We have published the annual screening data for the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the 2017 to 2018 screening year (1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018).
The KPIs are used to measure how the 11 NHS screening programmes are performing and give a high level overview of their quality. They contribute to the quality assurance of screening programmes but are not, in themselves, enough to quality assure or performance manage screening services.
KPIs have 2 performance thresholds. The achievable threshold is the level at which the screening service is likely to be running optimally. The acceptable threshold is the lowest level which a screening service is expected to attain. KPIs are defined as small number KPIs if the number of individuals counted by the measure is less than 5.
We have picked out the main highlights of the data below, but would encourage you to look through the full datasets for more information on methodology, caveats and completeness of data.
Antenatal KPIs
All the published antenatal KPIs saw a continued improvement between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018 compared to the previous 2 years.
Antenatal coverage for HIV screening (ID1) and sickle cell and thalassaemia screening (ST1) reached their highest ever performance, both at 99.6%.
For the first year of published data, coverage of the fetal anomaly ultrasound scan (FA2) was above the achievable threshold at 98.9%.
Table 1: Annual antenatal KPI data trends
| KPI code | Acceptable threshold | Achievable threshold | 2015 to 2016 national average | 2016 to 2017 national average | 2017 to 2018
national average |
| ID11 | ≥ 95.0 | ≥ 99.0 | 99.1 | 99.5 | 99.6 |
| ID2 | ≥ 70.0 | ≥ 90.0 | 73.4 | 80.3 | 84.0 |
| ID32 | ≥ 95.0 | ≥ 99.0 | - | - | - |
| ID42 | ≥ 95.0 | ≥ 99.0 | - | - | - |
| FA1 | ≥ 97.0 | = 100 | 96.8 | 97.4 | 97.6 |
| FA23 | ≥ 90.0 | ≥ 95.0 | - | - | 98.9 |
| ST1 | ≥ 95.0 | ≥ 99.0 | 99.1 | 99.3 | 99.6 |
| ST24 | ≥ 50.0 | ≥ 75.0 | 51.8 | 53.1 | 55.9 |
| ST3 | ≥ 95.0 | ≥ 99.0 | 96.8 | 97.3 | 97.6 |
1 ID1 and ST3 thresholds changed in 2016 to 2017: acceptable from 90.0% to 95.0% and achievable from 95.0% to 99.0%.
2 ID3 and ID4 were introduced in 2017 to 2018. During the first year of these KPIs the data was collected but not published.
3 FA2 was introduced in 2016 to 2017. During the first year of this KPI the data was collected but not published.
4 We do not recommend that ST2 is used to compare performance between maternity services as there are inconsistencies in the way it is reported.
Newborn KPIs
Improvements were seen in all newborn KPIs in 2017 to 2018 except for the timely assessment for referrals KPI in the newborn hearing screening programme (NH2), which saw a slight decrease in performance.
The newborn blood spot KPI for avoidable repeat tests (NB2) also saw continued improvement with national performance down to 2.5% (NB2 is a reverse polarity KPI where a lower figure is better).
Table 2: Annual newborn KPI data trends
| KPI code | Acceptable threshold | Achievable threshold | 2015 to 2016 national average | 2016 to 2017 national average | 2017 to 2018
national average |
| NB11 | ≥ 95.0 | ≥ 99.0 | 95.6 | 96.5 | 96.7 |
| NB22 | ≤ 2.0 | ≤ 1.0 | 3.6 | 2.9 | 2.5 |
| NB43 | ≥ 95.0 | ≥ 99.9 | - | 87.1 | 90.0 |
| NH1 | ≥ 97.0 | ≥ 99.5 | 98.2 | 98.4 | 98.5 |
| NH24 | ≥ 90.0 | ≥ 95.0 | 87.2 | 88.8 | 88.7 |
| NP15 | ≥ 95.0 | ≥ 99.5 | 94.9 | 93.5 | 95.4 |
| NP25 | ≥ 95.0 | = 100 | 41.1 | 37.4 | 52.0 |
1 NB1 achievable threshold changed in 2017 to 2018 from 99.9% to 99.0%.
2 NB2 achievable threshold changed in 2017 to 2018 from 0.5% to 1.0%.
3 NB4 was introduced in 2015 to 2016. During the first year of this KPI the data was collected but not published.
4 NH1 and NH2 thresholds changed in 2016 to 2017: NH1 acceptable from 95.0% to 97.0%, NH2 achievable from 100% to 95.0%.
5 We do not currently recommend using NP1 or NP2 as a performance measure because of concerns about data quality.
Young person and adult KPIs
For diabetic eye screening, DE1 (uptake of routine digital screening event) and DE3 (timely assessment for R3A screen positive) increased slightly.
Across the abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) KPIs, performance of the 3 KPIs remained above the acceptable and below the achievable thresholds.
It is the first year of data publication for the 6 new KPIs for the cancer screening programmes. National performance was above the acceptable thresholds for bowel uptake (BCS1), breast uptake (BS1), and breast screening round length (BS2), but below for cervical coverage (CS1 and CS2).
Table 3: Annual young person and adult KPI data trends
| KPI code | Acceptable threshold | Achievable threshold | 2015 to 2016 national average | 2016 to 2017 national average | 2017 to 2018
national average |
| DE11 | ≥ 75.0 | ≥ 85.0 | 83.0 | 82.2 | 82.7 |
| DE2 | ≥ 70.0 | ≥ 95.0 | 96.5 | 96.5 | 94.3 |
| DE3 | ≥ 80.0 | - | 79.8 | 75.4 | 76.0 |
| AA22 | ≥ 75.0 | ≥ 85.0 | - | 78.7 | 77.6 |
| AA32 | ≥ 85.0 | ≥ 95.0 | - | 91.1 | 92.1 |
| AA42 | ≥ 85.0 | ≥ 95.0 | - | 92.7 | 92.5 |
| BCS13 | ≥ 52.0 | ≥ 60.0 | - | - | 56.6 |
| BCS23 | No threshold | - | - | 58.9 | |
| BS13,4 | ≥ 70.0 | ≥ 80.0 | - | - | 70.5 |
| BS23, 4 | ≥ 90.0 | = 100 | - | - | 90.6 |
| CS13 | ≥ 80.0 | N/A | - | - | 69.4 |
| CS23 | ≥ 80.0 | N/A | - | - | 76.3 |
1 DE1 thresholds changed in 2017 to 2018: acceptable from 70.0% to 75.0% and achievable from 80.0% to 85.0%
2 AA2, AA3, AA4 were introduced in 2015 to 2016. During the first year of these KPIs the data were collected but not published
3 BS1, BS2, CS1, CS2, BCS1, BCS2 were first published in 2017 to 2018.
4 BS1 and BS2 are based on provisional data
Please send any queries, suggestions or feedback about the KPIs to the PHE Screening Helpdesk.
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