The Office for Statistics Regulation wrote to Scott Heald about presentation of findings from the Discharges from NHSScotland hospitals to care homes report

14 January 2021 · Ed Humpherson, Office for Statistics Regulation

The letter, dated 14 January 2021, replies to correspondence of 14 January 2021. The Office for Statistics Regulation published it as Ed Humpherson to Scott Heald: Presentation of findings from the Discharges from NHSScotland hospitals to care homes report. Below are 4 passages from the letter in the regulator's own words.

What the Office for Statistics Regulation wrote

“We consider the report is clear, thorough and transparent about the limitations and quality of the dataset and we recognise that the data and analyses undertaken were complex.”

“We have reviewed the communication of findings in consultation with method experts from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).”

“Whilst we understand that communicating complex statistical messaging can be challenging, we consider there are lessons to be learnt from this case and expect the improvement points (Annex) to be addressed in the presentation of any future statistical analysis of the care home data.”

“Given the importance of communicating uncertainty clearly, we encourage you to be careful in your discussion of confidence intervals and be clear where these indicate that we should be less confident overall in the robustness of the findings.”

From Ed Humpherson, Office for Statistics Regulation, letter of 14 January 2021. Read the full letter.

Correspondence

• The letter it answered: Scott Heald response to Ed Humpherson: Presentation of findings from the Discharges from NHSScotland hospitals to care homes report (14 January 2021)

Receipt