Health & Care Intelligence Specialist

This occupation is found in a range of organisations throughout the health and social care sector. The sector includes organisations which study the health of populations, plan, commission, manage, deliver, monitor and evaluate health and social care policies and services. The organisational settings range from central government departments and arms-length bodies through to individual NHS organisations and local authorities. Community Interest Companies and Academic Health Science Networks may also employ people in this occupation.. The broad purpose of the occupation is to take data on individual or population health and use of services and other forms of evidence such as scientific publications and evidence reviews and turn it into health and care intelligence such that it has impact on decision makers across the health and care system and informs and influences their decisions, leading ultimately to improved population health and better patient outcomes and experiences. People in the occupation are involved in the planning, implementation and evaluation of health and care services. In order to do this, they have to collect specific health and care data or work with those that collect health and care data to ensure that they can be used for these purposes as well as for direct clinical care and service provision.

Health and Care Intelligence Specialists have an impact at both a strategic and operational level by building and maintaining strong collaborative relationships with key stakeholders and colleagues at all levels. Their work leads to better health and care policy decisions, both at national and local level and improved implementation of services across health and social care.. In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with Their team members, organisational managers, internal and external stakeholders. Much of their output will take the form of reports for publication or pieces of analysis that they will present to senior managers and decision makers such as Boards and elected Councillors. Depending on their setting, they may also provide information to central government, other organisations or members of the public.

The Health and Care Intelligence Specialist will also have regular contact with colleagues who manage IT systems or provide specific data; have responsibility for the governance and security of data sources; or use data and information for specific purposes (for example finance or human resources colleagues). There is often substantial interaction between Health and Care Intelligence Specialists in different organisations and at different geographical levels. The organisational structures within which Health and Care Intelligence Specialists are located vary (for example, their team might report to a director of finance, commissioning, IT or public health).

Depending on their setting the Health and Care Intelligence Specialist will work with clinicians and service providers to support the management of departments and projects, evaluate care and support research. They will also work with planners and policymakers, including those with responsibility for public health functions. At national level interaction may be required with government ministers and members of parliament, national organisations inside and outside the health sector (e.g. charities and patients’ groups) and the media. Locally, regular interaction is required with NHS and local authority managers, elected councillors, and representatives of local organisations.. An employee in this occupation will be responsible for leading the production of high-quality information and interpretation through tasks including defining information requirements and advising colleagues on appropriate data sources and analytical approaches; specifying or managing collection of data; analysing a wide range of data and producing informative reports and presentations. The exact nature of these responsibilities will vary depending on the organisational setting and specific role. Work to be delivered will often be a mixture of routine activities such as annual reports, special projects and ad hoc/responsive outputs.

The Health and Care Intelligence Specialist will obtain and work with existing health and care data and will also have responsibility for designing or carrying out bespoke data collections when required. Health and Care Intelligence Specialists will be responsible for negotiation and drawing up of health and care data sharing agreements and compliance with the relevant legislation, procedures and health service guidance for handling confidential patient information.

Health and Care Intelligence Specialists are usually responsible for interpreting research findings and including them along with their analyses in their advice and outputs to inform the implementation of evidence-based interventions. They may also have a role in obtaining and reviewing research findings. They are responsible for communicating their outputs to non-technical audiences in both written and verbal formats.

At a senior level Health and Care Intelligence Specialists provide leadership within their organisation, promoting and advocating the use of high-quality intelligence outputs to inform decision making and improve population health and health and care services. At almost all levels they will have management, supervisory or coaching and training responsibilities for less experienced staff and, sometimes, external stakeholders. They are responsible for managing complex intelligence projects.

Depending on the setting the Health and Care Intelligence Specialist may focus on the activities of NHS and other care providers; working primarily at local level, although they could work at national level in organisations with central data management, planning and oversight functions. Alternatively, they may focus on the health of the population as a whole; working at national, regional or local level in organisations that have overall responsibility for the health and wellbeing of the population and for the protection of public health. In some settings, they may undertake specific public health/epidemiological functions such as surveillance of infectious diseases..