National Digital Updates

The NHS Research Data Environment Network (part of the Data for Research and Development Programme) have recently put out the following call for individuals interested in taking part in their user research programme.  This may interest members of staff or researchers who may have an interest in this area of work.  Please see further details below which also contains a link to a short survey for expressions of interest.

We have several opportunities to get involved in user research. This is part of our ongoing commitment to ensure the NHS Research SDE Network delivers services which meet user needs, we have several opportunities to get involved in user research.

The image linked here provides details of the opportunities taking place between now and March 2025, including:

• The aim of the research

• Who should participate in the research

• What to expect from the research

• How the research will benefit the development of the NHS Research SDE Network and its services

If you’re interested in any of these opportunities, please complete our short survey so we can find out more about you and your experience. 

The NHS Data Access Request Service (DARS) is now available; further information can be found on the Publicly Funded DSPs page. A series of virtual drop-in clinics are available to provide an introduction to the service, open "to all interested stakeholders, and health and social care organisations". Further information about the clinics, including sign-up details, can be found here.

A key NIHR report has been released, on the learning gained from the delivery of the Panoramic trial during the Covid pandemic. ROST team members in the West Midlands played a key role, not only with the design, quality assurance and repeated updating of health Informatics to meet the requirements of delivering a platform trial, but also assisting with the testing and development of the Population Health Platform developed by NHS England which was used across the country alongside the PRIDES informatics tools developed within the West Midlands ROST service. Panoramic presented ROST team members with a great opportunity to showcase our locally developed skills to assist with the delivery of such an important trial and its great to see the PRIDES involvement mentioned glowingly within this report.

The NIHR Digital, Data and Technology programme have shared an update on all ongoing aspects of their transformation programme; please see the full update here, and to learn more about DDaT and their work within the NIHR please visit their website.

The NHS will roll out new software from spring next year to deliver better joined-up care for millions of patients, help tackle waiting lists and reduce hospital discharge delays.

The software will bring together existing NHS data, making it easier for staff to access key information to provide improved and more timely patient care.

The new tool, known as the Federated Data Platform, will join up key information currently held in separate NHS systems to tackle some of the big challenges the health service faces coming out of the pandemic.

By bringing together real time data, such as the number of beds in a hospital, the size of elective waiting lists, staff rosters, the availability of medical supplies and social care places, staff can plan and maximise resources such as operating theatre and outpatient clinic time to ensure patients receive more timely care.

To read more, please see the original article at NHS England.

The NHS is to expand the use of a research platform behind the roll-out of new Covid-19 treatments to help drive life-saving advances for other major diseases.

With the support of GPs and academic researchers, the NHS is widening the use of the service to allow scientists to securely analyse data in GP systems – without seeing patient-identifiable information – in a plan which could lead to the discovery of new treatments for other major conditions such as cancer, diabetes and asthma.

Access to this data will help researchers understand more about medicines, treatments and patient outcomes, which could support better clinical practice and provide crucial evidence on the most effective prescribing.

During the pandemic, academic researchers used anonymised NHS data to help identify new treatments for Covid-19 and understand how best to keep communities safe. Data analysis also helped the NHS to prioritise care to the most vulnerable people, and to develop vaccines against the virus.

One of the key systems used to deliver these insights was NHS England’s OpenSAFELY service, developed in collaboration with the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science at the University of Oxford.

OpenSAFELY – which has so far enabled over 150 research projects from 22 different organisations – played a crucial role during the pandemic, helping researchers to understand which patients were most at risk from the virus, evaluate the effectiveness of vaccines, monitor which patients were receiving new Covid-19 treatments, and understand changes in patient care during and after the pandemic.

The NHS will now carefully test which types of research the service could support beyond Covid-19, following feedback from academic researchers, patients, and medical professionals.

To read more, please see the original article at NHS England.

The NIHR Digital, Data and Technology programme have shared an update on all ongoing aspects of their transformation programme; please see the full update here, and to learn more about DDaT and their work within the NIHR please visit their website.