To systematically map Irish national health datasets and policy frameworks relevant to children and young people (0–24 years) and appraise their readiness for quality improvement, equity monitoring, and interoperable reuse.
A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) and the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI)-guided scoping review will synthesise peer-reviewed and grey literature. Datasets will be benchmarked using World Health Organization Data Quality Review (DQR) domains, Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable (FAIR) principles, European Medicines Agency registry guidance and PROGRESS-Plus equity stratifiers. Outputs will be synthesised into structured matrices (national catalogue, key quality indicators and availability–variability layer) and an equity heat map.
The review will characterise heterogeneity in coverage, coding, governance, equity stratification and linkage-readiness across perinatal, hospital, registry, surveillance and community datasets, identifying priority gaps for standardisation.
Within the context of healthcare quality assurance, the synthesis will enable evidence-informed benchmarking across clinical domains, from perinatal outcomes to chronic disease management. The integration of DQR and FAIR appraisals will allow Irish health agencies to identify datasets that meet international standards of reliability, completeness and accessibility. Simultaneously, mapping PROGRESS-Plus variables will reveal where data gaps perpetuate inequities, informing targeted data-collection reforms. The resultant framework will provide a replicable model for how nations can align data governance with the continuous quality-improvement cycle central to the International Journal of Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance's mission – linking structure (data quality), process (data use) and outcomes (policy and patient benefit).
This review will generate a decision-ready catalogue of Irish paediatric and young people’s health datasets, highlighting strengths, gaps and opportunities for improvement. By appraising data quality, equity stratifiers and linkage readiness, it will provide actionable recommendations for standardisation and governance. Policymakers can use the outputs to align datasets with international best practice, clinicians can advocate for inclusion of outcome and patient-reported measures and researchers can identify priority areas for secondary analysis and linkage studies – supporting safer, fairer, and more effective child health services in Ireland.
Strengthening child health data systems has direct societal benefits by enabling more equitable, transparent and evidence-based policy. By mapping available datasets and assessing equity stratifiers, this review will highlight gaps in capturing determinants such as ethnicity, deprivation and disability. Addressing these gaps will allow more accurate monitoring of health inequalities and ensure that vulnerable groups are not overlooked in service planning. The outputs will support a culture of accountability, inform public debate on data use and contribute to building a learning health system that promotes fairness, inclusivity and trust in healthcare for children and young people.
This protocol delivers the first integrated, decision-ready framework to benchmark paediatric data ecosystems against international quality, equity and stewardship standards, enabling learning health systems and policy-relevant data governance in Ireland and comparable Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development settings.
