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

背景英国儿童和年轻人的社会护理、教育和卫生服务面临着严峻的挑战。除了备受瞩目的可避免的儿童死亡案例外，护理系统中儿童结局不佳的社会成本估计为每年230亿加元。从肥胖到死亡率，儿童的健康状况比许多可比的欧洲国家都要差。在新冠肺炎事件期间，许多儿童长时间缺课，学习落后。从政府角度来看，人们认识到需要一种综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，但其他问题则得益于地方当局和在地方或区域一级持有的卫生数据的额外广度和深度。目标和活动开发一个可供研究的数据集该项目的主要目标是创建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、二级、心理健康和社区护理)持有的儿童数据联系起来。该项目的第一阶段将重点放在伦敦西北部的8个地方当局，我们的团队在那里拥有强大的现有关系，将地方当局和卫生数据联系起来的早期工作已经在进行中。在项目的后半部分，我们的目标是扩大到一个泛伦敦链接的数据集。这项工作的一个核心部分将是与儿童、年轻人和家庭进行透明的沟通，他们的数据将被包括在数据集中，以解释潜在的好处，以及为保护机密性而采取的措施。探路者项目两个探路者项目将展示使用新的、可供研究的数据集来指导支出和政策决策的可行性和潜在影响。第一个项目将编制每个地方当局受照顾儿童的用户友好信息(例如，有多少人与精神卫生服务机构有联系，这与其他地区相比如何？)。第二个项目将展示新数据集在解决关键国家政策问题研究差距方面的价值。我们将开展一个或多个示例项目，考察一个部门的干预措施对另一个部门的结果的影响(例如，精神健康服务的早期支持是否会改善受照顾儿童的后来结果)。培训和能力建设该项目的长期目标是，其他研究人员将新的相关数据集用于广泛的新研究项目，这将导致为儿童和青年制定更有证据和有效的政策和服务。为了让研究人员尽可能容易地使用这个数据集，我们将为在儿童服务、公共卫生和数据团队工作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，并了解它可以用于哪些类型的分析和研究。-为希望使用新数据集的研究人员提供类似的培训课程。-提供资源，包括数据词典和开放源代码，并在他们开始使用数据时帮助解决任何问题。预期效果我们相信，拟议的新数据集将使研究能够产生更多以证据为基础的地方和国家支持儿童的战略，并有可能在减少支出和改善结果(例如，减少需要地方当局护理、缺课或住院的儿童)方面带来巨大的有形好处。

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).