NHSOF 5.2.ii: Incidence of Healthcare-Associated C. difficile Infections in England

Clostridium difficile infection counts reported to Public Health England for patients aged two years or older. The data measures progress in reducing avoidable healthcare-associated harm and was published by the Government Digital Service. The current version was updated in August 2017.

Use Cases

• Monitor trends in healthcare-associated infection rates based on reported case counts.
• Evaluate the impact of hospital hygiene policies on C. difficile incidence.
• Model risk factors for avoidable patient harm within the healthcare system.

Strengths

• Focuses on a specific, measurable public health indicator (C. difficile infections).
• Data is reported to a national public health authority (Public Health England).
• Available in common, accessible file formats (Excel and CSV).

Limitations

• Row count and dataset scale are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; the next version was due in August 2018, indicating potential staleness.

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service

Collection Method

Reports from healthcare providers to Public Health England.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Current version updated in August 2017; next version was due in August 2018.

Geography

England