National Radiotherapy Waiting Times Database, 2015–16; Quality Statement
Data Quality Statement Attributes
Identifying and definitional attributes | |
Metadata item type: | Data Quality Statement |
---|---|
Synonymous names: | National Radiotherapy Waiting Times Database (NRWTD), 2015–16 |
METEOR identifier: | 668535 |
Registration status: | AIHW Data Quality Statements, Superseded 16/07/2018 |
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), which were collected from participating radiotherapy providers for the period 2015–16. This is the first 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. Each record provides 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). Other data collected includes administrative details, patient demographic characteristics and some clinical information, including:
Summary of key issues: |
---|---|
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 2015–16. This includes records for all patients who started a course of radiotherapy between 1 July 2015 and 30 June 2016. These data were first published in June 2017. |
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: /content/index.phtml/itemId/517220 |
Relevance: | The Radiotherapy Waiting Times NMDS collects information about the length of time that patients wait for radiotherapy in Australia, and the factors that affect waiting times. Information is also collected on the number of courses of radiotherapy provided and key demographic and clinical information about the patients who received this treatment. 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 may not be the only waiting period in a patient’s treatment pathway. The Radiotherapy Waiting Times NMDS 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:
|
Coherence: | Although 2015–16 is the first year of collection of radiotherapy waiting times data as an NMDS, rather than as a pilot collection, the metadata upon which the data collections are based did not change. As a result, the 2013–14, 2014–15, and 2015–16 data collections are broadly comparable. The following differences should be noted:
|
Data products | |
Implementation start date: | 01/07/2015 |
Source and reference attributes | |
Submitting organisation: | AIHW |
Relational attributes | |
Related metadata references: | Supersedes National Radiotherapy Waiting Times Database, 2014–15; Quality Statement AIHW Data Quality Statements, Superseded 02/08/2017 Has been superseded by National Radiotherapy Waiting Times Database, 2016–17; Quality Statement AIHW Data Quality Statements, Superseded 06/08/2019 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 |