Guide to the underlying data

Presentation of the data

As part of our commitment to open data, the NHSBSA publishes the underlying data of the Innovation Scorecard publication in a series of comma-separated variable (csv) files.

The data has been released in csv files as these consist of tabulated data expressed simply in plain text, which are ideal for computer applications due to the lack of formatting. The csv format is widely recognised by computer applications and software packages, and importing csv files can be automated.

File structure

We have released 10 csv files, that are grouped into 2 files in a ZIP file format. A ZIP file contains a number of smaller files and folder which have been compressed. You will need to unzip the ZIP file to extract the smaller files.

Output-Groupings.zip contains 5 files, one each for national, regional, integrated care board (ICB), sub-ICB location, and trust level data for medicine utilisation for all medicines included in a grouping.

Output-Utilisation.zip contains 5 files, one each for national, regional, ICB, sub-ICB location, and trust level data for medicine utilisation for all medicines not included in a grouping.

Data structure

All files have a similar structure.

Each file for medicines in a grouping, except for sub-ICB location level, includes additional variables populated only for data rows for the direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) secondary grouping and its medicines.

File variables

Variable number	Variable name	Description	Example values
1	year	financial year	2022_23
2	quarter	financial quarter	1 = 1 April to 30 June
			2 = 1 July to 30 September
			3 = 1 October to 31 December
			4 = 1 January to 31 March
3	year_quarter	financial year and quarter	2022/23 Q1 = 1 April 2022 to 30 June 2022
4	data_type	geography level and type of data	national grouping
4	data_type	geography level and type of data	trust utilisation
5	data_source	source of the data	primary care
5	data_source	source of the data	secondary care
6	treatment_type	type of treatment	medicine
6	treatment_type	type of treatment	MedTech = Medical Technology
7	treatment_name	the name of the treatment or the treatment group	olaparib
8	provider_code	the Organisation Data Service (ODS) code for the reported NHS geography or trust	E = England
8	provider_code		3 or 5 character ODS code
9	provider_name	the name of the reported NHS geography or trust	England
10	numerator	the volume used or the amount purchased	28
11	numerator_unit	the unit of the numerator	Assumed Daily Dose (ADD)
			Defined Daily Dose (DDD)
			tablets
			mgs
			units
			vials
12	high_level_condition	the high level condition that the medicine is used to treat, or for some groupings the included group of medicines	allergies
			arthritis
			chronic kidney disease
			cystic fibrosis
			hepatitis C
			SGLT-2 inhibitors
13	denominator	the figure that is used to standardise the numerator	248,965
14	denominator_unit	the unit of the denominator	population
14	denominator_unit	the unit of the denominator	finished consultant episode (FCE) days of hospital care
15	value	the standardised figure for use the value equals the numerator multiplied by 100,000 and divided by the denominator value = numerator *100,000/ denominator	135
16	value_unit	the unit of the standardised figure for use	tablets per 100,000 population
			DDD per 100,000 population
			vials per 100,000 population
			mgs per 100,000 FCE days hospital care
			E followed by 8 digits
17/23	provider_ons_code	the Office for National Statistics (ONS) statistical health geography code for the reported organisation	E followed by 8 digits

In the files for medicines not included in a grouping, and for medicines included in a grouping at sub ICB location level, provider_ons_code is the 17th variable. In the other files for medicines included in a grouping, provider_ons_code is the 23rd variable, after the additional variables listed below.

There may be empty values when:

in the files for medicines included in a grouping, the variables denominator, denominator_unit, value and value_unit are empty for data rows for the DOAC Secondary grouping and its medicines
in the trust level files, the variable provider_ons_code is empty

Additional variables for national, regional, ICB and trust grouping files

Some variables in the medicine grouping files are only populated for the data rows for the DOAC secondary grouping and its medicines.

Variable number	Variable name	Description
17	expected_days_of_treatment	Days of treatment with DOACs calculated from the number of hip and knee replacements recorded in HES data and the average days of treatment as specified in the NICE guidance
18	expected_upper_range	Upper range of expected days of treatment with DOACs calculated from the number of hip and knee replacements recorded in HES data and the maximum days of treatment as specified in the NICE guidance
19	expected_lower_range	Lower range of expected days of treatment with DOACs calculated from the number of hip and knee replacements recorded in HES data and the minimum days of treatment as specified in the NICE guidance
20	ratio_observed:expected	Ratio of observed ADDs to calculated expected days of treatment
21	upper_ratio_observed:expected	Ratio of observed ADDs to calculated upper range expected days of treatment
22	lower_ratio_observed:expected	Ratio of observed ADDs to calculated lower range expected days of treatment