Learn how the UKHSSG theme groups bring producers and users together to standardise methods, coordinate outputs and make health statistics more accessible across the four nations
The UK Health Statistics Steering Group (UKHSSG) established a set of theme groups following advice from the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). These groups are designed to ensure health and care statistics are relevant, coherent and accessible for a wide range of users.
Each theme group is chaired by a lead from one statistical provider and includes members from other official producers, with user voices embedded to shape priorities and future work.
The groups take a UK‑wide perspective where possible, working to align methods and reduce unnecessary duplication.
They are self‑established but draw on cross‑government membership and external stakeholders to address common challenges such as differences in definitions, publication timing and the discoverability of datasets and outputs.
How the theme groups operate
The groups follow a consistent set of objectives: improve coherence, harmonise methods, enhance accessibility and understand user needs.
To do this they map existing outputs, form focused working groups, and create resources to guide users. For example, mapping exercises categorise releases by epidemiology, pathways and outcomes to highlight gaps and overlaps. Where overlaps exist, small Task & Finish groups bring producers together to assess if methodological alignment is feasible and whether terminologies can be standardised across publications.
Cancer statistics: aligning definitions and access
Strategy and practical steps
The cancer theme group developed a framework mapping releases into the three domains of epidemiology, pathways and outcomes, then overlaid national outputs to find duplication and missing areas. Where similar topics are produced by different organisations, the group set up Task & Finish teams to explore harmonisation of methods and shared definitions. The group has also engaged with Cancer Research UK to help make outputs more navigable and understandable to users and is planning a centralised data hub to improve accessibility.
Planned products and contacts
Planned improvements include a publication matrix that will signpost where cancer statistics live across producers, published both on the Analysis Function webpages and on individual producer sites. For enquiries contact Paul Jennings, NHS England at [email protected]. Members include Cancer Research UK, Department of Health and Social Care, Department of Health Northern Ireland, NHS England, Public Health Scotland, Public Health Wales and the Welsh Government.
Priority topic groups and recent work
Births and child and maternal health
The births and maternal health theme is focused on increasing visibility of outputs and coordinating production to boost UK coherence. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has run a coherence exercise collecting definitions, breakdowns and publication timetables from producers across all four nations and is producing tailored advice for each nation. Group membership includes both producers and users, enabling feedback on changes to Child and Maternal Health publications and supporting better geographic comparisons for indicators such as mortality and inequality.
For further information contact Claire Sellwood Green, ONS at [email protected]. Members include the Care Quality Commission, National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, National Records of Scotland, NHS England, NISRA, Public Health Scotland, UK Health Security Agency and the Welsh Government.
Secondary care performance and waiting times
The secondary care performance theme aims to produce meaningful UK comparisons that emphasise similarities in metrics rather than differences. The group has published articles on the coherence of key performance measures covering ambulance response, planned care waiting times, A&E waiting times and cancer metrics. Work continues to explore novel comparison approaches—such as combining surveys, outcome measures and quality indicators—and to monitor and update metrics as publication practices evolve.
Contact Ryan Pike, Welsh Government at [email protected] for more details. Members include DHSC, NHS England, ONS, Public Health Scotland, Scottish Government and Public Health Wales.
Mental health: methods, coverage and recovery monitoring
The mental health theme prioritises harmonising definitions, increasing visibility and improving coverage of administrative datasets. Achievements include aligning primary care diagnostic code lists, publishing the MHSDS code used in monthly and annual reports, and releasing SNOMED reference sets to support users. The group has focused on raising data quality in the Mental Health Services Dataset (MHSDS), retiring bespoke collections where MHSDS can be the authoritative source, and supporting providers with guidance and webinars to improve key fields such as protected characteristics and waiting times.
Work to understand pandemic effects includes follow‑up surveys of children conducted 2026–2026 and the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey collected in 2026–2026, with findings expected to inform post‑pandemic recovery assessments (the adult survey was due to report later in 2026). For contact, email Cher Cartwright, NHS England at [email protected]. Member organisations include NHS trusts, the Care Quality Commission, Departments across government, UCL and public health agencies across the UK.
Mortality, experience data, workforce and public health topics
The mortality theme maintains monthly meetings to coordinate publications, align advice and track methodological developments such as changes to death certification. Members have been briefed about the planned change to scrutiny and certification through a statutory medical examiner system: “There is a change in the death certification process that will come into force on 9 September.” The group produced a mortality action plan in response to the health and social care consultation to reduce duplication and improve efficiency.
Other groups cover experience data, workforce statistics and areas such as obesity, physical activity and nutrition. Common priorities across these themes are to identify comparability, fill evidence gaps, share methodologies and coordinate user engagement. Contacts vary by theme; general enquiries can be sent to [email protected].
