Our Future Health joins the UK Health Data Research Alliance

News – 11 November 2021
Our Future Health has joined the UK Health Data Research Alliance as part of its commitment to trustworthy use of data.

Convened by Health Data Research UK (HDR UK), the Alliance includes members from across the healthcare and research sector, including the NHS, medical research charities, academia, health data research hubs and AI Centres of Excellence. Our Future Health is one of ten new organisations working together to develop and coordinate the adoption of standards, tools and technologies for the trustworthy use of data in health research.

The Alliance’s work is to develop a unified and standardised approach to the use of health data across the UK and increase the range and quality of data.

The new members of the Alliance include:

  • Our Future Health
  • ICNARC
  • DataLoch
  • LMIAIC
  • Pathlake
  • iCAIRD
  • Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust
  • Oxford Health NHS Foundation
  • Cambridge University Hospitals
  • University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust
  • Lancashire Teaching Hospitals
  • DATAMIND
  • British Heart Foundation (BHF) Data Science Centre

Impact of the Alliance

The Alliance develops and coordinates the adoption of tools, techniques, conventions, technologies, and designs that enable the use of health data in a trustworthy and ethical way. By combining expertise and a shared commitment to work collaboratively, the Alliance is helping researchers to answer some of the most difficult questions and address the most important health challenges faced in the UK.

This year has seen the joint production of Green Papers on key issues for the sector, including the use of Trusted Research Environments (TREs), Data Use Register Green Paper and Data Standards and Quality.

A shared vision of a unified health data platform

Alliance member organisations will also continue to make the datasets they host as custodians available to be listed on the Health Data Research Innovation Gateway, the UK’s unified platform to discover and request access to health data. This demonstrates their commitment to increasing safe access to health data for research that has the potential to deliver significant public benefit, as we have seen during the pandemic.

Each of these activities are important components in uniting the UK’s health datasets; thereby improving the ability for researchers to discover, access and analyse data to enable the insights that will ultimately improve healthcare for patients.

David Seymour, Alliance Executive Director, Health Data Research UK (HDR UK), said:

“The continued growth in members enriches the Alliance. It is testament to the value of working together across the sector. By co-ordinating our approach to standards, tools and technologies, we will continue to improve how we make health data available in an efficient, secure and trustworthy way for research and development that can change people’s lives. I look forward to working with our new and existing members on our programme of work in the coming months.”

Andrew Roddam, CEO of Our Future Health, said:

“Being part of the UK Health Data Research Alliance will help us deliver on our commitment to make the best use of data to help people live healthier lives for longer. Collaborations like this will ensure we are using data in the most trustworthy and ethical way, which is an essential part of creating a world-leading resource for health research.”

For more information, including a full list of member organisations, visit the Alliance website.