Since October 2022, NHS England’s Diagnostic Programme has supported the collection and analysis of national data from NHS providers of physiological science services. The second cycle of collections has been completed, and they will be repeating the national data collections for adult and paediatric audiology services from Monday 11th May – Friday 5th June 2026. All NHS trusts providing these essential services are strongly encouraged to submit data.
If you are unsure how to do this, or have any questions please visit our Physiological Science Programme – FutureNHS Collaboration Platform or contact karen.richardson51@nhs.net
The data collected from the physiological science collections is used to support improvement in this important area of diagnostic service provision. Locally the data has been used to understand and address variation in service provision (for example it has been used to inform local business case to address a lack of support workers or inadequate facilities). Nationally it has been used to understand strategic priorities for transformation (for example it has directly led to a £40million capital investment in physiological science service for 2025/26).
It’s also supported the Workforce, Training and Education directorate within NHS England to plan training places across NHS England commissioned scientist training programmes. The data has been used to make the case for investment in practice educators and consortium approaches to improve training experience. Importantly, it is also the only data the NHS has on physiological diagnostic test waiting times that are not captured through the national DM01 data collection (which form part of the diagnostic pathway for patients on RTT pathways).
Further information on how the data has been, and can be used is available from here – National Physiological Science use of our data collections.pptx