Data quality

The NHS Digital Maturity Assessment is an annual self-assessment survey that collects detailed data on the digital and data maturity of NHS organisations in England.

The organisations in scope of the assessment are:

• 205 NHS Trusts 
• 42 Integrated Care Boards

The survey evaluates digital maturity across approximately 47 domains depending on the care setting, aligned with the 7 pillars of the NHS What Good Looks Like (WGLL) framework. Each care setting within an organisation receives a tailored survey, featuring subjective questions for each domain. These responses are used to calculate a maturity score on a 1 to 5 scale. All elements of a scoring level are required to be met to achieve a score. Please note that at the domain level, scores are whole numbers; a provider may score 1 or 3, but not 2.5.

This report provides local, regional and national level information from the DMA assessment for the period April to June 2025. It comprises data from all NHS Trusts in England providing NHS funded secondary care during the fiscal year ending March 2025. 

The scope and content of the DMA assessments are reviewed annually to ensure continued collection of information necessary for, and relevant to, measuring and monitoring the digital maturity of NHS Trusts. 

NHS England has worked with stakeholders and data providers (including NHS England, subject matter experts, CIOs and digital leaders) via a series of focus groups to improve data quality. This involved refining questions, updating definitions, and conducting thorough data checks during and after collection, with input from regional and national teams. Organisations were also given a chance to review their data after a provisional release.  

The DMA (DAPB4108) operates subject to the relevant internal approvals.

The DMA 2025 data was released to respondent organisations shortly after it was submitted and validated. It reflects digital maturity data as of June 2025, when the DMA returns process closed.

Data was collected, validated, and processed between April and June 2025 via the DMA online survey portal, with additional validation being carried out via online dashboard reporting to create summary reports, ICB, and regional benchmarks.

The DMA has existed in its current format since 2023. However, the precise data has changed over time due to the ever-changing landscape of the NHS, and this has led to a combination of:

• regular enhancements to data fields and/or definitions
• annual addition of new data fields
• regular removal (and occasionally subsequent reintroduction) of data fields
• regular changes to the level at which data is collected (between Provider and ICB level)

The combined effect of these changes, in many cases, limits and constrains the ability to undertake long-term analysis or compare trends in data fields due to inconsistent or unavailable data. Therefore, where comparable data is shown, this is referred to the sub-set of information that has remained consistent over time.