Statistics for adult drug treatment in England 2012-13 published

Published on 06 November 2013

Statistics for alcohol treatment activity in England 2012-13 Published

Published on 16 October 2013

Transfer of CJIT data collection to PHE

Please find below a project update on the transfer of CJIT data collection and reporting on behalf of PHE. This update is also being posted on DIRWeb.

Drug Testing Data
After careful deliberation, we regret that PHE will not be able to take on the collection and reporting of drug testing data from police at this stage. As was previously advised, in order for PHE to collect this as a national dataset, detainees would need to be presented with the opportunity to opt-out of data sharing to satisfy Department of Health Information Governance policy. The feedback from police force DIP leads made it clear that this would be unworkable. Concerted efforts were made to find an alternative solution with manageable cost an resource implications, however, we have now exhausted options that would currently be feasible to implement.
The Home Office will be accepting drug test extracts from police received in early October to report on activity in September as per the normal process. Police forces may continue to record tests conducted from 1st October 2013 using the Drug Test Recorder for local information, however, this will be the last month for which extracts will be used to generate reports by The Home Office.
PHE greatly value the contribution that test on arrest makes to increasing the reach of treatment and, subject to sufficient interest from police and CJITs, we may revisit this in future if circumstances change in a way that makes implementation a more feasible prospect.
Police Force DIP leads have been notified of this development.

The new CJIT dataset
Following an online survey, Public Health England have finalised the CJIT dataset that will be collected from November using a newly developed DIR version of the Data Entry Tool (DIRDET). A revised form is now available in the public area of NDTMS.net and on DIRWeb. Some areas may find this form useful for capturing information before entering onto the system.
Business definitions for the items included in the dataset and an FAQs document will be published on DIRWeb and NDTMS.net next week that will answer queries that arose during the consultation. A training presentation on using DIRDET will also be available on NDTMS.net from 18th October. Invitations to attend training sessions to be held during November will go out during October. Due to other training commitments it is not possible to hold these sessions earlier.

Migrations and accessing DIRDET
As per the key dates released by the Home Office this week, DIRWeb will become read only from the 19th October. After this point it will not be possible to enter new data onto the system. A copy of the data stored in DIRWeb will be transferred to PHE to migrate active caseloads into the new DIRDET accounts which will be activated on 4th November. This data will also be combined with data submitted from November onwards for reporting purposes (including for services who submit using other systems). DIRDET users are advised to review the migrated caseload to ensure it corresponds to expectations and is up to date.
Because there will be a break between DIRWeb being open for new data and DIRDET coming online, October will be a transition month. Services may choose to record the DIRDET items relating to activity in the interim to make it easier to update the active caseload after the system goes live but it is not necessary to enter information that doesn’t relate to the active caseload from 4th November.
Emails will be sent to current DIRDET data entry users requesting confirmation of who in the service should be given a DIRDET administrator account (from which additional accounts can be created locally). If your service has not received an email requesting this by 18th October, please email EvidenceApplicationteam@phe.gov.uk.
CJIT services not currently using DIRWeb for data entry but wishing to use DIRDET for submitting data rather than a separate case management system (either as a short term or long term change) should also email EvidenceApplicationteam@phe.gov.uk.
For services familiar with the structured treatment version of DET, although the functionality to generate CSV extracts will be included in DIRDET, it will not be necessary to make monthly submissions to DAMS as the information needed for reporting will be taken directly from the DIRDET database.

Consent requirement for CJIT data sharing
As previously advised, it is important that CJIT providers collect consent for data sharing for any individuals not included in the migrated caseload (for DIRDET users) or previously submitted to HO (in the case of users submitting via other systems). Services should refer to the NDTMS confidentiality Toolkit for guidance which can be found here http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/ndtmsconfidentialitytoolkitv6.3.pdf
DIRDET contains a field for identifying whether a client has given consent. Although records for non-consenting clients may still be entered, these will not be viewable by PHE. Services using other systems to submit CJIT data will be required to confirm that extracts sent to PHE will only contain records for consenting clients in order for us to be able to accept them (unless the records relate to clients already on the caseload before the final submission to DIRWeb).

Case management system users
Software suppliers attended an event at PHE on 02/09/13 to discuss requirements. In light of the tight timescales involved with this project we will accept the current DIRWeb xml schemas submitted to us on a monthly basis up until April 2014 when we will require CSV submissions following an NDTMS based schema . As this is an interim measure, it will not be practical to implement a process for validating these files will not be developed. Logins for a secure web-based upload portal will be sent to relevant CJITs for this purpose.
As above, any clients coming into contact with the CJIT after the decommissioning of DIRWeb who do not give consent (in line with the NDTMS confidentiality toolkit) must not be included in XML files sent to PHE.
Emails will be sent to current case management system submitters requesting confirmation of who in the service should be given an upload administrator account (from which additional accounts can be created locally). If your service has not received an email requesting this by 18th October, please email EvidenceApplicationteam@phe.gov.uk.
CJIT services not currently using DIRWeb for data entry but wishing to use DIRDET for submitting data rather than a separate case management system (either as a short term or long term change) should email EvidenceApplicationteam@phe.gov.uk.

Published on 27 September 2013

Upcoming Events and Training Materials

Please note the new 'clickable' section below News on the Home Page, that shows upcoming training events and related material.

Published on 19 September 2013

User feedback on NDTMS statistics sought by to UKSA

the UK Statistics Authority is currently assessing the following statistics produced by Public Health England:

- Substance Misuse among young people
- Alcohol Treatment Activity
- Drug Treatment Activity

You can find these statistics at: http://www.nta.nhs.uk/statistics.aspx

As part of the assessment process we gather views from users and suppliers of the statistics. Meeting user needs is an important part of the Code of Practice, so we would be grateful if you could respond to the following questions:

1. Why are these statistics of interest to you? (Please indicate which of the statistics you use, how you use them or how you would like to be able to use them.)

2. How well do these statistics meet your needs? (e.g. comprehensiveness, level of detail available, presentation, accessibility, timeliness, commentary, explanation of methods.) How could they be improved?

3. How satisfied are you with the way that the producer team in Public Health England engages and consults with you as a user? (For example, if you have had any communication with them about these statistics in response to email enquiries, at user days, consultations.)

4. It may be useful for us to share your comments with Public Health England, to enable them to take account of your views as they develop the statistics. Please indicate clearly whether you are happy for us to pass your comments and contact details on.

Please either respond to this email with your comments or call us on 0207 592 8665.

We hope to hear from you.

Published on 27 August 2013