On 14 March 2022, the RSS
Official Statistics Section and
Health Statistics User Group (HSUG) organised the eighth in a series of webinars on topics relating to collecting and reporting statistics for Covid-19. The focus of these webinars is on sharing experiences and discussing approaches to the methods being used in the UK to produce the statistics for each of these topics. The topic for this webinar was 'Statistical initiatives going on at a local level'. The intended audience were those whose work involves producing or using these insights.
Alison Macfarlane, chair of the RSS Official Statistics Section, welcomed everyone and thanked the speakers and organisers before handing over to Deana Leadbeter, chair of HSUG, who outlined the plan for the webinar. Deana also defined the aim of these webinars is to learn and work together for collaborative improvement.
Speakers
- Mark A Green: University of Liverpool
- Neil Bendel: Manchester City Council
- Corri Black: NHS Grampian
- Alison Smith-Palmer: NHS Lanarkshire
- Lucie Smith: Buckinghamshire Council
Summary of each presentation
Mark A Green: University of Liverpool
- The Local Data Spaces (LDS) initiative was spoken about which gets the right types of data to the right people on time.
- Highlighted that local authorities do not always have the resourcing to deal with data systems in this way.
Neil Bendel: Manchester City Council
- The initiative that has been taking place in Manchester that looks at effects the pandemic has had on students was communicated.
- Data sources used for this work and lessons learnt were discussed.
Corri Black: NHS Grampian
- The founding of the ‘Local Engine’ initiative was spoken about which aims to brings together local and national data
- This also has a duty lead analyst available to react as required.
Alison Smith-Palmer: NHS Lanarkshire
- The question 'how do we compare locally?' was discussed.
- The discussion on how this can be done was highlighted by the importance of comparing both local and national trends.
Lucie Smith: Buckinghamshire Council
- The presentation was looking at how Buckinghamshire was dealing with the ‘less heard groups’ through survey data.
- These groups consisted of those suffering with mental health, food bank users, ethnic minorities and the socially isolated.
Further information
Author: Hira Naveed (vice chair, Official Statistics Section)