Public Health Wales have developed two new dashboards to help the sector gather data. Victoria Tice, Senior Public Health Practitioner, talks about how we can make use of them.
The voluntary sector plays an important role in improving health and wellbeing of all people across Wales. From social prescribing and community connectors to mental health support and tackling loneliness or financial insecurity, its work is essential.
But like many in health and care, the sector is facing rising demand with limited resources. That’s where data can help.
WHY DATA IS USEFUL TO THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR
Data helps you to:
- Understand local health needs
- Demonstrate the impact of services, initiatives or community interventions
- Focus resources and can support service or prioritisation
- Use data in bid and funding applications
- Work collaboratively with primary care colleagues
WHAT ARE DASHBOARDS?
Dashboards are visual tools that bring together health data in one place. They make complex information easier to understand and use. In primary care, dashboards are used to:
- Plan and deliver services
- Support decision-making
- Inform public health interventions
- Understand local health needs
HOW DASHBOARDS SUPPORT THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR
- Plan services based on local need
Dashboards can highlight the health needs in your local area, such as high smoking rates or mental health issues. Services can then be developed and adapted to meet the specific needs of a community. - Provide evidence
Data dashboards can be used as evidence to highlight local health needs and challenges. Using data in funding applications can strengthen funding bids and highlight the potential impact of any health intervention. - Engage and work with primary care colleagues and clusters
Using the same data as primary care can support collaboration at a cluster and practice level. It can enable alignment of goals or co-designing of services. - Measure your impact
Dashboards provide baseline data so you can track progress and evaluate outcomes over time. It’s an accessible way of understanding and communicating the problem, measure impact and evaluate outcomes.
A recent webinar hosted by Public Health Wales introduced two primary care dashboards, developed for people working in or with primary care in Wales.
DASHBOARDS AVAILABLE TO THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR
Public Health Wales has developed two key dashboards for primary care:
- Primary Care Clusters Dashboard
Shows population health data at the cluster level. This was developed with input from people working in and with clusters. - Primary Care Clusters Indicator Summary Tool
A summary of key health indicators to support planning and partnership working.
Both tools have been developed to help you understand local health needs and support your work. You can download charts and maps to use in reports, funding bids, or presentations.
The dashboard presents a range of data, including morbidity, chronic conditions, workforce and prescribing data. The data is presented at both cluster and practice level through the lens of inequalities to highlight variations linked to deprivation.
This dashboard is currently only available to NHS Wales staff and is hosted by NHS Wales Performance and Improvement. If you would like to request access to this dashboard, please email NHSPI_Data.Analytics@wales.nhs.uk.
OTHER RESOURCES
The Primary One webpage has information, resources and support tools developed to help anyone working in and with primary care in Wales.
Cluster working in Wales webpages – These pages provide information about primary and community care in Wales.
Planning Portal Webpages provide resources and information to support planning, linking to relevant and useful resources.
Reducing Health Inequalities and Inclusion Health Webpages host a range of support tools and resources to help you act and improve understanding of health inequalities and inclusion health.
Greener Primary Care webpages provides detail of the Greener Primary Care Scheme Wales for practices in Wales and have information and resources to help practices become more environmentally sustainable.
You can find Public Health Wales’ website here. For more about health and care in the voluntary sector, read about WCVA’s Health and Care Project.