Goldacre recommendations to improve care through use of data

7 Apr 2022 01:47 PM

Professor Ben Goldacre publishes findings from independent review to drive innovation and improve healthcare through safer use of health data.

• Professor Ben Goldacre publishes findings from an independent review to improve use of health data in NHS
• Recommendations include increasing transparency and modernising software infrastructure to boost research whilst maintaining high security standards
• Findings have shaped the Health and Social Care Data Strategy, being published later this year, which will set out a vision to make better use of data to save lives

Patient care in the NHS will be improved through more efficient and safer access to health data, which will drive innovation and lead to potentially lifesaving research.

Professor Ben Goldacre, Bennett Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine at the University of Oxford, yesterday published the findings from his independent review into how the NHS can achieve better, broader, and safer use of health data. Learning lessons from the pandemic, the review advises how to utilise health data in healthcare and sets out 185 recommendations to the government.

The pandemic has demonstrated the immense value of health data in driving research to improve patient outcomes and save lives - such as the discovery of dexamethasone as the first treatment for COVID-19. Large scale data analysis enabled better understanding of patient outcomes more rapidly than previously possible The speed and scale of this data analysis was possible through the interconnected nature of NHS systems, as well as specific legal measures to enable data access quickly.

Data also allows the NHS to continue delivering world-leading care, for instance by helping to understand whether different patient groups respond better to different treatment options, or to anticipate future demands on the healthcare system by tracking the prevalence of disease.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid, yesterday said:

Countless lives have been saved through the pandemic after health data enabled ground-breaking research.

As we move forwards, millions of patients could benefit from the more efficient use of health data, through boosting innovation and ensuring the NHS can continue to offer cutting-edge care, saving lives.

I want to thank Professor Ben Goldacre, his team, and all those who contributed to this review - this work, alongside our upcoming data strategy, will help to transform the NHS on our road to recovery.

The review makes a range of proposals, including:

• Increasing data transparency by adopting Trusted Research Environments (TREs) as secure virtual spaces for verified researchers to access health data which will reduce the risk of data breaches
• Improving opportunities for data analysts within the NHS by modernising their job and career development, including improving salaries, training, structure, community and best practice
• Encouraging open working for all NHS data analysis, for instance through the use of a shared library of data analysis tools, reducing duplication and increasing consistency of results.

Professor Ben Goldacre yesterday said:

NHS data is a phenomenal resource that can revolutionise healthcare, research, and the life sciences. But data alone is not enough. We need secure, efficient platforms - and teams with skills - to unleash this potential. This will be difficult, technical work. It is inspiring to see momentum grow for better, broader, safer use of health data across so many sectors.

The government’s response to the review will be included in the upcoming Health and Social Care Data Strategy which will set the direction for the use of data in a post-pandemic healthcare system.

Background information

• The Goldacre Review was launched on 9 February 2021
• The Data Strategy was published in draft form June 2021:
• The government recently announced £200 million of funding for health data research and development
• Professor Ben Goldacre biography:
• Ben Goldacre is a clinical researcher at the University of Oxford where he is Director of the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science, and Bennett Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences.
• He advises government on better uses of data and leads an academic team that uses large health datasets to deliver research papers and tools including OpenSAFELY.org, a new model of secure analytics platform that runs across unprecedented volumes of linked NHS patient data; OpenPrescribing.net, an open data explorer for NHS GP prescribing choices with over 20,000 users a month; and TrialsTracker.net, an open tool that monitors clinical trial reporting performance.
• He is also active in public engagement: his books including ‘Bad Science’ have sold over 700,000 copies in more than 30 countries; and his online lectures have over 5 million views.