Atlas of Variation
The atlases of health variation help to identify unwarranted variation in healthcare, health outcomes and risk factors through the analysis of routine datasets.
The atlases apply a whole population approach to inform the planning, commissioning, and provision of services by
- using national datasets to present population rates giving local areas comparable measures to support service planning and development
- highlighting local and regional variations and trends
- providing practical actions that could make differences to patients and to inform commissioning and service provision
Published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), the first Atlas of Variation was produced in 2010 by the NHS as a collaboration with many partners. OHID conitnues to work closely with NHS England and partners, such as National Clinical Directors, Royal Colleges, clinical professional groups, and third sector organisations.
A defining aspect of the atlases is that each of the indicator's maps, charts, and box-and-whisker plots are accompanied by text which provides:
- the context of the indicator
- a description of the reasons behind the variation and trends in the data
- options for action to be taken by different parts of the system
- a list of evidence-based resources to support action
Each atlas is produced as a fully accessible document with accompanying data files and metadata. An interactive atlas is produced to enable organisations to interrogate the data at a local level.
For atlases published before 2021 the interactive atlases can be accessed via the NHS England website.
The atlases
You can access the following atlases:
- The health atlases include the head and neck cancer, vision, respiratory disease, palliative and end of life, diagnostics and liver disease
- There are compendium atlases of indicators for the years 2015, 2011 and 2010
Contact us
For enquiries or feedback relating to the atlases, email healthcare.variation@dhsc.gov.uk.