Investment to transform access to data to help pioneer new patient treatments

The government is backing plans to create new digital innovation hubs, changing the way scientists access NHS data.

Plans to transform the way scientists access health data are being backed by £37 million of Industrial Strategy government investment, to pioneer new, faster treatments for patients and new cures for diseases.

The new centres across the UK – known as Digital Innovation Hubs – will enable scientists and innovators to access data from the NHS, universities and social care to deliver more efficient clinical trials. They can use the data to answer the most important and complex questions about people’s health in the future.

The centres will make data accessible from some of the UK’s major health providers in one place for the first time, including the NHS in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These will allow experts to research the factors behind many familiar common diseases and identify revealing data trends which may help with finding cures or treatments.

The information will go through a de-identification and encryption process to preserve privacy.

Access to anonymised health data has huge potential to allow us to better understand diseases and develop life-saving new drugs and treatments.

The Digital Innovation Hubs, backed by over £37 million of Industrial Strategy investment, will ensure researchers, innovators and clinicians can access a large quantity of anonymised data responsibly and ethically - allowing them to pioneer new medicines and treatments.