We have published the annual screening data for the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the 2018 to 2019 screening year (1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019).
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 2018 and 31 March 2019 compared to the previous 2 years.
Antenatal screening coverage for infectious diseases, sickle cell and thalassaemia and fetal anomaly ultrasound all reached their highest ever performances since data collection began.
2018 to 2019 was also the first year of data collection for 2 new KPIs; timely offer of prenatal diagnosis (PND) to women or couples at risk of having an infant with sickle cell disease or thalassaemia (ST4a and ST4b) and coverage of T21/T18/T13 screening (FA3). No thresholds are set for these KPIs.
Table 1: Annual antenatal KPI data trends
| KPI code | Acceptable threshold | Achievable threshold | 2016 to 2017 national average | 2017 to 2018 national average | 2018 to 2019 national average |
| ID1 | ≥ 95.0 | ≥ 99.0 | 99.5 | 99.6 | 99.7 |
| ID2 | ≥ 70.0 | ≥ 90.0 | 80.3 | 84.0 | 86.2 |
| ID31 | ≥ 95.0 | ≥ 99.0 | - | 99.5 | 99.7 |
| ID41 | ≥ 95.0 | ≥ 99.0 | - | 99.5 | 99.7 |
| FA1 | ≥ 97.0 | = 100 | 97.4 | 97.6 | 98.2 |
| FA2 | ≥ 90.0 | ≥ 95.0 | 96.6 | 98.9 | 99.1 |
| FA32 | No thresholds set | - | - | 85.0 | |
| ST1 | ≥ 95.0 | ≥ 99.0 | 99.3 | 99.6 | 99.7 |
| ST23 | ≥ 50.0 | ≥ 75.0 | 53.1 | 55.9 | 57.3 |
| ST3 | ≥ 95.0 | ≥ 99.0 | 97.3 | 97.6 | 97.7 |
| ST4a2 | No thresholds set | - | - | 48.6 | |
| ST4b2 | No thresholds set | - | - | 57.3 | |
1 ID3 and ID4 were introduced in 2017 to 2018.
2 FA3, ST4a and ST4b were introduced in 2018 to 2019.
3 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 2018 to 2019 except for newborn blood spot screening coverage for movers in (NB4), 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 2.2% (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 | 2016 to 2017 national average | 2017 to 2018 national average | 2018 to 2019 national average |
| NB11 | ≥ 95.0 | ≥ 99.0 | 96.5 | 96.7 | 97.8 |
| NB22 | ≤ 2.0 | ≤ 1.0 | 2.9 | 2.5 | 2.2 |
| NB41 | ≥ 95.0 | ≥ 99.0 | 87.1 | 90.0 | 89.0 |
| NH13 | ≥ 98.0 | ≥ 99.5 | 98.4 | 98.5 | 98.8 |
| NH23 | ≥ 90.0 | ≥ 95.0 | 88.8 | 88.7 | 90.2 |
| NP14 | ≥ 95.0 | ≥ 99.5 | 93.5 | 95.4 | 96.4 |
| NP24 | ≥ 95.0 | = 100 | 37.4 | 52.0 | 63.8 |
1 NB1 and NB4 achievable thresholds 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 NH1 acceptable threshold changed in 2018 to 2019 from 97.0% to 98.0%.
4 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, DE2 (timeliness of results letters) and DE3 (timely assessment for R3A screen positive) increased.
Performance of the abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) KPIs remained above the acceptable and below the achievable thresholds.
2018 to 2019 is the second year of data publication for the 6 KPIs for the cancer screening programmes. Improvements were seen in all of them in except for breast screening round length (BS2) which decreased.
Table 3: Annual young person and adult KPI data trends
| KPI code | Acceptable threshold | Achievable threshold | 2016 to 2017 national average | 2017 to 2018 national average | 2018 to 2019 national average |
| DE11 | ≥ 75.0 | ≥ 85.0 | 82.2 | 82.7 | 82.6 |
| DE2 | ≥ 70.0 | ≥ 95.0 | 96.5 | 94.3 | 96.6 |
| DE3 | ≥ 80.0 | - | 75.4 | 76.0 | 77.3 |
| AA2 | ≥ 75.0 | ≥ 85.0 | 78.7 | 77.6 | 81.3 |
| AA3 | ≥ 85.0 | ≥ 95.0 | 91.1 | 92.1 | 91.6 |
| AA4 | ≥ 85.0 | ≥ 95.0 | 92.7 | 92.5 | 92.4 |
| BCS12 | ≥ 52.0 | ≥ 60.0 | - | 56.6 | 59.5 |
| BCS22 | No thresholds | - | 58.9 | 60.1 | |
| BS12,3 | ≥ 70.0 | ≥ 80.0 | - | 70.5 | 71.1 |
| BS22,3 | ≥ 90.0 | = 100 | - | 90.6 | 86.5 |
| CS12 | ≥ 80.0 | N/A | - | 69.4 | 70.2 |
| CS22 | ≥ 80.0 | N/A | - | 76.3 | 76.4 |
1 DE1 thresholds changed in 2017 to 2018: acceptable from 70.0% to 75.0% and achievable from 80.0% to 85.0%
2 BS1, BS2, CS1, CS2, BCS1, BCS2 were first published in 2017 to 2018.
3 BS1 and BS2 are based on provisional data
Q1 2019 to 2020 KPIs
We have also published the first set of quarterly KPI data for the 2019 to 2020 year. The latest data covers quarter 1 (Q1), 1 April to 30 June 2019. It is split into 2 publications, one for antenatal and newborn (ANNB) KPIs, and one for young person and adult (YPA) KPIs.
Data for a few of the KPIs is collected later than the others, so we have also updated the Q4 KPI data files for bowel cancer screening coverage (BCS2) and fetal anomaly ultrasound coverage (FA2). Data for DE1 since Q1 2017 to 2018 has been corrected for the InHealth Intelligence diabetic eye screening services.
The data is accompanied by our latest KPI summary factsheet report, which includes:
- highlights of the data
- national trend information up to the most recent quarter available
- regional quarterly performance
You can use links in the indexes to go to each KPI. There is a link on each factsheet to take you back to the index again.
Please email any queries, suggestions or feedback about the KPIs to PHE.screeninghelpdesk@nhs.net
PHE Screening blogs
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