Remove barriers on NHS data access to save patient lives

Barriers on NHS data access should be removed so it can be used to improve patient care and allow crucial research into diseases like dementia, cancer and heart disease, a review has urged.

Patients and their families are being let down because policymakers and healthcare leaders are not maximising the benefits of the rich abundance of health data in the UK, Professor Cathie Sudlow OBE, who led the independent review, said.

The UK is unique because its population of 68 million people are largely seen by the NHS, with health data going back decades, the report commissioned by top government health officials said.

But access to this existing health data is difficult or slow and can take many months or even years – impeding its use to improve people’s health and lives, the Sudlow Review found.

Prof Sudlow said: “Research about health conditions affecting millions of people across the UK is far too often prevented or delayed by the complexity of our systems for managing and accessing data.”

She added: “This review shows that getting this right holds a great prize for our own care and for an effective healthcare system for everyone.

“We need to recognise our national health data for what they are: critical national infrastructure that can underpin the health of the nation.”

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Source: The Guardian, 8 November 2024