Assuring Transformation (AT)
The Assuring Transformation collection holds information about people with a learning disability and autistic people who are receiving treatment or care as inpatients in a mental health hospital.
Project status
Official documentation relating to the data collection can be accessed on the SCCI Assuring Transformation web page.
The collection uses a live data entry system with a cut of data taken at regular intervals. Data is published by NHS England monthly and quarterly, and published data is available.
Collection cut off dates
This Clinical Audit Platform is a live data collection system and commissioners are expected to keep data up to date for all patients they commission. For reporting purposes, a cut of the data will be taken at midnight on the last day of every month (this is not dependant on working days), this data will be used by NHS England to produce monthly and quarterly reports. An additional cut is taken at midnight every Sunday; this data is used to produce weekly management information dashboards which are shared with NHS England and the regions.
There is no deadline for the submission of data for this collection. Commissioners are required to update records as soon as they are informed of changes to the patient's care plan.
Background to the collection
The Department of Health published Transforming Care: A national response to Winterbourne View Hospital and the Concordat: Programme of Action in December 2012. The review of services received indicated that failings were widespread within the operating organisation, but importantly, also evident across the wider care system. The Concordat and 63 actions detailed within the review seek to address poor and inappropriate care and achieve the best outcomes for people with a learning disability or autism, who may also have mental health needs or behaviour that challenges.
The purpose of this data collection is to ensure that the public awareness of the NHS commitments in the Winterbourne View Concordat is transparent and robust. It will also be used to triangulate with the Learning Disability Census, completed by providers on 30 September 2015. This process is important for informing and influencing The Winterbourne View Joint Improvement Programme.
The Assuring Transformation collection followed the Learning Disability Census.
The in-scope definition
A patient should be considered in scope for Assuring Transformation (AT) and recorded in the AT data set when they meet all of the following requirements:
- the person is receiving treatment / care in a facility that provides treatment and / or assessment for mental disorders
- the facility is registered by the Care Quality Commission as a hospital, operated by either an NHS or independent sector provider
- an NHS commissioner in England is responsible for commissioning their care
- the person has an inpatient bed normally designated for the treatment or care of people with a learning disability or autistic people or a bed designated for mental illness treatment or care
- the person has been diagnosed or is ‘clinically understood’ to have a learning disability and/or to be autistic
A patient may lack a formal diagnosis but be ‘clinically understood’ to have a learning disability or to be autistic. This is where the patient:
- has had a diagnosis of learning disability and/or autism, but this has not yet been formally recorded on the patient record
- is towards the end of a diagnostic pathway where there is good evidence to indicate that a clinical diagnosis of a learning disability or autism will be confirmed
Patients can be of any:
- age
- level of security (general/low/medium/high)
- status under the Mental Health Act (informal or detained)
Out of scope
Data should not be recorded for each individual person:
- in accommodation not registered with the Care Quality Commission as hospital beds
- in beds for physical healthcare
- who does not have a learning disability or is not autistic
Record level returns will reflect only in-patients or individuals on leave with a bed held vacant for them.
Data should be recorded for each individual person who meets these requirements.
If commissioners have not commissioned inpatient care for people who meet the above definition in the relevant period, they will still be required to submit a ‘nil’ return.
Further information
For further information, contact our national service desk.
Guidance
Learning Disability Census collections
The Learning Disability Census has collected data 3 times:
- 30 September 2015
- 30 September 2014
- 30 September 2013
Data is collected through the NHS England Clinical Audit Platform (CAP). Providers submit data to reflect the position on census day. Providers have a set period of time to submit their data for analysis before the platform closes.
More information on the background is available within our Learning Disability Census archive page.
Pooled budgets
One commissioning organisation will need to take responsibility for the submission or assign a ‘lead’ commissioner and this should be established through discussion between the commissioners involved. Either organisation can make the submission. The submitter will need to obtain a Single Sign-on and Data Depot registration to do this. If necessary, we can send a registration invitation email, please contact our national service desk.
Last edited: 27 October 2026 11:05 am