§ Mr. HardyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the accuracy of the performance indicators issued by his Department earlier in 1989; and if those which purported to reveal the Rotherham health authority in an unsatisfactory light were accurate.
§ Mr. Mellor[holding answer 19 October 1989]: In 1987–88 all information systems in England were substantially changed and many new data definitions introduced in accordance with the recommendations of the Körner reports. Health service indicators being published this year are the first to be based on data from the redesigned systems. The Department and health authori-ties were aware that with changes of this magnitude some 316W data inaccuracies were likely. Following consultation with health authorities in May a subset of the 1987–88 indicators were published in July with a warning about possible inaccuracies. Health authorities were asked to inform the Department of any inaccuracies found so that the full package could be based on more accurate data. Relatively few amendments proved necessary. Rotherham HA drew attention to problems with part of its data and the indicators based on this are being corrected.