One Year Follow Up to the HMICS Report

It has been over a year since the publication of a key report, “National baseline review of healthcare provision within police custody centres in Scotland”, by Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS).

The review identified a great variation in access to healthcare between different custody locations and made a powerful case for improvements in the quality of healthcare provision. With great relevance to our work at SONAR, the review emphasised the importance of collection and sharing of data:

“There was a recognition that improvement is needed in how services capture and report on healthcare data and key performance indicators in the context of police custody. There was consensus across all NHS Scotland boards that the current electronic system for recording healthcare data (Adastra) is not fit for purpose and does not support the comparison of clinical data nor enable national reporting.”

It concluded by calling for a new electronic system to replace the current infrastructure:

“It is clear therefore, that Health boards require a suitable electronic system that supports them to appropriately record and monitor clinical data to ensure patient needs are met and enables the comparison and sharing of clinical data.”

One year later and these concerns remain current. In fact earlier this month, the report “Nothing to see here”, published by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, presented very similar evidence. The study found that between 2015 and 2023, 26 people died in custody in Scotland with a further 198 deaths following police contact . Across all custodial settings, a repeated cause of death and harm were basic errors of information such as lost hospital letters, missed appointments or recommended tests:

“In previous reports we have noted a tendency in prison of homogenising the prison population as ‘unhealthy’, sidelining scrutiny of healthcare quality and access within custody. Several cases raised questions about the possible impacts that incarceration can have on health outcomes, including poor communication between prisons and hospitals, missed health appointments and scans.”

It goes without saying that we at SONAR are still here and even more ready to help. Evidence from England also shows the importance of accurate collection and sharing of key data. We remain keen to work with all relevant authorities to progress the recommendations of the HIS / HMICS report, in particular recommendation #5:

“NHS National Services Scotland, NHS boards and HSCPs should work together to ensure clinical data is appropriately recorded and monitored to ensure patient needs are met and to support the comparison of clinical data and national reporting of outcomes.”

John White

Founder & CEO

The Power of Visualised Data: A Key to Understanding and Improving KPIs and Data Quality

Unlocking the Potential of Data through Visualisation

In the age of digital information, data is the cornerstone of decision-making in any organisation. However, the vast amount of data can be overwhelming, leading to indecision or incorrect conclusions, becoming a cause for concern when dealing with the healthcare of people in custody.   This is where the power of visualised data comes into play. By transforming complex data sets into graphical representations, we can unlock a deeper understanding to help make more informed decisions.

Visualising for Better Understanding

Visual data representation is not just about making numbers look appealing; it’s about making them speak. Charts, graphs, and other visual tools translate the language of data into a form that is easily digestible and accessible to all levels of an organisation. For example, a trend that might take hours to decipher in a spreadsheet can be understood in seconds through a line graph.

Enhancing KPI Results

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are essential metrics used to evaluate the success of an organisation and its people. Visualisation tools can track and display these KPIs in real-time, allowing managers and teams to react swiftly to changes. This immediate visibility leads to quicker decision-making and a more agile approach to reaching targets.  Visualised data also plays a crucial role in enhancing data quality. Inconsistent or incorrect data can easily be spotted in visual formats. For example, outliers in a data set that might go unnoticed in rows and columns can be immediately identified in a scatter plot, prompting a further investigation into data accuracy.

Creating a culture that values data-driven decision-making starts with making data accessible and understandable. Visualisation bridges the gap between raw data and actionable insights. When data is presented visually, it becomes a common language that everyone in the organisation can speak and understand.

Several tools and technologies are available to assist in data visualisation. From Microsoft Excel’s basic charts to more sophisticated tools like Tableau, Power BI, and Qlik, these technologies offer varying levels of complexity and customisation to suit different business needs.

In terms of Health and Justice, visualised data plays a crucial role in the ability to present complex information in a more accessible way.   Within the health portion visualised data allows the user to improve their understanding of complex data sets and therefore enhances communication to a broader audience, not just health care professionals.   Within Justice, visualised data increases the users ability to perform analysis.  Identifying patters and relationships between different data sets proves useful in the development of case studies.   This can help with the impact of policy assessments.  For example, policymakers seeing data in a more robust and visualised manner can make informed decisions based on the effectiveness on justice programs aimed at the improvement of recidivism rates.   This vital to the H&J Commissioner when health’s needs analysis and input into the specification for H&J healthcare tenders.

Conclusion

In conclusion, visualised data is a powerful tool in understanding and improving KPIs and data quality. By turning data into visual stories, organisations can gain insights more quickly, make data-driven decisions, and foster a culture that embraces data as a key asset. In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, the ability to effectively visualise data is not just an advantage; it’s a necessity.

SONAR CMS comes with the functionality to visualise your data is a more meaningful and impactful way.   We allow the user to manipulate their reporting views to create dynamic and informative visuals that enhance the story of data and provide meaningful insights into the behaviours of your KPI results.  

House of Lords – Justice and Home Affairs Select Committee

Cutting Crime: Better Community Sentences

Just after Christmas, the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee looked forward to a world of better health treatment after custody, with a stronger range of specialised services - a world which, I hope, SONAR can help to deliver.

The Committee published its report “Cutting crime: better community sentences” on 28 December. It argued that community services can succeed in reducing reoffending: “with the right investment, intensive community sentences can succeed where short prison sentences fail”. It also looked at best practice in providing rehabilitation services.

The Committee strongly emphasised the importance of health treatment after custody. As it said, “helping people on probation face their addictions or mental health issues helps reduce crime”. It drew attention to the New Chance programme, an adult diversion programme for women in the West Midlands. In this programme, after treatment, people who had mental health issues had a 37 per cent lower reoffending rate than the control group. Among those who had substance misuse, the results were 55 per cent lower. SONAR’s ability to collect and share health information pre- and post-release is highly relevant here.

The Committee also noted the success of women's centres. As part of its probation reforms in 2021, the Ministry of Justice let contracts worth around £50 million for services tailored to female offenders through women’s centres. These have provided courses, such as confidence-building; tailored support, for example for victims of domestic abuse; and mental health treatment. The Committee called for this kind of service to be expanded to male offenders as well, raising the prospect of a network of rehabilitation centres across the country. Again, SONAR's ability to join up services, and to ensure that all professionals have up-to-date health information, will strongly support initiatives of this kind:

• The SONAR Secure module (holding healthcare information for prisons and other custodial environments) and the SONAR ReSet, (for people transitioning back into the community) share information seamlessly.

• They comply fully with NHS and criminal justice standards on privacy.

• The SONAR ReSet Hub is designed to support probation teams after release - for example, by flagging when an ex-offender has missed a medical or other appointment.

Improving health is a wonderful end in itself but, in the criminal justice system, it has the extra benefit of reducing crime too. I look forward to engaging with the House of Lords Committee as we continue to explain how SONAR can support a modern health and justice agenda.