Guide to secondary data sources

You don’t always have to generate all your evidence and data yourself. Lots of secondary data sources already exist that might answer some of your questions.

Decision making

Strategic / business planning / commissioning decisions
Project work and pilots
Individual funding reviews

Questions

What are my information and evidence needs?
What is the strength, validity and reliability of this evidence?
What is current best practice?
What monitoring and evaluation do I need to build in?
Who do I need to engage?

Types of information and evidence

Benchmarking data
Contract monitoring and performance data
Secondary Uses Service (SUS) and/or Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data
Finance data
Patient and public experience and outcomes
Key stakeholder consultation
Peer expertise
Research and evaluation evidence
NICE guidelines and best practice
Clinical audit and quality improvement data
Grey literature

Sources

Public Health (PH) profiles
Local PH Teams
NHS Digital (formerly Health and Social Care Information Centre [HSCIC])
Commissioning Support
Integrated Care Boards
Service provider organisations
Healthwatch
NHS Evidence
Library services
NICE
NHS England
Clinical Senates
National Benchmarking Service / Audit Office
National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) journals library

Checklist

Have I reviewed the evidence base and identified best practice?
Have I engaged the appropriate stakeholders?
Do I have enough information and evidence to inform my decision making?
Have I built in adequate monitoring and evaluation?

Example: How to map evidence need against data sources

Information need	Data source	Organisation	Named person / contact
e.g. Public Health Data, Needs assessments, Local population profiles and prevalence data	JSNA Health Profiles Census Data Public Health England	Local Authorities (LA) - Public Health Public Health Observatory	Public Health Information Analyst
Organisational performance	Contract monitoring and activity data; Benchmarking	Commissioning Support Units NHS Digital Provider Organisations NHS Benchmarking	Contracting team Information Analyst
Evidence base - Individual Funding decision and strategic development	Research and Evaluation evidence Grey Literature Best Practice - NICE Guidelines, Quality Standards	NHS Library Service LA - Public Health NICE
Patient and Public Experience	Complaints, compliments, Friends & Family Test, local and national surveys	CCG Provider data NHS Choices HealthWatch	Patient and Public Involvement Lead Equalities Lead
Peer Expertise	Clinical Senates, Strategic Clinical Networks, Universities (High Education Institutes), Providers	NHS England Individual Providers	Staff including: Clinicians and Commissioners

Case studies

Find inspiration for your own evaluation with these real life examples

Guidance

Guidance from a range of organisations for in-depth advice

Services and support

Knowledgeable organisations who may be able to help you

Training resources

Want to learn more? Our training resources are a good place to start