NHS Benchmarking Network Supports World Mental Health Day with Data Driven Insight and International Collaboration

In recognition of World Mental Health Day, the NHS Benchmarking Network (NHSBN) are raising awareness of mental health, our work to support quality improvement in service delivery through data transparency, and international collaboration to support global initiatives to continually improve access and care.

he London Mental Health Dashboard, developed by the Network in collaboration with Transformation Partners in Health and Care, London mental health leaders, and wider London stakeholders is an example of our partnership working to create accessible and comprehensive resources for understanding and improving mental health services

The ongoing partnership between the Network and stakeholders across London will continue to support the development and utility of resources to support service users and providers of London’s mental health services.  This publicly accessible resource continues to attract local, national and international interest. You can explore the dashboard and access these resources at https://lmh.nhsbenchmarking.nhs.uk/home

Further, the Network continues to work in collaboration with international partners, the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership (IIMHL), to develop comparative metrics for both Adult Mental Health Services and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and support international discussion on data informed improvements. This international benchmarking program allows for the sharing of best practice and insights from diverse healthcare systems to improve mental health services internationally. Reports and outputs from this initiative can be found at https://www.nhsbenchmarking.nhs.uk/international

On World Mental Health Day, the Network is not only highlighting the importance of mental health but also demonstrating our commitment to improving mental health services through data transparency, international collaboration, and sharing of challenges and good practice. By providing valuable resources like the London Mental Health Dashboard and continuing to build our international partnerships with the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership (IIMHL), we are supporting local, national and international efforts to improve mental health services for those that access and deliver care..

ZSA Suicide Prevention Resource Map and Feedback

The NHS Benchmarking Network and Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA) are working together to improve the Suicide Prevention Resource Map.

The map is an analytic and health intelligence platform, which the Network developed and delivered for the ZSA in 2020/21 and 2021/22. This supports the ZSA’s ambition to provide easily accessible information to support suicide prevention initiatives.

The map was hosted by the Network in 2022/23 and after re-contracting with ZSA in 2023/24, this represents the third year that the Network will deliver the health intelligence platform.

The broad aim of this project is to deliver data and analytics input on the ZSA platform to support the ongoing evidence-based discourse on suicide reduction.

How can you help?
We’re looking for your help to review and provide feedback about the map.

Please could you fill in the ZSA map feedback survey (https://www.zerosuicidealliance.com/ZSA-Resources/suicide-prevention-resource-map-survey) and let us know what you like and dislike about the map, plus anything you’d like to be incorporated into the redesign.

Alongside this, the Network and ZSA will be promoting World Mental Health Day on Tuesday 10th October 2023.

Please keep an eye out on our social media pages for the latest updates and materials.

Twitter/X: @NHSBenchmarking and @Zer0Suicide

 What is the Suicide Prevention Resource Map and what does it do?
The map (https://www.zsabenchmarking.co.uk/maps) aims to raise awareness of suicide, pulling together data on suicide incidence and some of the factors related to mental well being and experiences of crisis. This includes for both adults, and children and young people.

You can explore:

• Suicide incidence

• Health and social factors risk factors

• At-risk populations

• Service demand and provision

Suicide is complex, but by becoming more informed of some of these factors can use this information to achieve real change to reduce suicide.

What does the data show?
Depending on the data source you can view the data by:

• Local authority

• NHS trust

• Clinical Commissioning Group

• Integrated Care System

ZSA have applied a simple colour code to each indicator in the map to help understand the data and to highlight where urgent action is needed. Even though communities face different challenges, comparisons across regions and services encourages wider awareness and shared learning.

Terms of Membership Update & FAQs

We are continuing to see a positive response to the Terms of Membership updates, with 92%* of respondents opting-in to share data.

*As of 7th September 2023.

 We thought it would be helpful to share some of the FAQs on the topic.

We have extended the response form deadline date to Friday 15th September 2023, and we have contacted the CEOs at the member organisations we are awaiting a response from.  

 If you’d like to check if your organisation has responded, please contact enquiries@nhsbenchmarking.nhs.uk.

The way we share data is changing

We are led by our members, and we listen to your requests and respond to your needs. Following feedback, we are pleased to announce that we will be updating our Terms of Membership, effective from September 2023.

We will be making member identifier codes available within the Network. This change is being introduced at the request of members and has been ratified by Member Reference Groups and the Network Steering Group. The key detail for this change can be found in Clause 14 on our updated Terms of Membership.

The Terms of Membership are a key document that explains how your organisation's membership with the NHS Benchmarking Network is managed. It also explains the legal relationship between the parties involved in delivering the Network across health and social care.

For a summary of the updates we have made, please click here.

Update from 29th August 2023:
Member organisation CEOs and Product (membership) Leads have been contacted with next steps and to confirm if their organisation is opting-in to data sharing. As of 29th August, 93% of respondents have opted-in to the sharing of data.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with the Network Support Team.

MHLDA Indicators – A Dashboard Transformed

The Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism Indicators project commenced in April 2020 as a COVID-19 dashboard, enabling participants to track the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, CYPMHS and learning disabilities services, both within their organisation and in comparison to the wider UK dataset.

After an extensive engagement programme, this project has now been transformed to focus on a wider variety of metrics and from April 2023 includes patient safety and workforce metrics as well as the activity data that has historically been collected and reported. The reporting format has also been updated to include each of the reported data points as well as the national picture for a number of metrics. These are produced as PowerPoint slides to allow ease of use for members. 

The project is UK wide and produces bespoke reports for all providers. Additionally, this online dashboard contains a much wider analysis of all the specification metrics to support a deep-dive into organisational and national analysis.

For more information on metrics, timescales and frequently asked questions, please visit our project page

How can my organisation take part?

We welcome submissions from any member Mental Health organisation looking to take part. Data is submitted quarterly via an excel spreadsheet. Further information can be found on the Project Detail page, or by emailing the Indicators team.

We would like to thank all participating organisations for their contributions throughout the course of the project, and appreciate the time and expertise shared. Suggestions to improve the project and how we can better support your work are always welcome – please contact the team directly nhsbn.mhindicators@nhs.net

The 2022/23 Work Programme Report is now available!

We are delighted to publish the NHS Benchmarking Network 2022/23 Work Programme Report, providing a review of the NHSBN achievements in the 2022/23 membership year.

Highlights include:

• Integrated health and care benchmarking has been a key element in 22/23. With cross sector benchmarking available in Intermediate Care, Emergency Care and Managing Frailty in the Acute Setting projects.

• Membership coverage expanded to include all Scottish Health Boards.

• Delivery of an insightful core work programme with 550,000 data points received from members

• An enhanced membership offer was created to support members in asking and answering the ‘so-what’ question.

• The National Audit work programme continued successfully across the 3 audits: CVDPREVENT, National Audit of Care at the End of Life (NACEL) and NHS England Learning Disabilities Improvement Standards.

• For the first time we opened up opportunities for members to share identities and data using a data sharing Memorandum of Understanding.

The report includes information on what’s to come in the 2023/24 cycle, including 3 brand new projects! We hope you enjoy reading the report. Please share and feel free to get in touch if you have something you would like to discuss.

In case you missed it - you’ll see our refreshed logo and branding within the report. These were updated earlier this month to better align with our Vision and Values. Find out more from our recent news piece here.

Unveiling our New Logo: A Fresh New Look

A few years on from celebrating our 25th year of supporting the NHS with benchmarking services, it’s time for a change. We’re pleased to share the refreshed, but still recognisable emblem!

In 2021, we celebrated our 25th year of being a trusted partner of the NHS, providing the in-house benchmarking service to our national membership. This warranted the addition of a silver surround to our logo! But, it’s been two years since, and to keep current, accurate and relevant, we are refreshing the branding to align with our recently updated Values.

The circular quadrant is well-established and highly recognised within the field of healthcare analytics and service improvement. We have worked hard to embed awareness of the Network into your working practices and executive discussions, so the quadrant emblem has been simultaneously and considerately retained and modernised.

The subtle difference comes with the illustration of the colour wheel, representing the four sectors we benchmark (Acute, Community, Mental Health, and ICS (previously Commissioning)). These have been brought up to date with clean lines to match the colour wave design introduced last year. In addition, our Values (Excellence, Respect, Integrity) have been assimilated into the logo, a welcomed suggestion guided by our Steering Group. Now an integral part of our logo and a clear reminder of what we stand for daily.

You may notice a few changes over the coming weeks as we bring the logo into effect, but this won’t impact you and the outputs or service you receive. Throughout April, we will be updating our website and the members’ area, bringing our reports and outputs in line with the new branding, and changing our social media platforms too. It’s a big job behind the scenes, but an important development to align our imagery with our values. We hope you like the new look!