A new national standard on how to collect important health and social care information has been published today by the Health Information and Quality Authority. The purpose of the National Standard Demographic Dataset and Guidance for use in health and social care settings in Ireland is to standardise the way individual information is recorded in order to ensure data is used efficiently and that each person receives the right care at the right time.

A key deficiency in the Irish health and social care sector is the absence of a national standard demographic dataset. Currently there is no standardised or agreed guidance on the collection of demographic data. Each health and social care provider has created their own rules for collecting information about their patients, resulting in a variety of approaches to the data collected and the formats of it.

Professor Jane Grimson, Director of Health Information with HIQA, said, “To address this deficiency, the Authority has developed the National Standard Demographic Dataset. It is crucial to have a single national standard to ensure consistency of such important demographic data.”

“Having a national standard that applies to all health and social care settings will ensure greater accuracy in the recording and interpretation of information about people, allowing for safer communication of each individual’s demographic details. It also limits the way data can be collected, interpreted and exchanged between different groups, reducing unnecessary duplication and resulting in time and cost savings,” Professor Grimson said.

The delivery of safe and effective health and social care to people depends on health information being accurate, valid, reliable, timely, relevant, legible and complete.

The National Standard was produced following a public consultation and was approved by the Board of the Authority. It has been sent to the Minister for Health for approval and is available to download from www.hiqa.ie.

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Further Information: 

For further information please contact:
Sinead Whooley, Communications Manager, Health Information and Quality Authority, tel: 01 814 7488/ 087 922 1941 email: swhooley@hiqa.ie

Notes to the Editor: 

• The demographic dataset was developed by conducting a review of international standards in this area and by also assessing national practice through examining demographic data being collected by a number of national agencies both within the health arena and outside of it. A consultation was held and feedback from key stakeholders was incorporated into the final standards.
• It is crucial to have a single national standard for collection of such important demographic data in order to ensure standardised, accurate identification of each individual. For example, the name McGrath can be collected as McGrat, Mc Grath, Macgrath and so forth, leading to a potential for duplication and / or misidentification and inefficiency.
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