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Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device -----Original Message----- From: "Macfarlane, Alison" <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Childbirth statistics discussion list <[log in to unmask]> Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2010 11:53:53 To: [log in to unmask]<[log in to unmask]> Reply-To: "Macfarlane, Alison" <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Problems with new version of Maternity HES data We are writing to warn you that changes made to the provider level tables from Maternity HES, as a result of the Information Centre’s new policies on the suppression of small numbers have made them virtually uninterpretable. There are very few percentages, for example for such key items of information as the percentages of birth by caesarean section and the suppression of numbers of unknowns where small, makes it impossible for users to calculate the rates themselves as percentages of births with stated methods of deliveries. This makes it impossible for users of the data to make inter-trust comparisons and thus compare and highlight wide differences in practice. It therefore drastically reduces the usefulness of the data to support choice in maternity care or for other comparative purposes. Alison Macfarlane and Miranda Dodwell Alison Macfarlane Department of Midwifery City University London Philpot Street, London E1 2EA Phone (0) (44) 207 040 5832 Fax (0) (44) 207 040 5811 Email [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> www.city.ac.uk<http://www.city.ac.uk/> This email and its contents are the property of City University London. If you are not the intended recipient of this message and any attached files, please delete it. Unauthorised copying or distribution of this message, its attachments or parts thereof, is strictly prohibited unless specifically stated otherwise. Please consider the environment before printing my email