A resource supporting joint analysis of data from the four UK nations.
What is routine data?
Most of our research uses routine or administrative health care data. That is, data that is collected as a routine part of a patient’s journey within the health care system. This type of data can provide up to date, population level coverage of patient treatment and outcomes.
Are routine datasets consistent across the UK?
Whilst data collection and coding are consistent within the UK nations, health care is a devolved power which means that there are considerable differences between them. This can become problematic when any research seeks to analyse the UK as a whole or more than one of the four nations together.
What did this project aim to do?
With that in mind, in this project (and as part of our CORECT-R project with the University of Leeds and Oxford) we have sought to provide guidance on harmonising some of the key administrative datasets used in cancer research in the UK. In the first instance, we have sought to provide this harmonisation guidance for Scotland and England.
Below you can click on the headings to find more information about the datasets, the types of variables included in them, and further guidance on how specific variables compare between Scotland and England.
