Health Survey for England (HSE)

The HSE is a series of annual surveys about the health of people living in England. It has been tracking the nation’s health for over 30 years since its inception in 1991.

Findings from the surveys are used to help plan NHS services, monitor prevalence of diseases and health behaviours over time, evaluate the impact of policies and measure the extent of health inequalities.

The nationally representative survey includes adults of all ages, and children aged 2-15. Participants have an interview to collect information on physical and mental health, wellbeing and health behaviours; followed by a nurse visit to collect information about medicines, to measure blood pressure, and take samples. Content covered by each survey can be found here.

In collaboration with Natcen and NHS England, official national statistics reports are published using the latest survey data. Reports vary each year and include topics such as obesity, cardio-vascular disease, kidney and liver disease, diabetes, other long-standing conditions and disabilities, need for and receipt of social care, smoking, drinking and fruit and vegetable consumption.

Reports and data

The latest reports can be accessed via the NHS England website, where data visualisation of trends over the last 20 years can also be found.  Academic publications can be found by searching databases for “Health Survey for England”.

The anonymised data are available for academic and other non-commercial researchers, from the UK Data Service, and are among the most-used data on the repository.

Survey Team

The principal investigators are Anne Connolly at NatCen Social Research; Dr. Logan Manikam and Dr Linda Ng Fat at UCL.

The UCL research team also includes Alison Moody and Priyanka Patil.

The NatCen research team also includes Mari Toomse-Smith, Suzanne Hill and Varunie Yaxley.

The Health Survey for England is commissioned and funded by NHS England.

Further Information

Information about the Health Survey for England is also available from:

• NatCen Social Research
• NHS Digital (now part of NHS England)