Consultation, Dissemination and Publication

The NOA has engaged in stakeholder consultations before establishing the information system, including during dataset development and review, including (but not limited to):

• the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) – the organisation who has issued the National Obesity Audit Directions 2023
• service users and carers;
• commissioners (local and national);
• health care professionals and providers of services including chairs of the Joint GP IT Committee, RGCP and BMA
• academics
• third sector organisations;
• health care regulators (such as the Care Quality Commission (CQC))
• national policy makers; and
• organisations setting professional standards/users of the data for quality improvement and benchmarking, for example National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

Regular dissemination/sharing

During the publication design and development, NHS England may consult with clinical obesity and overweight experts to help ensure that any analysis produced reflects the service. Any data shared will be aggregate anonymous statistical data with disclosure control applied including small number suppression and rounding.

Data Access Request Service (DARS)

No NOA data will initially be made available via the NHS England Data Access Request Service (DARS) until the asset is more mature and would provide a benefit to the health and social care system and where this is the case, this Requirements Specification will be updated accordingly.

At such times that this data becomes available via DARS, NHS England will be able to use its discretionary powers under section 261 of 2012 Act and any other relevant statutory powers to disseminate NOA data. Organisations will be able to apply to the DARS and on approval, with the appropriate legal basis, have access to data obtained under the Direction. Any dissemination will be subject to the organisations applying to access the data having a lawful basis to process it, NHS England having a lawful basis to disclose it, successful applications being made to the DARS and the organisations entering into a data sharing agreement. This may include applications made by Arm’s Length Bodies, NHS and DHSC funded service providers and commissioners and the third sector community organisations, to support research and innovation and to understand the impact of the NOA on patient outcomes and experiences.

Data to be published

NHS England has a duty to publish information obtained as a result of complying with the Directions in accordance with section 260(1) of the 2012 Act (subject to section 260(2) and (3)).

NOA data will be published at named provider level. After taking into account the public interest as well as the interests of providers of weight management services, NHS England considers that is appropriate to publish this information to enable individual providers to monitor performance and outcomes across their organisation. This is to aid strategic planning across NHS funded providers so that resources can be focused on improvements that benefit patient care. 

It is intended that NHS England will publish an annual report and quarterly dashboards of NOA data and will continue to publish aggregate anonymous statistical data in the manner agreed by DHSC, excluding any information that might make individual patients identifiable. All published data will have disclosure control applied including small number suppression and rounding.

The audit outputs should be developed in such a way that they could be used locally to drive quality improvement for example making performance against NICE guidance clear for providers, commissioners and patients; use of interactive tools; bespoke reporting tailored to different audiences (including patient outputs); regional workshops and supporting peer review processes. The audit findings should include a breakdown of analysis by ethnicity and socioeconomic deprivation to support local and national initiatives to reduce health inequalities and promote parity of care.

The level of granularity for reporting may be discussed with stakeholders and in line with NHS England disclosure policy.

There is an Equality Impact Assessment in place that will be regularly reviewed

Changes to this Specification will be managed by NHS England in conjunction with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to ensure such changes are aligned with the National Obesity Audit Directions 2023