29.10.19
The Health Foundation launch national data network to tackle health challenges
The Health Foundation has announced the creation of a national data network from across the UK to support and address some of the biggest challenges faced by health and care services today.
Analytical teams from across the country will be brought together to gather insights and obtain a deeper understanding of what is affecting the public’s health.
The Networked Data Lab is the first data network of its kind and will work with patients to maintain privacy and use data securely.
The idea of these new measures is to capture the entirety of the increasingly complex care that patients are receiving, to get a better picture of what is happening on the ground regarding health and care issues seen in the industry today.
The current data available, whilst wide ranging, is fragmented and rarely a complete account of care needed, from specialist services to hospital care.
National and local decision makers will directly benefit from The Networked Data Lab as the needs of the nation will be better understood and through the uniting of local areas, community needs can be improved.
This includes addressing health inequalities, social care provision and the social determinants of health.
The desired outcome will be to design new approaches to delivering care to patients and gain a fuller understanding of the health of local populations, through suggesting the types of people that are the most vulnerable or require tailor-made care.
An example of this is linking data from GPs, A&E services and specialist local mental health services, in order to identify some of the common drivers of emergency attendances and admissions for young people living with severe mental illness.
Sarah Deeny, Assistant Director of Data Analytics at the Health Foundation, said:
“Every day, the NHS collects vast amounts of data which could be used to improve the care patients receive. But data alone is not a magic bullet for improving care. By bringing together different datasets and expertise from analysts in local areas we can paint a much clearer picture of our health needs and develop deeper insights than ever before.”
“The Networked Data Lab aims to maximise the potential of data to give local and national decision makers unique insight into our overall health and our interaction with health and care services."