Evaluation and research programme
NCAS work is informed by a comprehensive programme of evaluation, research and development. For example, commissioned research by the Office of Health Economics and the Health Economics Research Unit, published June 2010, used a discrete choice experiment with senior NHS managers to explore the packages of NCAS services which are most highly valued by the NHS. This and other research is guiding NCAS as it works towards becoming a self-funding organisation.
Evaluation and research activity seeks to ensure that NCAS has the right information available at the right time to assess and demonstrate its achievements, to learn about and improve its work and to generate knowledge which will assist the NHS to respond effectively to performance concerns. Our E, R & D work can be found in Publications.
Publication plan for NCAS statistics
Please note that statistics on casework activity and suspension/exclusion from work, previously released at 6 monthly intervals, will now be released annually. Publication of 2012/13 statistics is planned for July 2013.
Publication of a two-yearly report looking at how concerns about professional practice are associated with age, gender, place of qualification and ethnicity is planned for 23 April 2013, using data to 2011/12.
NCAS is guided by the Code of Practice for Official Statistics in its production and release of operational and other statistics. To maintain confidentiality, NCAS has a policy for external release of statistics which bars release of statistics which risk deductive disclosure of referred practitioners’ identities or identify referring organisations. This policy is currently under review, as part of the process of integrating NCAS policies into those of the NHS Litigation Authority, NCAS being an operating division of the NHS LA from 1 April 2013.
Additional analyses
Where researchers would like to see further analyses of reported statistics, it may be possible for NCAS to supply them, provided resource implications are not excessive. Release will also depend on the following conditions being met:
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Release must not breach NCAS’ policy on external release of statistics
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Analysis must be of a dataset already reported on. The results of the new analysis can then be seen as consistent with other published analyses
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It is the user’s responsibility to interpret the data provided and consider issues such as statistical significance testing
To discuss possible additional analyses, contact ncas@ncas.nhs.uk
