The Ethnic Category Coverage Management Information, published today by NHS Digital, uses data from the GPES1 Data for Pandemic Planning and Research (GDPPR) and Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) data sets to show the recorded ethnicity of patients4, broken down by Clinical Commissioning Group.

This information aims to inform users of the quality, coverage, and distribution of ethnic category recording within NHS Digital datasets. It can be used to reduce health inequalities and to allow commissioners of health and care services to better understand and monitor levels of ethnicity recording, so interventions can be targeted where they are needed.

It can also be used for research projects looking into COVID-19. The use of the underlying data is limited to COVID-19 planning and research purposes due to the legal basis under which the dataset is collected.

It is possible for patients to be registered at multiple GP practices therefore some patients may be counted more than once but at different practices.