New government plans for research and innovation have highlighted the growing importance of securely using health data to improve research, develop new treatments and deliver better care.
Speaking at the Innovation Nation Summit on 9 October, the Prime Minister set out ambitions to make the UK one of the best places in the world to develop and use new science and technology.
Health data and research are an important part of these plans and closely align with the work already taking place through Wessex Secure Data Environment (Wessex SDE) and the wider NHS Research SDE Network.
Chris Kipps, Wessex SDE’s SRO and CI for Connect-D reflected: “The ambitions set out by government show why secure access to health data is becoming such an important part of the UK’s research infrastructure. Through Wessex SDE we are helping to build the secure foundations that allow researchers to work with health data safely and at scale.
Connect-D shows what this can mean in practice. By working across the national SDE Network to develop a national dementia resource, we have an opportunity to make it easier to carry out research across larger and more representative groups of people, support clinical trials and ultimately help develop better treatments and care for people affected by dementia.
The important thing is that we build this capability in a way that maintains strong safeguards and public trust, while making the best possible use of NHS data for public benefit.”
Health data supporting national research priorities
The Prime Minister highlighted the Health Data Research Service (HDRS), a £600 million investment from government and Wellcome designed to make it easier for researchers to securely use health data for research that benefits patients and the public.
Dementia will be one of the first major research priorities for HDRS, alongside a wider £48 million investment to accelerate dementia research, treatments and clinical trials.
Wessex SDE is already actively developing the foundations for a national dementia data resource through our Connect-D programme, supported by NHS England.
Led by Wessex SDE and in partnership with other NHS Secure Data Environments, Connect-D is bringing together information from different health services and regions to support dementia research. By securely connecting information about diagnosis, treatment and care, Connect-D aims to help researchers better understand dementia, identify people who may be eligible for clinical trials, and develop and assess new treatments.
Wessex SDE is also contributing to the development of HDRS. Our teams are working with partners across the SDE Network to develop tools, data infrastructure and ways of working that can be reused across the country. This includes projects funded through the HDRS Technology Transformation programme, helping to ensure that useful capabilities are built once and can benefit researchers and patients across multiple regions.
Connecting data to improve research
The speech also highlighted the potential of bringing together health records and research expertise to make clinical research faster and more effective.
This is at the heart of our SDE approach.
SDEs allow approved researchers to securely analyse health information while keeping tight controls over how data is accessed and used. Researchers work within secure environments and only approved, checked results can leave.
Wessex SDE is also helping to develop ways for researchers and SDEs to work together across regional boundaries. This will make it possible to answer important research questions using information from larger and more diverse groups of people, without removing the safeguards around the data.
Building capability that can benefit the whole country
The government also announced £1 billion of UKRI investment over four years to strengthen research and innovation clusters across the UK.
For Wessex, this reinforces the importance of connecting NHS organisations, universities, researchers, industry and the public to make the best use of regional expertise while contributing to national research.
Wessex SDE works with partners across the region and nationally to develop research infrastructure that can be shared and reused. Rather than different areas repeatedly solving the same problems, the SDE Network provides an opportunity to develop approaches once and make them available more widely.
This can reduce duplication, make research faster and help public investment in health data infrastructure go further.
Innovation with public trust at its heart
The Prime Minister also highlighted the growing role of artificial intelligence and other new technologies.
These technologies could help researchers understand disease, identify better treatments and improve NHS care. But making good use of them also depends on people having confidence in how health information is used.
Public involvement is an important part of Wessex SDE. Members of the public contribute to our governance and Data Access Committee, help review how data is used, and advise us on emerging areas such as artificial intelligence and sharing data securely between SDEs.
This helps ensure that new research capabilities are developed not only because they are technically possible, but in ways that are transparent, responsible and focused on public benefit.
What this means for Wessex
The government’s Innovation Nation plans reinforce many of the principles already shaping Wessex SDE: securely connecting health data, supporting research across organisational and regional boundaries, developing reusable national infrastructure and ensuring innovation happens with appropriate safeguards and public involvement.
Wessex SDE will continue working with HDRS and partners across the national SDE Network to turn these ambitions into practical research capabilities that can support better evidence, better treatments and better health outcomes for people across the UK.