15 The role of trust in senior leaders’ experiences of using analytics to inform strategic health and care decisions

Abstract

Senior leaders make strategic decisions about the structure and delivery of health and care services. Analysis of pseudonymised administrative data from residents’ health or care records (analytics) aims to support high-quality strategic decisions, but its impacts depend on how analytics are perceived and used by senior decision-makers. Aim or objectives To understand how the process of generating knowledge from analytics could be enhanced for those making strategic health and care decisions. Methods Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 senior decision-makers from constituent organisations of North Central London’s Sustainability and Transformation Partnership. Interviews were analysed using the Framework Method. Results Trust emerged as a concept in participants’ experiences of using analytics in three key ways: data quality and accuracy; trust in sharing data for analytics; and trust between decision-makers. Firstly, participants expressed concerns around data quality and these shaped decision-making processes as some made decisions based on anecdotal information or gut feeling instead of untrusted data. Others sought ‘more accurate’ data, whilst some decisions were ‘stopped in their tracks’ because of a lack of trust in available data. Secondly, participants’ ability to obtain data was influenced by others’ willingness to share, itself driven by levels of trust in how that data will be subsequently analysed and used. Finally, a lack of trust between key leaders across health and care led to concerns that decisions based on analytics may act against individual organisational priorities and interests. Where personal trust between individuals across organisations existed, there was greater scope for decisions across organisational boundaries to be informed by analytics. Conclusions Trust is a key component of how senior leaders approach and use analytics. Developing trust in data quality and between leaders could influence if, when and how leaders obtain and use analytics to inform strategic health and care decisions.