Data quality and the public sector

These are aimed at making information sharing easier and speeding up the decision-making process. A high standard of data quality and effective data integration is pivotal to the success or failure of these IT initiatives – if the sharing infrastructure is in place, but the information it transports is incorrect or incomplete, the effort will fall at the first hurdle.

 

Managers in the public sector rely on data to make swift and informed decisions regarding the allocation of resources, addressing areas of public concern and delivering service improvements to local citizens. Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly clear that poor data quality and the failure to integrate data across multiple systems is destabilising attempts to modernise public services, increase efficiency and take better care of the public.

 

The Audit Commission, making use of comprehensive performance assessments, has identified a clear link between councils’ use of information and its overall performance, with just 10% of the lowest-rated councils making good use of information, compared to 70% of top-rated councils. 

 

These problems are not confined to local authorities. Within days of the implementation of the NHS’s nationwide ‘Connecting for Health’ initiative, it became evident the large-scale data integration was riddled with problems. This led to operational delays, the inability to meet waiting list targets and even the failure to isolate patients infected with the violent staph infection MRSA.

 

Properly integrated data is also a key asset to local authorities responsible for child welfare – failure to share data across agencies such as Social Services and the police can culminate in each agency viewing a child’s case in isolation, increasing the risk of missing links between incidents indicative of abuse.

 

The Audit Commission's National Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour report finds data integration problems within the police, too. Whilst accurately recording the anti-social behaviour figures gathered from their own officers, only 60% of police basic command units were using information from neighbourhood wardens and only 46% had information from housing officers

 

In March this year, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary found that more than 50% of the 43 police forces in England and Wales could not automatically identify people who were repeat victims of anti-social behaviour, rendering them invisible and increasing their vulnerability. This statistic is indicative of two fundamental flaws in the databases of many of the public services: the failure to ensure that data is complete and of a high quality and the failure to integrate and share data efficiently. 

 

Tackling the public sector’s data integration and data quality challenges is a tough prospect. The challenge may require more effort than a comparative project in a large private company. Data must be governed according to a strategy that necessitates bringing interested parties together.

 

In the public sector this can often reach three or four separate departments or agencies that rely on the same information. As well as the people element, there must also be a focus on how data is collected, the type of data and the process which dictates how the data flows through the IT systems. Certainly integrating the numerous operational systems is required and organisations should also build in a data quality firewall which validates the accuracy of data at the data input stage.

 

The challenge may seem large but data is a strategic asset for the public sector that can yield great benefits for the country and its citizens.