Maternity Survey 2015: Webinar

21st January 2015

Agenda and timings o Overview of the survey [5 min]

o Section 251 requirements [10 min]

o Practicalities of Administration [5 min]

o Sampling process and submission [15min]

o Potential errors [10 min]

o Provisional Timetable [5min]

o Questions and Answers [10 min]

Overview of the survey: Questionnaire changes since 2013

o Development of the questionnaire is currently underway, and we expect to add and change a small number of questions.

o Subject to favourable ethical approval, it is expected that the updated questionnaire will be published on or around February 28th.

Overview of the survey: What’s new for 2015? (1)CQC FlyeroTo accompany the first and third survey mailing (A5 sheet).oContent: explains the role and purpose of CQC and how the survey data will be used by them.  oThis will be sent to all survey contractors and in-house trusts prior to the start of mailing.

Sample declaration form oCompleted by the person drawing the sample, and your trust Caldicott guardian. Introduced to prevent breaches of Section 251 approval.oUsing an approved contractor: submit to approved contractor BEFORE sending your sample file.oIf in-house: submit to the coordination centre directly BEFORE sending your sample file.

Overview of the survey: What’s new for 2015? (2)Free text commentsoFree text comments do not need to be anonymised in the data file submitted. oA statement has been added to the questionnaire stating that any information provided in the free text box will be shared. oThis will enable results to be looked at in full by trusts, the CQC and researchers. Data will be anonymised before publication and trusts should ensure they are anonymised before publication.

Sample dataoFor the 2015 survey, CCG code will be required instead of GP code.

Antenatal and postnatal care provideroAs in 2013, we will be collecting data on women’s antenatal and postnatal care provider or their postcode sector to help identify whether women in your sample received their antenatal and postnatal care from your trust. This data will be sent separately from the main sample file. We are currently reviewing this process, and detailed guidance will be released in due course.

Section 251: Adherence to guidance

o Please note that Section 251 approval has been sought for this project and conditionally granted.

o Provides a legal basis for trusts using a contractor to provide names and addresses to them.

o In-house trusts: although not sharing this information, standard practices and procedures are in the interest of protecting patient confidentiality, relevant to the Data Protection Act and maintaining high standards, and must be followed.

Approval under section 251 of the NHS Act 2006

o The survey has been conditionally awarded full support under Section 251 Approval of the NHS Act 2006 from the Confidentiality Advisory Group (CAG), on behalf of the Secretary of State.

o This approval allows the common law duty of confidentiality to be put aside in order to enable the processing of patient identifiable information without consent. The survey methodology was reviewed by CAG of the Health Research Authority (previously NIGB).

o Please note that any deviation from the methodology outlined in the survey instructions may render the approval invalid and CQC are obliged to take a number of steps.

Section 251 requirementso Separate mailing and sample files from

trusts to contractors.o Sample declaration form and process.o Dissent posters.o Leaflets for 16-17 year old mothers.o Recording dissent and removing patients.

Section 251 requirements: separate mailing and sample files

o This is a non-negotiable requirement of the survey’s Section 251 approval.

o It must be followed by every trust to contractors and in-house trusts to the Co-ordination Centre.

o Failure to comply will result in this being counted as a breach.

o CQC and CAG will be notified of any breaches: follow up action taken as necessary

Section 251 requirements: separate mailing and sample files

o Mailing file contains:– Patient record number– Title– Initials/First name – Surname – Address fields– Full postcode

Section 251 requirements: separate mailing and sample files

o Sample file contains:– NHS Trust code– Patient Record Number– Year of birth– Ethnic category– Day, month and year of delivery– Actual Delivery Place– Place of birth: NHS site code– CCG code

o Sent to contractors with AES-256 Encryption and password protection

Practicalities and administration

o Approved contractors and conducting surveys in-house

o Survey guidance o Fieldwork time keepingo Free text comments

o National surveys are publicised and responses encouraged so that as many people’s voices are heard as possible.

o Updated templates provided in the guidance.o Use of publicity in addition to posters such

as: Twitter and social media, local media and newspapers – increasing visibility of the survey.

Practicalities and administration: Survey publicity

Potential errorso Questionnaire format and re-typing

questionnaires.

o Sampling: Inclusion of ineligible patients e.g: Women aged under 16 at the time of delivery. Women whose infants were stillborn, or died

during or since delivery. Women who are in hospital, or whose baby is in

hospital, at the time of drawing the sample. Where possible, women who had a concealed

pregnancy or whose baby was taken into care.

Sampling process and submission

o Trust checkso DBS checkso Sample declaration formo Sampling errorso Encryption and password protection

o Data on antenatal and postnatal care provider / partial postcode

Sampling process and submission: trust checkso One of the most reliable and up-to-date sources of

information on patient deaths is your own trust’s records.

o It is essential that you check that your trust has no record of a woman or her baby having died at your trust.

o Your sample should be checked by trust staff before and after the DBS check.

o You are also advised to repeat this check before the second and third mailings, and to ensure that approved contractors are advised immediately if any women in the sample – or their baby – die during the sample period.

Sampling process and submission: sample declaration form

o Similar to the declaration introduced for the other recent national surveys.

o Must be completed by the NHS trust: signed by the person preparing the sample file AND by the Caldicott Guardian.

o Must be emailed to your survey contractor or Co-ordination Centre (in house trusts) BEFORE the sample file is sent.

o The survey contractor or Co-ordination Centre must confirm receipt of the form and give permission for the sample file to be sent.

Sampling process and submission: sampling errorso 9 major errors in 2013

– Submission of patient identifiable data– Postcode submitted with too many digits or in the

wrong format– Incorrect site codes and PCT codes– Ethnicity code Z coded as missing records– Dates excluded from the sample

o 18 minor errors in 2013– Minor errors in 2013 included site codes included for

inappropriate delivery place codes, some missing GMPC codes, and incorrect record number format, ethnicity coding, or formulas in the excel sheet.

Provisional timetable

o Samples to be drawn and submitted: 13th April – 1st May 2015.

o Questionnaire mail out begins: 27th April 2015. o Fieldwork: 27th April – 28th August 2015.

o Final data due to Co-ordination centre: 4th September 2015.

o Weekly monitoring starts: 30th April 2015.

o Reporting: December 2015.

Q&A

Thanks for joining usA copy of the slides are available on the NHS surveys website.

Contact details:Email: mat.cc@pickereurope.ac.uk

Telephone number: 01865 208127