NEWS: Review Urges Easier Access to NHS Data

As reported by Digital Health, an independent review calls for fewer barriers to NHS data access, aiming to fast-track research that could lead to life-saving medical breakthroughs

A review has called for barriers to accessing NHS patient data to be removed so that it can be used for research to further medical advances.

The independent review by Professor Cathie Sudlow, chief scientist of Health Data Research UK, says that complexities and inefficiencies impeding the use of health data can delay or prevent hundreds of studies, holding back progress that could improve lives.

‘Uniting the UK’s Health Data: A Huge Opportunity for Society’, published on 8 November 2024, maps the sources of health data across the UK and recommends how to manage data to improve health, while maintaining privacy and trust.

However, the review, commissioned in 2023 by Professor Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, Dr Vin Diwakar, NHS England’s national director for transformation, and Sir Ian Diamond, the UK national statistician, reveals that researchers’ access to datasets is difficult or slow, often taking months or years.

Sudlow calls for health data to be seen as critical national infrastructure “that can underpin the health of the nation”.

The review includes five recommendations highlighting the need to remove barriers, streamline processes, and enable safe and secure data use across the UK.

The review recommends that the Department of Health and Social Care oversee engagement with the public and healthcare professionals to drive forward developments in research.