1.1 Introduction

2006 has seen a period of consolidation in terms of health geographies. The changes made to Strategic Health Authority, Primary Care Trust and Ambulance Trust geography early in 2006 and the resulting reorganisation of departments and people have broadly settled down. Annually adjusted population estimates for the new configuration of Primary Care Trusts were published by Office for National Statistics (ONS) as experimental statistics in March 2007 to facilitate the calculation of time series health statistics for 2002-2005 for the new organisation boundaries ahead of 2006 activity becoming available.

For completeness a copy of Primary Care Boundaries 2006 as provided by ONS Geography based on Ordnance Survey (OS) BoundaryLine product and a comparison of 2002 and 2006 boundaries. 2006 PCT boundaries are available free of charge from ONS geography to those licensed for OS BoundaryLine™ product.

Map 1.1: Primary Care Trust Boundaries 2006

Primary Care Trust Boundaries 2006

Map 1.2: Comparison of 2006 & 2002 PCT boundaries

Comparison of 2006 & 2002 PCT boundaries

1.2 Access to OS data for NHS organisations

The Ordnance Survey NHS Pilot agreement was launched by the Information Centre for Health and Social Care in November 2005 based on Tier 1-4 organisations (NHS Trusts, Primary Care Trusts, Strategic Health Authorities and Cancer Registries). The Ambulance Trusts (Tier 5 organisations) became eligible to join the pilot agreement in April 2006. The pilot agreement provides a suite of OS products ‘free at point of use’ to all NHS organisations not previously included in any other OS collective agreement – this excluded the Public Health Observatories as they were included in the earlier Pan Government Agreement (PGA).

The OS NHS pilot has been closely monitored by the Information Centre to ensure the best use was made of OS data and any issues arising are swiftly addressed. Monthly feedback meetings by OS have monitored uptake by organisations to ensure a valid cohort of organisations in each tier would be available to evaluate its success. By September 2006 67% of eligible organisations had applied to join the OS NHS Agreement and 41% were taking data.

At the end of August 2006 OS Liaison Officers (OSLOs) in the NHS were invited to respond to an electronic questionnaire to measure the success of the pilot against its Key Performance Indicators. The user feedback survey received an overall response rate of 83% where 85% of these organisations are satisfied or very satisfied with the pilot agreement.  The 10% organisations that showed some dissatisfaction with the pilot, cited the time required to complete order forms, lack of training in GI tools and lack of ‘out of area’ data as their principle reasons for dissatisfaction. The use of OS map products varies greatly by tier but all users intend to make use of other products in the future. Almost 33% of users wish to have access to out-of-area data in the future. Organisations use a wide range of software to access the OS data; more than 70% organisations have access to GIS software. Lack of staff and training are cited as reasons why the organisations’ GI requirements are not being met in the pilot. A range of options for taking forward the pilot were also investigated in the survey to assess user opinion.

The Chief Executives of those organisations identified as non-users of the pilot were invited to answer a much shorter 3 question survey. Many non-users were unaware of the pilot; others had other arrangements for access to map data.

The Key Performance Indicators have demonstrated a strong case for continuation of the OS NHS agreement supported by a central funding stream.  The Information Centre (IC) has agreed an extension of the existing pilot to September 2007 whilst exploring various options for funding. The Ambulance Trusts have found themselves at greatest risk as a result of the lack of a replacement deal as they use the most detailed and expensive digital map products as part of their daily operation.  The IC is therefore working closely with the Ambulance Trusts to take forward a collaborative competitive procurement to ensure continuity of provision. The IC is hopeful that a future agreement can be secured that will include wider NHS inclusion on a charge back basis so enabling the whole NHS to access a range of digital mapping products in a cost effective way.

NHS organisations who have access to OS datasets under the Pilot agreement may continue to use them until 30^th September 2007 when the results of the new competitive procurement process should become known.

All users of OS data licensed through the Pilot should be aware that any maps published before 30^th September 2007 may continue to be used beyond the end of the agreement in their published state, as would happen in any other published report. However any use of OS data in an interactive, ad hoc manner would need to be fully licensed with OS at the point in time when they are accessed. 

Both the Information Centre and Ordnance Survey websites have been developed to provide access to information, resources and case studies in the use of OS data under the pilot agreement at:

http://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/population-and-geography/nhs-mapping-pilot

and

http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/business/sectors/health/NHSagreement/NHSagreement.html