A partnership has been launched between the DATA-CAN data research hub for cancer hosted at Leeds Teaching Hospitals and the West Midlands Secure Data Environment to support access to high quality cancer data for researchers.
The partnership draws on pseudonymised patient data from patient records at major cancer centres across the UK, including on diagnosis, treatments, test results, and patient outcomes. The first dataset has been uploaded to the WM SDE, with three further datasets currently in development, Leeds Teaching shares.
Data will only be available to approved researchers, with the WM SDE ensuring it remains under NHS control “at all times”, according to the trust, permitting insights to be generated to improve patient care whilst maintaining patient confidentiality. Patients can choose for their information not to be shared by registering a national data opt-out.
“As the resource grows, it will offer value at every level: cancer centres that contribute data gain access to their own curated datasets, researchers gain a single secure route into oncology data from across the UK, and national research studies gain the scale and quality of data needed to answer questions no single centre could address alone,” the trust states.
LTH has also been selected as one of the pilot sites for an EU-funded research project looking to transform diabetes treatment for young people. The five-year programme, IMPACT-MED, is intended to bring together leading European experts across healthcare, research, and industry, with a view to developing innovative approaches to care for cardiometabolic diseases.
Spanning partners in 13 different countries, the project will reportedly connect digital tools with real-world evaluation, working toward driving adoption in healthcare settings across Europe. LTH is set to work with partners Minimed-Diabeter and DigiBete to explore the role digital tools can play in supporting diabetes self-management.
Diabetes patients at the trust and with the children and young people’s diabetes team at Leeds Children’s Hospital will be offered the opportunity to test new digital innovations as part of the study, it adds. Diabeter’s remote population management solution, CloudCare, will be used to integrate data from things like insulin pumps, enabling outcome monitoring and ensuring those needing additional support can be identified early.
Wider trend: Health data
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has welcomed the launch of the Zenith supercomputer funded by the Department for Science, Industry and Technology. Said to offer researchers the ability to study health data on an “unprecedented scale”, the supercomputer will also support and inform the development of AI tools for patient care across the NHS. The AI Centre for Value-Based Healthcare is reportedly collaborating with Zenith on the project to help ensure the supercomputer’s power is deployed “responsibly and securely”.
The Department of Health and Social Care has commissioned a national programme of engagement for GPs and practice managers, to “genuinely influence” national policy with their views on how patient data is used across the NHS. The NHS Transformation Directorate noted that “the potential of NHS data is key to advancing population health, improving patient care, and informing the development of the single patient record, but changes to national policy on data use “will only be successful if they are workable and trusted in practice”.
Three “interregional” projects have been selected for a share of €3.8 million through the EU-funded UNITE programme, with an aim to utilise data for innovation across heart failure, neonatal intensive care, and medical imaging. The selection follows an open call that reportedly engaged more than 1,000 organisations and received 19 proposals from different European regions, seeking to improve accessibility of health data across borders and to deliver more personalised remote care. The first project to be confirmed for funding is CARDIO-HUB, which utilises real-world data, AI-powered risk prediction, and remote monitoring to help improve care for elderly heart failure patients.
