Health Outcomes Framework
The DHSC Health Outcomes Framework:
- provides a national overview of how well the Department is performing,
- is the primary accountability mechanism, in conjunction with the mandate, between the Director of Public Health and Department of Health and Social Care, and
- improves quality throughout the Department by encouraging a change in culture and behaviour, focusing on health outcomes not process.
Similar to the NHS Outcomes Framework in England, the DHSC HOF comprises of a suite of indicators grouped into 5 domains which set out the high-level national outcomes that the DHSC should be aiming to improve. Indicators measure performance within the health and care system which in turn, provides openness and transparency, and most importantly accountability, in order to drive improvements in health provision whilst reducing health inequality.
The five domains are;
All Calculated Indicators (flat file)
The DHSC Corporate Business Intelligence Team will work in collaboration with all service areas on the development and reporting of the outcome indicators, including assistance in calculating indicator metrics. The team will coordinate publication of the data which will include indicator specifications and quality statements. The range of data sources being interrogated means that some indicators may be updated on a quarterly basis whilst others can only be updated annually or biannually. This will be detailed in the publication schedule.
The DHSC HOF uses the standard methodologies and calculations of the NHS Outcomes Framework (where possible), in order to enable comparison between the island and England. We aim to report on all indicators covered by the NHS Outcomes Framework and any that cannot currently be calculated will be developed ready for publication in future releases.
The methodology used to calculate the indicator values will be published alongside the indicator value. This methodology will be under active review in order to ensure that:
- they accurately reflect the information held and outcomes sought, and
- that they can be clearly understood and reproduced within local health systems.
Further changes to the methodology will be detailed alongside future releases.
