North East and North Cumbria ICS has published its strategy for providing data capability to support health and care projects for service improvements, new innovations and research.
It’s ‘Trusted Research and Evaluation Environment strategy’ aims to support joint collaboration between health, care and academic institutions, using governed processes and a data platform.
The ICS said the strategy is to provide the capability and data platform to ‘support evidence based transformation’, across the region.
In result, it hopes to unlock the potential of its data, and bring together regional academics, health and care communities, in partnership with citizens, to improve and sustain better health and well-being outcomes. It will mean the ICS can better understand health trends and challenges, inform decision making and provide intelligence towards where it’s needed.
The ICS noted its four strategic outcomes in the paper:
- Develop public and partner trust and assurance on use of data through a transparent, safe and effective capability
- Cultivate health, care and academic expertise through collaboration and a ‘learning health system’, to improve real-world, regional challenges
- Deliver projects that are focussed on improving population health and wellbeing, using a safe and secure data analytics capability
- Provide a nationally assured, safe, scalable and sustainable capability to support the regions digital development and economic growth.
In December, the ICS commissioned the Academic Health Science Network to produce the TREE strategy for the region. It’s been developed following a consultation exercise with health and care partners, and representatives from six local universities. In addition, the work has been benchmarked against similar ventures across the UK.
The ICS said the next step for the programme is to start implementation, with the first priority to create the platform to allow projects to be set-up and governed.
The TREE strategy forms part of the ICS’s wider digital strategy, where it has outlined its plans and aims for the next four years, until 2024.
In a shared foreword, the ICS name-checked a number of areas of focus including, “cloud, standards-based interoperability, robotic process automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence” and said it will “support and equip its workforce to be ready to embrace digital opportunities”.
The region’s experts collaborated to produce its ‘shared vision’ with five ‘key interlinked themes’ for delivery, including:
- The Essentials – ‘getting the basics right’ and ‘using shared approaches’
- Improving – ‘digitally mature organisations’ and a ‘digitally capable workforce’
- Connecting – ‘secure sharing of information’ to improve the ‘quality and safety of care’
- Empowering – ‘people to be partners in their own health and care needs’
- Learning – using ‘up-to-date information’ to ‘proactively respond’ to the needs of the population.
View the North East & North Cumbria ICS digital strategy here.
