Health Data: Research and Analysis

Baroness Manzoor Excerpts

Wednesday 15th May 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Lord is right to push the Government on this, and I pay tribute to the knowledge he brings to this House on this important subject. I reassure him that the Goldacre principles inspire our ongoing work to ensure that data for research is used in an ever more secure and transparent way. Secure data environments are a major change in the way data is made available for research, and it remains a government commitment to implement their use. SDEs protect personal medical data, as it can be accessed only by verified researchers. The NHS can monitor data usage, and we can limit the data that is analysed and control the purposes for which data is used. Research must always have ethical approval and be in line with UK GDPR.

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, I welcome the introduction of a secure data environment in the NHS, but can my noble friend the Minister give assurance to the House that the federated data platform, and the approvals of access to it, are in line with that and with the authorisation given to individuals? We are well aware of some of the data breaches that have happened in the NHS with patient confidentiality in the past.

[Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)]

My noble friend raises a very important point, and I reassure her and the House that only authorised users will be granted access to data for approved purposes. These include NHS staff and those supporting them, such as administrators, bed managers or care co-ordinators, as well staff in social care supporting the move from hospital care. The FDP suppliers can use NHS data only to support NHS services directed by NHS bodies. The suppliers will not control the data on the platform, nor will they be permitted to access, use or share it for their own purposes.