Secure Data Environments are data storage and access platforms, which uphold the highest standards of privacy and security of NHS health and social care data when used for research and analysis.
What is a Secure Data Environment?
What is the Wessex Secure Data Environment?
The NHS in Wessex is building a Secure Data Environment to look after patient health data.
This will be an online platform where large amounts of patient health data can be stored, linked together, and accessed by researchers.
The NHS will own and run the SDE. Researchers will use it to access data safely, quickly, and easily to answer a huge variety of questions and discover life-changing new treatments and medicines for the benefit of all.
The NHS will have full control over who can access the data, the information that users can see, the actions that users can perform with the data, and the results of analysis that users can take out. Researchers will not see confidential patient information.
What area does the Wessex SDE cover?
The Wessex Secure Data Environment will look after patient health data for people who live in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and Dorset.
The people in Wessex are being directly involved in the development of our Secure Data Environment. A Wessex Public Panel has set the values that guide the SDE, the principles that govern it, and the actions required for trust.
For more information please refer to our News page.
How does the Wessex SDE fit with National strategy?
Nationally, the Data Saves Lives Strategy committed to increasing public confidence in how data is used and protected. This responded to the Goldacre Review and reinforced that we would:
- Move away from data sharing to data access
- Ensure that data does not leave the NHS
Part of the Strategy is to establish the NHS Research Secure Data Environment Network. The Network covers the whole of England and is made up of 11 regional SDEs and one national environment (NHS England SDE). These centres can work individually or together to support approved research. All SDEs are NHS owned.
Accelerating Research
The Wessex Secure Data Environment (SDE) is part of the NHS Research SDE Network. This is an England-wide system of SDEs working together at national and regional level.
It is designed to help provide safer, more secure, and faster access to different types of NHS data as well as ensure consistent standards and interoperability. These platforms will become the main route for accessing NHS data for research and will sit alongside a small number of other data platforms.
The launch of the Wessex Secure Data Environment Pre-release establishes the technical infrastructure of the final SDE.
This pre-release version has been fully tested to meet the highest standards for safety and security of NHS data but will have heavily restricted researcher access and limited datasets, compared the full market release scheduled for 2025.
The SDE governance remains in development and is being co-designed with the Wessex public. During the pre-release phase, projects will be required to have completed the appropriate legal and ethical governance requirements, in line with national standards and approval from the HRA and met local requirements of the NHS data controllers.
Clinical trial activities
Real world studies
Translational research
Epidemiological studies
Health systems research
Meet the Wessex SDE team
The Wessex SDE team is led by our Senior Responsible Officer, Chris Kipps, Technical lead, James Batchelor, and Director of Operations, Mark Heffernan. They are supported by the Wessex SDE Programme Board.
Prof. Christopher Kipps
Senior Responsible Officer
Chris is a consultant neurologist who researches dementia and long-term brain conditions. He is the Clinical Director for Research and Development at University Hospital Southampton and the Southampton Emerging Therapies and Technologies (SETT) centre. He also leads the Clinical Research Network and runs the Wessex Secure Data Environment programme.
Prof. James Batchelor
Technical lead
James is the Professorial Fellow of Clinical Informatics and Healthcare Innovation at the University of Southampton. He leads the Clinical Informatics Research Unit, managing a team of over 50 experts in health and informatics. He advises the government on digital health and runs the EDGE Programme, a global network helping hospitals and research groups work together.
Mark Heffernan
Director of Operations
Mark has over 11 years experience of work on Real World Data platforms and clinical data research worldwide, including hands-on work with large global Pharma and Biotech to deliver on their innovative use cases over the last 5 years. He is leading on the development of the day-to-day operations of the SDE. Working closely with the Technical Lead, Mark will ensure that the new SDE increases efficiency, promotes research in Wessex, and support the SDE to establish itself as the gold standard for data driven health research.
Our partners
We collaborate with partners from the technology, industry, data, and research sectors as well as NHS, academic, and third sector sectors.
