Modifying the determination of peers for comparison

The document here was discussed at dev board on 2025-06-25, having taken into account DS team comments on the document. The plan agreed on was that the population-based model peers should be as described in that document, but for schemes, the current peer set would be retained for now.

However, we should look to take up the medium level option in the future:

"⭐ Medium effort (preferred method)

Generate a simple, clear methodology for determining peers, which will be applicable across all geography types (e.g. just based on demographics of patients). Publish this and replace the current peers with those chosen by this method.

The risk here is that schemes may not want their peers to alter as they have workflows set up internally to report against a fixed set of comparators. We would need to communicate thoroughly. A method simple enough to apply to all our geography granularities may be viewed as over simplistic by some, and thus, again, not appropriate for the creation of valid comparator sets. "

This issue is to capture this to ensure it is not forgotten about!

Start with the linked “Demand modelling peers” document and the 2025-06-25 dev board decision. Define a simple peer-selection methodology applicable across geography types, then assess how it would replace the current peer sets while accounting for scheme reporting workflows and communication needs.