The Office for Statistics Regulation wrote to Scott Heald about Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios (HSMR)

25 April 2018 · Ed Humpherson, Office for Statistics Regulation

The letter is dated 25 April 2018. A reply dated 22 May 2018 is published alongside it. The Office for Statistics Regulation published it as Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios (HSMR). Below are 4 passages from the letter in the regulator's own words.

What the Office for Statistics Regulation wrote

“One area where ISD could be clearer is in the explanation about the figures that are derived from its regression model so that users can easily see the data that substantiates the claim that hospital mortality rates have fallen.”

“The Code of Practice for Statistics expects statistics and data to be presented clearly, explained meaningfully and provide authoritative insights that serve the public good.”

“The Code of Practice for Statistics (Practice T3.8) says that ‘[policy, press or ministerial] statements referring to regular or ad hoc official statistics should meet basic professional standards of statistical presentation, including accuracy, clarity and impartiality’.”

“While the Press Release has quoted accurate figures, which reflect the actual HSMR figures in the statistical bulletin, these are not the figures that ISD has smoothed out to account for seasonal variations, which the trend line does.”

From Ed Humpherson, Office for Statistics Regulation, letter of 25 April 2018. Read the full letter.

Correspondence

• Published reply: Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios (HSMR) response (22 May 2018)

Receipt