Deferred Payment Agreements Report, England - 2019-20

Several inconsistencies within the 2019-20 collection have been identified. For example, local authorities advised that 3,415 new DPAs had been agreed (this is the number we use when referring to the total number of DPAs). However, when analysed by whether a top-up had been provided or not, the total was 3,450. When analysed by the reason for the request, the total was 3,410. These values are still informative due to the additional detail provided however users should be aware of the slight discrepancy with overall numbers reported.

Using inbuilt validation checks within the data templates and post-submission data quality reports for each collection, NHS Digital looks to identify logical inconsistencies in the data or where the data submitted is an outlier against local and national data. Local authorities can then review and resubmit data ahead of the deadline or provide explanations for any identified issues. NHS Digital works with the DPA Working Group, with local authorities and with other stakeholders to ensure that the data template and the accompanying guidance document are clear to understand.

Further detail on these data quality issues can be found in the data quality statement and summary. NHS Digital will continue to work with local authorities to enhance and improve the completeness and quality of the publication.

Because this is an experimental statistics collection, we highly recommend not making year on year comparisons.

For example, when considering the data collected against that submitted last year (rounded to the nearest five).

Therefore:

Differences between calculated and reported numbers were noted across most local authorities (with only almost 1 in 4 matching) however this has improved since last year, when the difference was 535, and only 1 in 5 local authorities matched. Reasons provided by local authorities for the discrepancies included misinterpreting guidance in previous years, cases awaiting sign off between years and improved reporting in 2019-20.