The NHS is embarking on a pioneering initiative to expand the groundbreaking OpenSAFELY research platform to propel advancements to combat other significant diseases.
Collaborating with general practitioners and academic researchers, the NHS is broadening the OpenSAFELY platform’s scope to enable scientists to analyse data securely within GP systems.
This expansion is designed to uphold strict privacy protocols, ensuring the analysis excludes patient-identifiable information. The overarching goal is to uncover potential breakthroughs in major illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, and asthma.
Access to this comprehensive data repository promises to furnish researchers with invaluable insights into medications, therapies, and patient outcomes. This valuable resource could significantly enhance clinical practices, offering essential evidence for optimal prescribing methods.
UK Health and Social Care Secretary Victoria Atkins said: “Our NHS is at the forefront of life-saving medical research, and services like this will help drive future breakthroughs that deliver the best outcomes for patients. It played a vital role during the pandemic, helping us to identify which people were most at risk of the virus and determine the effectiveness of vaccines.
“I am determined that we now build on this progress. By using patient data while protecting their privacy, we will be able to support people with a range of conditions, including cancer, diabetes and asthma – encouraging innovation and life-saving research.”
What is OpenSAFELY?
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, academic researchers leveraged anonymised NHS data to identify novel treatments and comprehend the most effective measures for community safety.
Moreover, data analysis proved instrumental in prioritising care for vulnerable populations and developing life-saving vaccines against the virus.
At the forefront of delivering these crucial insights stood NHS England’s OpenSAFELY service, a collaborative effort with the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science at the University of Oxford.
The OpenSAFELY platform facilitated over 150 research projects across 22 organisations, playing a pivotal role in identifying high-risk patient demographics, assessing vaccine efficacy, monitoring treatment reception, and tracking shifts in patient care throughout and post-pandemic.
OpenSAFELY’s infrastructure ensures the utmost confidentiality and security of patient data, with de-identified information remaining within the platform throughout the analysis process.
Researchers operate within a secure environment, crafting analytical code without direct access to patient data. Their queries undergo automated analysis against patient records, with only anonymised results released from the platform following stringent output validation checks.
Leveraging the platform to innovate novel treatments
In a strategic move, the NHS plans to rigorously evaluate the potential extensions of the OpenSAFELY service beyond COVID-19 research, soliciting feedback from academic researchers, patients, and healthcare professionals.
Dr Vin Diwakar, NHS National Medical Director for Transformation, commented: “The data held by the NHS is globally unique, and as we saw during the pandemic, this approach enables researchers to benefit from that valuable resource whilst keeping the data secure, safe and private.
“Expanding this service will unlock the power of patient data to help drive life-saving treatment breakthroughs to help people with a range of conditions and illnesses.”
Anticipated for release in 2024, OpenSAFELY will welcome new research applicants. This expansion aligns with the government’s Data Saves Lives strategy, augmenting a broader programme aimed at harnessing data for healthcare innovation.
The public will have opportunities to engage with these programmes through upcoming events in the coming year, offering a platform to voice opinions on digital transformation in the NHS.
This inclusive approach aligns with the NHS’s commitment to the Data Strategy to involve the public in developing healthcare products.
