NHS England’s newly-published Value Sharing Framework sets out guiding principles that NHS organisations and their partners should follow in order to help them negotiate fair terms for NHS data partnerships, to “simplify and accelerate” the process along with promoting innovation through alignment of incentives.
The first of the four principles set out within the framework states that “cost of access should not prevent good use of data”, underlining that “researchers and innovators should be encouraged to securely access NHS data which has the potential to improve patient care”. The second shares that the NHS should “seek to recover the costs of providing access to data”, so as to avoid diverting money from frontline services. Principle three states that NHS organisations should consider the type of data being requested and how it will be used when deciding on how much to charge for access. The final principle notes that the NHS should “seek a share of any commercial value arising from a data partnership proportionate to the NHS’s contribution to that value”.
The framework has been designed to support the move towards secure data environments, NHSE notes. It acts as a response to public concerns about the security of sensitive data and the importance of “fair terms” being agreed for the use of public resources and has been developed following extensive engagement from the CIDC with data partners and the public.
NHSE adds that whilst the principles will remain constant, “the details of the value-sharing arrangements they shape will evolve over time”, reflecting improvements in data, expansion of the SDE network and changes in the numbers and needs of NHS data users.
Last year, we wrote about a national survey of public opinion on sharing health data to support clinical care and research which found that 76 percent of almost 30,000 participants supporting data sharing for their own health care without being asked first. This level of support was not found for data sharing with the commercial sector, which was believed to relate to issues of security and motives, although respondents “were generally happy for de-identified data to be shared to the NHS, universities, and research charities”.
We have also previously spoken with Paul Walker, chief technical officer at Skills for Health, about the future of NHS data sharing. Paul stated that “NHS data sharing success rests on transparency and gaining public trust”, adding that “collected and compiled in a transparent, informed and consensual way”, data has the potential to save lives and fuel innovation.
To view NHS England’s new value sharing framework in full, please click here.
