Where is this data from?

The data on each child’s operation and what was wrong with their heart comes from the hospital’s records. The data on whether a child survived to 30 days after their operation comes from both the hospital and the Office of National Statistics.

Each hospital in the UK and Ireland must collect data on every surgery or intervention carried out on a child under 16 years old. Every three months, hospitals must submit this data to the national audit body, NCHDA (The National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research). NCHDA sets out exactly what data is collected and each hospital undergoes independent checks of the quality of their submitted data. NCHDA also reports to the UK Department of Health, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and other NHS regulatory bodies.

NCHDA tracks the survival of these children by linking to the national register of deaths using patients’ NHS number (in England and Wales) and also from hospital records.