From 1 October 2019, responsibility for some national workforce data, statistical & intelligence function transferred from ISD to NHS Education for Scotland (NES).
A joint letter by the Chief Executives of NSS and NES, dated 23 August 2019, details the rationale for the changes and arrangements for the transfer of these functions.
Publications released prior to 3 December 2019 can be accessed via the Public Health Scotland (previously ISD Scotland) Workforce publication page.
During the transition period, NES voluntarily applied the UK Statistics Authority's Code of Practice for Statistics to ensure full continuity in producing the NHS Workforce statistics according to the three pillars of the code of practice: Trustworthiness, Quality and Value.
Trustworthiness
Having confidence in the people and organisations that produce statistics and data.
Quality
Using data and methods that produce assured statistics.
Throughout the early stages of the transfer of responsibilities, NES worked closely with colleagues in ISD in order to:
NES used the same data sources used by ISD for publishing workforce statistics prior to the transfer of responsibilities. The ISD Standard Operating processes were also adhered to, and the existing codebase and processing tools were used and only modified to improve performance or to implement ongoing, operational improvements.
Value
Producing statistics that support society’s need for information.
NES produced all the quarterly statistics updates expected by stakeholders and in the established reporting formats.