Development of a research-ready dataset linking data on children and young people in London held by Local Authorities and healthcare providers

背景在英格兰，儿童和青少年的社会关怀、教育和保健服务面临着严峻的挑战。除了引人注目的可避免的儿童死亡案例外，护理系统中儿童预后不良的社会成本估计为每年230亿英镑。从肥胖到死亡率，儿童的健康状况比许多可比较的欧洲国家都要差。在2019冠状病毒病大流行期间，许多儿童长时间缺课，学习落后。整个政府都认识到，需要一项联合战略来应对这些挑战。需要进行新的研究，以了解各部门之间的联系，并确定改善儿童结果的最有效干预措施。虽然一些研究问题最好使用国家数据集进行研究，但其他问题受益于地方当局在地方或区域一级持有的更广泛和更深入的卫生数据。目标和活动建立可供研究的数据本项目的主要目标是建立一个可供研究的数据集，将地方当局（包括教育和社会护理）和卫生服务（包括初级、中级、精神卫生和社区护理）持有的关于儿童的数据联系起来。该项目的第一阶段将重点关注伦敦西北部的8个地方当局，我们的团队在那里拥有强大的现有关系，并且已经在进行将地方当局和健康数据联系起来的早期工作。在项目的后半段，我们的目标是扩大到一个泛伦敦的关联数据集。这项工作的一个核心环节将是与儿童、年轻人和家庭进行透明的沟通，他们的数据将被纳入数据集，以解释潜在的好处，以及保护机密的措施。探路者项目两个探路者项目将展示使用新的、研究就绪的数据集来指导支出和政策决策的可行性和潜在影响。第一个项目将编制方便用户使用的关于每个地方当局被照顾儿童的信息（例如，有多少人与精神卫生服务机构接触，这与其他领域相比如何？）第二个项目将展示新数据集的价值，以解决关键国家政策问题的研究差距。我们将开展一个或多个示例项目，研究一个部门的干预措施对另一个部门的结果的影响（例如，心理健康服务的早期支持是否改善了被照顾儿童的后期结果）。培训和能力建设该项目的长期目标是，其他研究人员将在广泛的新研究项目中使用新的关联数据集，这将导致为儿童和年轻人提供更多基于证据和有效的政策和服务。为了使研究人员尽可能方便地使用该数据集，我们将为儿童服务、公共卫生和数据团队的地方当局工作人员提供培训课程。这项工作将确保他们了解新的数据集，并了解它可以用于什么样的分析和研究。-为想要使用新数据集的研究人员提供类似的培训课程计划。-提供包括数据字典和开源代码在内的资源，并在他们开始使用数据时帮助解决任何问题。预期影响我们认为，拟议的新数据集将使研究能够带来更多以证据为基础的地方和国家战略，以支持儿童，有可能在减少支出和改善结果方面带来巨大的切实利益（例如，减少需要地方当局照顾的儿童、缺课儿童或住院儿童）。

BackgroundThere are serious challenges facing social care, education and health services for children and young people in England. Beyond high profile cases of avoidable child deaths, the social costs of poor outcomes of children in the care system are estimated to be £23 billion per year. From obesity to death rates, children's health outcomes are worse than in many comparable European countries. Many children have missed extended periods of school and fallen behind on learning during the Covid-19 pandemic.Across Government, it is recognized that a joined-up strategy is needed to tackle these challenges. New research is needed to understand the links between sectors and identify the most effective interventions to improve children's outcomes. While some research questions are best studied using national datasets, other questions benefit from the additional breadth and depth of Local Authority and health data held at local or regional level. Aims and activitiesDevelop a research-ready datasetThe primary objective of this project is to create a research-ready dataset linking data held on children by Local Authorities (including education & social care) and health services (including primary, secondary, mental health and community care). The first stage of the project will focus on the 8 Local Authorities in North West London, where our team has strong existing relationships and early work to link Local Authority and health data is already underway. In the second half of the project, we aim to scale up to a pan-London linked dataset. A central strand of this work will be transparent communication with children, young people and families whose data will be included in the dataset, to explain the potential benefits, and the measures in place to protect confidentiality.Pathfinder projectsTwo pathfinder projects will showcase the feasibility and potential impact of using the new, research-ready datasets to guide spending and policy decisions. The first project will develop user-friendly information on Looked After Children in each Local Authority (e.g. how many are in contact with mental health services, and how does this compare to other areas?). The second project will demonstrate the value of the new dataset to address research gaps in key national policy questions. We will do one or more example projects that look at the impact of interventions in one sector on outcomes in another sector (e.g., does earlier support from mental health services improve later outcomes for Looked After Children).Training and capacity buildingThe long-term aim of the project is that other researchers will use the new linked dataset for a wide range of new research projects, which will lead to more evidence-based and effective policies and services for children and young people. To make it as easy as possible for researchers to use this dataset, we will - deliver training sessions for Local Authority staff working within Children's Services, Public Health, and data teams. This work will make sure they are aware of the new dataset and understand what kinds of analysis and research it can be used for. - deliver a similar programme of training sessions for researchers who would like to use the new dataset.- provide resources including data dictionaries and open-source code, and help to troubleshoot any problems when they start using the data. Expected impactWe believe that the proposed new dataset will enable research leading to more evidence-based local and national strategies to support children, with potential to deliver huge tangible benefits in reduced spending and improved outcomes (for example fewer children needing Local Authority care, missing school, or being admitted to hospital).