Welcome and apologies
Members were welcomed to the meeting and provided introductions.
Apologies were noted.
Action review
All actions were complete.
CISD programme verbal update
The board discussed the progress of the CISD programme and its future possibilities. The success of the programme was emphasised even with the uncertainty surrounding its future. The teams have overcome challenges from industrial action, severe weather, and bank holiday disruption. Throughout this year the programme has further enabled monitoring of influenza and RSV. The introduction of the digital system has delivered substantial savings and has not negatively impacted the response rates. There is a demonstrable set of evidence of how the survey has become more efficient in the last number of years.
ONS (Office for National Statistics) are working with UKHSA (UK Health Security Agency) to find an enduring solution for COVID-19 surveillance which caters for both society and government.
The contribution of the study goes beyond the UKHSA, the impact of the study demonstrates that the results of the survey are not just used for health. The survey has provided information that has been of use for various government departments.
Winter surveillance (flu)
There was an analytical overview of the winter surveillance for flu A/B, RSV and SARS-Cov2. A 20-week pilot study has been running with a small sample size since October 2022.
Oxford University, in partnership with the ONS are conducting analysis to find out whether the COVID-19 Infection Survey could be used to monitor self-reported symptoms of influenza-like illness (ILI) among those who test negative for COVID-19 in England. This study has been published by Oxford and on the ONS website.
There was discussion around the potential for future international pandemic work to help other countries in their future responses to pandemics.
Analytical update
A further analytical update provided information covering regional COVID-19 positivity over time, looking more closely at when Alpha, Delta and Omicron were the dominant variants. ONS have produced an interactive map which can provide breakdowns and comparisons at regional and sub-regional levels.
The data linkage team have done an excellent job at combining Census and CIS (COVID-19 Infection Survey) data. The benefits of the data linkage between the data sets means that we can be quick and responsive to any high profile COVID-19 queries using readily available data collection tools.
An outline of work relating to winter health pressures was presented. Alongside this, future analysis possibilities were also discussed.
A lot of effort is put in to ensure key users get the biggest impact from this study and the retrospective value of this survey is highlighted. Work is to be expected in a summary publication, pulling together articles and data.
Any other business
Thanks were extended to the teams who have worked on the survey, noting their dedication to user engagement, and keen interest was expressed for the continuation of the survey.
The next meeting will take place in March 2023, exact date to be confirmed.
Members present
David Spiegelhalter (Chair)
Sarah Crofts
Dan Dukes
Jack Moss
John Newton
Monika Preuss
Naomi Rogers
Emma Rourke
Ruth Studley
Nick Taylor
Sarah Walker
Martin Zaranyika
Secretariat
Henry Barker
Joanne Blay
Sian Hawkins
Apologies
Peter Benton
Fiona Dawe
Sir Ian Diamond
Jeremy Farrar
Jenny Harries
Susan Hopkins
Steven Riley
Thomas Waite