The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has today launched a fully revised and updated Catalogue of National Health and Social Care Data Collections in Ireland.



National data collections collect health and social care information and are crucial in providing a national overview of an identified health or social care-related issue or service in Ireland. HIQA’s catalogue presents an overview of the large volume of data currently being gathered by national health and social care data collections in Ireland in one accessible location.



The catalogue includes 128 national data collections which collect health or social care information in Ireland, including 24 newly identified collections since the previous version in 2017. This includes a number of new national data collections were established in response to the COVID-19 pandemic such as CoVAX – the National COVID-19 Immunisation System, and the COVID-19 Data Research Hub.



Barbara Foley, HIQA’s Health Information Manager Quality, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of high-quality data and information in order to drive improvements in public health. Access to and use of good quality information leads to safe, reliable health and social care. It is therefore essential that health information is accessible, promoted and used if we are to achieve a high-standard of healthcare in Ireland.



“The publication of this updated version of the catalogue acts as a key resource in providing information on the current health data available. It highlights the changes seen in the healthcare landscape over the past five years, with a number of new collections established since the previous version to collect and trend information around COVID-19. We hope it will used by a range of stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, people using services, researchers, policy-makers, service-users and members of the general public.”



Advances in the health information landscape are taking place at both a national and European level which will impact on collections of health information. Work is currently underway for the creation of an EU-wide data sharing platform known as the European Health Data Space, while the Department of Health is developing a Health Information Bill. HIQA believes these advances present an opportunity to shape and improve the health and social care information system.   



Barbara Foley continued: “The delivery of Ireland’s health and social care services must be underpinned by a robust approach to data collection, analysis and management. With the growing number of data collections, people should be assured that their information is being collected, used and shared in a secure way, and that the data collected is of good quality. As outlined in HIQA’s recently published paper on Key considerations to inform policy for the collection, use and sharing of health and social care information in Ireland, there needs to be national coordination of these existing data sources in line with international best practice.”



The catalogue can be found as both a downloadable report and as an interactive online version here.



Ends.



For further information please contact:

Marty Whelan, Head of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement

01 814 7480 / 085 805 5202 / mwhelan@hiqa.ie



Notes to the editor:

• Through its statutory function under the Health Act 2007, HIQA develops recommendations, standards, guidance and reviews governance arrangements in the area of health information.
• National health and social care data collections are national repositories of routinely collected health and social care data, including administrative sources, censuses, surveys and national patient registries in Ireland.
• The Towards the European Health Data Space Joint Action project recommends that European Union Member States publish metadata for their data collections to ensure data quality around the secondary use of health data. This revision of the catalogue addresses this.
• This revision of the catalogue includes a number of new fields, including:
  • Coverage (geographical and temporal)
  • Data users
  • National-level identifiers
  • Equity stratifiers (variables selected to reflect perceived inequalities in the population that is the subject of data collection, for example, place of residence, gender and religion.)
• The interactive online version of the catalogue can be accessed here.
• Key considerations to inform policy for the collection, use and sharing of health and social care information in Ireland can be found here.