From our engagement with customers, we have many known users of Statistics on Alcohol. However, since this publication is free to access through the NHS Digital website, there are also many unknown users of these statistics. We are continually aiming to improve our understanding of who our users are in order to enhance our knowledge on how they use our data. This is carried out via consultations and feedback forms available online.
In 2015 a consultation was carried out to gain feedback on how to make the report more user-friendly and accessible while also producing it in the most cost-effective way.
Findings of the Consultation
In response to the feedback received, the format of the report was changed for the 2016 report.
Below is listed our current understanding of the known users and uses of these statistics. Also included are the methods we use to attempt to engage with the unknown users.
Known Users and Uses
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) use these statistics to inform policy and planning as shown in Appendix C.
NHS use the reports and tables for analyses, benchmarking and to inform decision making.
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) use these data for secondary analyses.
Media - these data are used to underpin articles in newspapers, journals and other articles.
Public Health Campaign Groups - data are used to inform policy and decision making and to examine trends and behaviours.
Public - all information is accessible for general public use for any particular purpose.
Ad-hoc requests – the statistics are used by NHS Digital to answer Parliamentary Questions (PQs), Freedom of Information (FOI) request and ad-hoc queries. Ad-hoc requests are received from health professionals; research companies; public sector organisations, and members of the public, showing the statistics are widely used and not solely within the profession.
Unknown Users
This publication is free to access via the NHS Digital website:
Statistics on Alcohol
Consequently, the majority of users will access the report without being known to us. Therefore, it is important to put mechanisms in place to try to understand how these additional users are using the statistics and to gain feedback on how we can make these data more useful to them. On the webpage where the publication appears there is a Contact us link at the bottom of the page. Any feedback is passed to the team responsible for the report to consider.