The outputs will not contain NHS England data and will only contain aggregated information with small numbers suppressed as appropriate in line with the relevant disclosure rules for the dataset(s) from which the information was derived.

The outputs will be communicated to relevant recipients through the following dissemination channels:

> Journals

> Reports aimed at OPSS teams

> Presentations to OPSS teams

> Conferences: the work related to applying AI techniques to the data may be disseminated via conferences

> Internal communications to inform OPSS operations

> Communication of insights with product working groups

> External campaigns

> OPSS may communicate information gained from insights to external entities. For example, campaign awareness on injury in home.

The target dates for the reports and presentations will be within 1 year after the data is received. The dashboards will be produced within 2 years after the data is received. Any submission to peer reviewed journals and conferences will be within 3 years after the data is received.

Processing the NHS England data is expected to provide insights to support OPSS operations and improve policy and regulation and allow OPSS to track its impact in reducing product-related injuries over time.

The results of this work will be used by OPSS to help prevent people and places from product-related harm. The analysis is expected to allow OPSS to understand more about the injuries sustained to support operations and policy makers. For example, identifying how and where injuries are more likely to take place and to which demographics, so policy and regulation can be improved, and communications can be targeted to prevent future injury.

The use of the data could:

> advance understanding of regional and national trends in health and social care needs.

> advance understanding of the need for, or effectiveness of, preventative health and care measures for particular populations

> inform policy makers

> prevent product-related injuries, leading to reduced instance of these injuries within the NHS.

These benefits are expected to be achieved within 3 years after data receipt.

The work is also in the public interest as it is expected to provide insights into the demographics, and circumstances, and severity of the injuries to increase public awareness, and deliver targeted communication campaigns.

It is hoped that through publication of findings in appropriate media, the findings of this research will add to the body of evidence that is considered by the bodies, organisations and individual care practitioners charged with making policy decisions.

Product working groups will be worked with to communicate insights and discuss the number and severity of injuries caused by products, so that OPSS can work with manufacturers to make products safer.

Yielded Benefits is not a requirement for new applications.