Neighbourhood Indicators: helping ICBs turn data into better neighbourhood decisions

Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are being asked to redesign services, reduce inequalities and deliver more care closer to home, all while responding to growing demand, workforce pressures and constrained resources.

Many systems are still trying to make strategic decisions using fragmented datasets, disconnected reports and limited neighbourhood-level insight. Neighbourhood Indicators has been developed to change that.

The tool transforms publicly available NHS and population health data into clear, visual insight that helps ICBs and partners understand local need, identify gaps in provision, and target interventions more effectively.

It gives teams a faster, clearer way to answer critical questions:

• Where is unmet need likely to exist?

• Are services aligned to population demand?

• Which neighbourhoods should be prioritised?

• How do outcomes compare to similar populations elsewhere?

Built for neighbourhood planning and strategic commissioning

As NHS systems increasingly organise around neighbourhood models, there is growing demand for practical insight that supports prevention, service redesign and evidence-based commissioning.

Neighbourhood Indicators has been designed specifically to support that shift.

Using interactive maps and visualisations, the tool combines publicly available datasets across multiple geographic levels, including ICB, sub-ICB and neighbourhood geographies such as LSOAs, helping teams quickly understand:

• population need,

• deprivation and inequalities,

• disease prevalence,

• service provision,

• and variation across places.

Rather than reviewing multiple spreadsheets and static reports, users can explore patterns visually and identify where action may be needed most.

Turning insight into action

The principle behind the tool is simple: compare population need against service provision at neighbourhood level.

Teams can:

• Visualise demographics, deprivation and health need

• Overlay services such as GP practices and dental providers

• Identify areas where demand may outstrip provision

• Benchmark against similar neighbourhoods nationally

• Support targeted, evidence-based commissioning decisions

• Understand quality of services using indicators such as the Friends & Family Test

The result is a more practical understanding of where resources, interventions and preventative activity may have the greatest impact.

Example: identifying unmet need

Using hypertension as an example, Neighbourhood Indicators can show diagnosed prevalence alongside GP practice locations.

This helps identify areas where prevalence appears lower than expected for populations with similar demographic and deprivation profiles — highlighting potential opportunities for targeted case-finding, prevention and earlier intervention.

Similarly, mapping urgent dental treatments against dental practice locations can help commissioners quickly identify areas where demand is high but local provision may be limited.

Supporting better neighbourhood planning

Neighbourhood Indicators also helps systems explore and define neighbourhood footprints by reviewing:

• population size,

• demographic makeup,

• deprivation,

• and service access across local areas.

Over time, the aim is to support stronger benchmarking between similar neighbourhoods nationally, helping systems learn from areas facing comparable challenges and identify what is working elsewhere.

Why it matters

Neighbourhood planning requires more than data alone. It requires insight that is:

• practical,

• accessible,

• actionable,

• and aligned to real commissioning decisions.

Neighbourhood Indicators helps ICBs move from fragmented information to clearer strategic insight — supporting better targeting of services, more informed investment decisions, and a stronger focus on prevention and inequalities.

What’s next?

The tool is currently in a testing phase, with national datasets already integrated to demonstrate the concept and practical application.

Future development will focus on:

• richer demographic and population health insight,

• expanded benchmarking,

• additional dashboards and visualisations,

• and enhanced usability for operational and planning teams.

Find out more

Whether you are defining neighbourhoods, redesigning services or looking to better understand variation across your system, Neighbourhood Indicators can help turn publicly available data into practical, neighbourhood-level insight.

Contact the team to arrange a demonstration or find out more.