News : Nursing and Midwifery Council data linked to Census 2021 (UK) is now available on the Integrated Data Service
The Integrated Data Service (IDS) has a vision, to bring together ready-to-use data, to enable faster and wider collaborative analysis for the public good.
We are always thrilled to collaborate with our partner organisations to bring accredited researchers exciting and invaluable new data.
We are pleased to announce that the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) linked to Census 2021 data is now available.
About the dataset
The first of its kind on the IDS, this is one of Administrative Data Research UK (ADR UK) (opens in a new tab) ’s flagship datasets. That means it is considered to be of significant research value.
This de-identified dataset – which ensures someone’s personal identity cannot be revealed – is the result of collaboration between Edinburgh Napier University (opens in a new tab) , the Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research (opens in a new tab) , ADR UK, the NMC, and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) (opens in a new tab)
The NMC is a professional association that regulates and represents nurses and midwives in the UK.
This dataset includes extensive information provided by nurses, nursing associates, and midwives when they first joined the NMC register, then every three years when individuals revalidate their registration.
What is included
This dataset includes anonymised information on age, length of time on the NMC register, and whether the individual is a qualified practicing nurse, nursing associate, or midwife (and if they are dual qualified).
For those who are nurses, the information includes whether that individual is registered as an adult, mental health, children’s or learning disability nurse.
Optional information for all registrants includes country of initial training, place of residence, post registration qualifications, and protected characteristics, such as ethnicity and gender.
Furthermore, additional optional information is sought at revalidation relating to where the registrant has been working (geographically and employment type).
A further dataset provides indication as to the date at which professionals left the register between 2018 and 2021.
These datasets have now also been linked to the Census 2021 for England and Wales, enabling analysis of demographic, geographic and social aspects of these professions, and implications for entry and retention, further enhancing this wealth of data.
Emma Gordon, Director of ADR UK said:
“This is a hugely important linked dataset that will help us understand the demographic and geographic characteristics of this workforce. Until now, it has not been possible to carry out this type of detailed research. The need for this was very starkly demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the hard work and dedication of data owners and researchers to create this data resource, we will be in a much better position to understand who is in this workforce, and how we can build capacity and retain talent moving forward”.
Pete Benton, Director General and the Senior Responsible Officer for IDS, responded:
“This rich new dataset, brought about through robust collaboration with our partners, will provide a pathway to unlocking valuable and exciting new insights which can be used to target recruitment and retention of health professionals. Ensuring users can access diverse datasets in a safe, secure, and efficient manner, to produce better statistical and analytical outputs, is at the beating heart of the IDS. I am thrilled that this flagship dataset will contribute to that philosophy”.
Accessing these datasets
Access to these datasets using the IDS is available to all accredited researchers. That is someone who is trained, trusted, and approved to access data. Find out how to become an accredited researcher in our how to access section.
We look forward to seeing the outputs using this exciting new data.