Identifying and definitional attributes | |
Metadata item type: | Data Quality Statement |
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Synonymous names: | National Radiotherapy Waiting Times Database (NRWTD), 2016–17 |
METEOR identifier: | 696042 |
Registration status: | AIHW Data Quality Statements, Superseded 06/08/2019 |
Data quality | |
Data quality statement summary: | The National Radiotherapy Waiting Times Database (NRWTD) (METeOR identifier: 598445) is a compilation of data supplied to the AIHW based on the Radiotherapy Waiting Times National Minimum Data Set (NMDS) (METeOR identifier: 579304). This statement describes the quality of the data provided by participating radiotherapy providers for the period 2016–17. Each data record contains information relating to a course of radiotherapy that began in the reference period (that is, where the waiting period associated with the course of radiotherapy ended in the reference period). The data collected includes administrative details, patient demographic characteristics and some clinical information. Data items are:
Summary of key issues: Reporting by radiotherapy providers for this NMDS was mandatory for public providers; all private providers also participated on a voluntary basis. The way in which data definitions are applied may vary, particularly the setting of the Ready-for-care date, which influences the reported waiting time for a course of treatment. These differences cannot be resolved or compensated for in this data collection. This may particularly affect comparisons of data across states and territories, and across sectors. |
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Institutional environment: | The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) is a major national agency set up by the Australian Government under the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Act 1987 to provide reliable, regular and relevant information and statistics on Australia's health and welfare. It is an independent corporate Commonwealth entity established in 1987, governed by a management board, and accountable to the Australian Parliament through the Health portfolio. The AIHW aims to improve the health and wellbeing of Australians through better health and welfare information and statistics. It collects and reports information on a wide range of topics and issues, ranging from health and welfare expenditure, hospitals, disease and injury, and mental health, to ageing, homelessness, disability and child protection. The Institute also plays a role in developing and maintaining national metadata standards. This work contributes to improving the quality and consistency of national health and welfare statistics. The Institute works closely with governments and non-government organisations to achieve greater adherence to these standards in administrative data collections to promote national consistency and comparability of data and reporting. One of the main functions of the AIHW is to work with the states and territories to improve the quality of administrative data and, where possible, to compile national datasets based on data from each jurisdiction, to analyse these datasets and disseminate information and statistics. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Act 1987, in conjunction with compliance to the Privacy Act 1988, (Commonwealth) ensures that the data collections managed by the AIHW are kept securely and under the strictest conditions with respect to privacy and confidentiality. For further information see the AIHW website www.aihw.gov.au. The state and territory health authorities received the data used in this report from public radiotherapy providers. States and territories use these data for service planning, monitoring and internal and public reporting. These public radiotherapy providers may be required to provide data to states and territories through a variety of administrative arrangements, contractual requirements or legislation. Some private providers that have a contract or partnership arrangement to provide services to public patients were required to participate, while other private providers (that were not obliged by a contract or a partnership agreement to participate) did so voluntarily. Some private providers submitted data directly to the AIHW, while others submitted data through their state or territory health authority. |
Timeliness: | The reference period for this data set is 2016–17. This includes records for all patients who started a course of radiotherapy between 1 July 2016 and 30 June 2017. These data were first published in July 2018. |
Accessibility: | The AIHW publishes data from this collection on its website at: http://www.aihw.gov.au. |
Interpretability: | Metadata information for the Radiotherapy Waiting Times NMDS is published in the AIHW’s Metadata Online Registry (METeOR) at: |
Relevance: | The National Radiotherapy Waiting Times Database collates information about the length of time that patients wait for radiotherapy in Australia, and key demographic and clinical information about the patients who received this treatment. The data can be used to derive information about the number of courses of radiotherapy provided in the reference period. The scope of the NMDS is patients who began a course of radiotherapy in the reporting period in Australia. The scope is restricted to measuring one period of time in a patient’s treatment pathway, the time between being assessed as ready for care by a radiation oncologist and commencing treatment. This is not the only waiting period in a patient’s treatment pathway; other waiting periods—such as the times between contacts with a general practitioner, medical oncologist, and radiation oncologist, and the time between the first consultation with a radiation oncologist and the patient becoming ready for care—are not collected. The data collection was created in response to a request from the Australian health ministers (via the then Australian Health Ministers’ Conference) for data on the length of time people in Australia have waited for radiotherapy. |
Accuracy: | Several quality issues were identified, though it is not possible to quantify their impact:
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Coherence: | This is the second year of data collection under NMDS arrangements, though data for 2013–14 and 2014–15 were collated as pilot collection data supported by a data set specification. The 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 and 2016–17 data collections are broadly comparable. It should be noted that participation by private sites rose substantially in the 2015–16 data collection (100%), compared with the 2014–15 collection (76%) and the 2013–14 data collection (47%). Private participation in 2016–17 was also 100%. South Australia noted that the decrease in activity (decrease in total number of courses reported) in South Australia between 2015–16 and 2016–17 was due to the move of the site of the Royal Adelaide Hospital in September 2017. Caution is required when comparing data over time for Victoria and South Australia due to data quality issues as outlined in the Accuracy section above. |
Data products | |
Implementation start date: | 01/07/2016 |
Source and reference attributes | |
Submitting organisation: | AIHW |
Relational attributes | |
Related metadata references: | Supersedes National Radiotherapy Waiting Times Database, 2015–16; Quality Statement AIHW Data Quality Statements, Superseded 16/07/2018 Has been superseded by National Radiotherapy Waiting Times Database, 2017–18; Quality Statement AIHW Data Quality Statements, Superseded 06/10/2020 See also Radiotherapy waiting times NMDS 2015-2018 Health, Superseded 25/01/2018 See also Radiotherapy waiting times NMDS 2018- Health, Standard 25/01/2018 |