Document is current

Article History

Received: 27 September 2024

Accepted: 17 July 2025

First Online: 11 August 2025

Declarations

:

: This study uses secondary data from administrative records, which were pseudonymised prior to egress to remove identifiable personal information (e.g., names, addresses, NHS numbers, and other unique identifiers). According to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), processing of these data was conducted under the legal basis of legitimate interests, which does not require individual opt-in consent. This study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. It involved the use of secondary data only, with no direct contact with participants. The data were pseudonymised prior to access and processed in line with established ethical standards for research using routinely collected health and social care records. Individual informed consent was not required, as the project involved no automated decision-making and used pseudonymised data throughout. Ethics approval for the project was granted by the LSE Personal Social Services Research Unit’s ethics committee on 30th May 2019, in compliance with the LSE’s Research Ethics Policy. A Data Processing Impact Assessment was completed, and the details of the project were made publicly available via a Privacy Notice on the local authority’s website, with local opt-out options provided. Approval was also granted by the NHS Confidentiality Advisory Group (CAG) in June 2020 (reference number 20/CAG/0043), with annual renewal.

: Not applicable. This study does not include any individual-level identifying images, names, addresses, locations, or other information that could compromise participant anonymity. All data used in the study were pseudonymised prior to access, and no direct contact with participants occurred.

: The author declares no competing interests.