In a foreword to TBI’s report, A New National Purpose: Harnessing Data for Health, the former Chief Scientific Advisor and TBI Strategic Counsellor has emphasised the potential of a National Data Trust to spur innovation.
The proposal would enable the NHS to safely share anonymised patient data with trusted researchers to accelerate health care discoveries.
TBI estimates the National Data Trust has the potential to generate £2 billion for the NHS and wider economy as well as patient benefits from innovation.
Former Government Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance has called for a National Data Trust to enable the NHS to safely share patient data with trusted researchers to accelerate health-care discoveries.
Sir Patrick, now a Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) Strategic Counsellor, has written the foreword to A New National Purpose: Harnessing Data for Health published today ahead of the next Future of Britain conference on 9 July. In the paper, authors Benedict Macon-Cooney, Axel Heitmueller, Darcy Ward, Luke Stanley and Henry Li set out how NHS data could be shared safely and securely.
Medical researchers from academic, third sector, commercial and NHS organisations would be able to identify new treatments and diagnostics at pace which could provide better, potentially life-saving patient care. For example, rapid and streamlined access to de-identified NHS patient data enabled the RECOVERY trial to significantly accelerate the discovery of dexamethasone as a life-saving Covid-19 treatment. The National Data Trust would unlock this pace of innovation as standard, enabling safe and responsible health-data sharing to accelerate medical breakthroughs.
Making data more easily available would attract new investment in the UK’s health-care and biotechnology sectors. TBI estimates that the National Data Trust has the potential to generate £2 billion for the NHS and wider economy.
The Data Trust would be owned for the nation – by the government and the NHS – to ensure that benefits can flow back to support NHS patient care.
Sir Patrick Vallance said:
“We are at a pivotal moment where technology stands to revolutionise health care, drive economic growth and improve the lives of citizens. The UK has unique strengths to lead this revolution, but doing so requires us to be bold and imaginative. The establishment of a National Data Trust would unlock these opportunities, providing a trusted and secure platform for us to harness data as a health-care asset.
“Giving access to trusted researchers would enhance the discovery and implementation of better health care and a more sustainable model of delivery. This is essential if we are to tackle the complex challenges facing our society and deliver better outcomes for citizens.
“This proposal also puts public trust and benefit at its heart, with appropriate safeguards in place to ensure the public have control over their data and how it is used, and that commercial interests never take precedence over the public good.
“The National Data Trust is a critical first step. Through curiosity, collaboration and continuous learning, we can make the UK a world leader in delivering cutting-edge care and pioneering new technologies for diagnosis, disease prevention and treatment.”
Henry Li, Senior Policy Advisor at TBI and lead author of the paper, said:
“The NHS already gives researchers access to anonymised NHS data but there is currently too much variation in how this is achieved. This means patients miss out on potential new treatments and diagnostics and the NHS misses out on potentially billions in revenue.
“Our proposal for a National Data Trust would make all the data accessible in one place in a safe and secure way. This would support researchers from academia and commercial organisations to properly harness advances powered by the advent of AI, biotechnology and computing.
“It would be a critical step towards unlocking the transformative potential of the UK's health data to improve health outcomes, drive scientific discovery and spur economic growth.”
The National Data Trust would have majority and controlling ownership by the government and the NHS.
Further information
A New National Purpose: Harnessing Data for Health is being published as part of the Institute’s Future of Britain programme, which sets out a policy agenda for a new era of invention and innovation. This series focuses on how to deliver radical-yet-practical solutions – concrete plans to reimagine the state for the 21st century – with technology as the driving force.