Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 10
10
NHS Digital created the first iteration of the list of some 900,000 people within two...
Conclusion
NHS Digital created the first iteration of the list of some 900,000 people within two days using readily accessible data sources—hospital, maternity and prescribed medicines data. By 12 April 2020, three weeks after shielding began, a further 420,000 people had 7 Q 17; C&AG’s report para 2.3 8 Qq 13, 17 9 Q 17 10 Qq 3–4, 13–14 11 C&AG’s Report, Figure 14. 12 Qq 14–15. 13 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-technology-to-help-identify-those-at-high-risk-from-covid-19 14 Q93; C&AG’s report, para 4.4 15 Royal National Institute for the Blind; Independent Age. 16 C&AG’s Report, para 11 17 Q 21; C&AG’s Report, para 11 10 Covid 19: supporting the vulnerable during lockdown been added using GP data, bringing the total to 1.3 million people.18 We asked why it took until the 12 April 2020 to access GP data. NHS Digital told us that it took three weeks working with GP IT systems providers to design, build and gather the GP data. NHS Digital told us that this was quick, as work of this scale would usually take four to six months.19
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
2.2 Whilst the government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation, it does not agree with the conclusion that DHSC and NHS Digital took too long to identify all clinically extremely vulnerable people. Given the data available at the time, and the novelty of shielding policy, NHS Digital, DHSC, and frontline clinicians worked as quickly as possible to identify CEV people at the start of the pandemic. However, the government is committed to learning the lessons from this process to improve how national data is used to identify at risk groups in the future.