Lord Avebury – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Avebury on 2014-05-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government by what date they will revisit the decision on whether to include Gypsies and Irish Travellers as an ethnic category in the NHS National Data Dictionary; and what account they have taken of the recommendation by the National Inclusion Health Board to the Health and Social Care Information Centre to use the 2011 Census ethnic category classifications in national data collection.

Earl Howe

NHS England, in collaboration with other bodies, will shortly produce guidance that advises on the codes for data collection, including those for ethnicity. National Health Service organisations continue to use the 2001 codes in order to support consistency with other data systems within the NHS. NHS organisations can choose to use either the 2001 or the 2011 categories.

Additional codes can be included as appropriate at a local level to reflect the demographic make-up of the local population. This allows local monitoring to take place in a way that supports service planning, decision-making, and key processes such as the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.

We envisage this position will be revisited, with decisions to change this advice based upon the breadth of utilisation of the new coding system.

The Department, Public Health England and NHS England are together considering the findings and recommendations in the report from the National Inclusion Health Board.