In this slideshow, Tracey Gyateng, Data Lab Project Manager,NPC, discusses retrospective matching methods to study health services and other sectors. Tracey Gyateng spoke at the Nuffield Trust event: The future of the hospital, in June 2014.

1. v
USE OF RETROSPECTIVE MATCHING METHODS TO
STUDY HEALTH SERVICES AND OTHER SECTORS
Tracey Gyateng Twitter @tgyateng
June 2014

2. AGENDA
1. What is NPC’s Data Lab project?
2. Justice Data Lab
3. JDL barriers/challenges
4. Substance Misuse & Health Data Lab?
5. Other data labs

3. WHAT IS THE DATA LAB PROJECT?
The need:
Funders increasingly require organisations to deliver a specified outcome in return for
payment or investment
Not-for-profit organisations are exploring ways to evidence the outcomes of their work
Aim:
Support not-for-profits to access restricted (primarily government) data to assess the
impact they have on their beneficiaries– increasing supply of useful data
Encourage not-for-profits to engage with data, increasing awareness and knowledge–
stimulating demand
Four year programme funded by the Oak Foundation- Housing and Homeless
Programme
NPC – Creating a Data Lab 3

4. JUSTICE DATA LAB
NPC – Creating a Data Lab
Not for profits with
user consent
Not for profits
without consent
Ministry of Justice Data Lab teamKey demographic
details:
Name, Sex, Date of
Birth, Intervention
Start & End Date….
(sent via cjsm)
Clear process
and guidance
tailored for NFPs
Identify cohort within
Police National
Computer (PNC):
Yes/no reoffended
Frequency of
reoffending
Create comparison
group (PSM) from
PNC:
Yes/no reoffended
Frequency of
reoffending
Test whether differences
between cohort and
comparison group are
significant
Report published on
MoJ website
https://www.gov.uk/governme
nt/collections/justice-data-lab-
pilot-statistics
Analysis report produced

5. • Short term, full-time employment contracts.
Aims to move them into onward full-time
employment elsewhere.
•72 offender records for which re-offending
data was available could be matched to
offenders with similar characteristics
• A reduction in re-offending between 1 and
23 percentage points. This reduction is
statistically significant
SPECIFIC REPORT – BLUE SKY
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Blue Sky (72 records) Matched Control Group
(212,131 offender
records)

6. RESULTS OF THE JUSTICE DATA LAB
MOJ JUNE 2014 SUMMARY STATISTICS
61 published reports
Mixture of organisations- 51% VCS, 31% Public sector, 15% Private sector 3% Educational
institute
NPC – Creating a Data Lab 6
6
12
20
3
7
8
3
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Educational Institution Private Public Voluntary and Community
Sector
No.PublishedRequests
Inconclusive Result Significant Decrease in Re-Offending Significant Increase in Re-Offending

7. JUSTICE DATA LAB CHALLENGES
Awareness- good coverage through partnership with Clinks & NOMS improving evidence
study, but work still needed
Technical:
Data collection & storage: full name, D.O.B, intervention & sentence start/end date
Sample size and matching- minimum of 60 users, reductions in sample size
Applicability & Attribution e.g. sex offenders excluded, difficulties to create
accurate comparison group for housing, SUBSTANCE MISUSERS
Attitudinal
Measurement- binary and frequency provided, but not severity. Wider discourse of
desistance from crime and how useful are reconviction measures.
Transparency
Timeliness- JDL provides retrospective results
Resource:
Lack of time/staff
Legal:
A few charities concerned to use JDL without service user consent.
Funders:
Concern on how they will act on the results
NPC – Creating a Data Lab 7

8. SUBSTANCE MISUSE DATA LAB?
A substance misuse data lab would provide data on key outcomes for a group of clients
who have accessed treatment. The service would also produce a matched control group to
enable comparisons for impact measurement.
Work will be needed to develop the relevant indicators that will be used for matching:
• Free from drug/alcohol dependence and/or sustained maintenance
medication?
• Potentially:
• Client reoffending— focussed on severity and frequency of events. Once the
Data Lab has been established, further work will be needed to investigate the
potential for measuring the following outcomes:
• Future?
• Health services—alcohol and drug related admissions and visits; Employment;
Accommodation— Tenancy sustainment (currently difficult to measure but could
be captured under Universal Credit)
NPC – Creating a Data Lab 8

9. HEALTH DATA LAB?
Again addressing the question of what works?
Has an intervention reduced beneficiaries’ subsequent use of NHS
services?
Range of indicators can be measured:
• Admissions, readmissions, lengths of stay, A&E attendance…
Scope is wide!
HSCIC exploring setting up a service
NPC – Creating a Data Lab 9

10. ADDITIONAL PROJECTS
Working to develop Data Labs for:
• Economic activity
• Gain employment?
• Education
• Improve educational outcomes
Stimulating demand
Regular events/ presentations/blogs
Re-framing failure
NPC – Creating a Data Lab 10

11. NEXT STEPS
• Interested to know your thoughts
• Process of meetings with government departments
• Survey to estimate need/ gain a consensus???
NPC – Creating a Data Lab 11

12. THANK YOU
Tracey Gyateng- Data Lab Project Manager
Tracey.Gyateng@thinknpc.org
Website
http://www.NPCdatalabs.org
NPC – Creating a Data Lab 12