Health Data Research Service
Simplifying secure access to UK health data for research.
Wellcome is working with the UK government to create a new Health Data Research Service that will help researchers make discoveries to improve health.
The UK has high quality, comprehensive health data covering the lifespans of a large and diverse population. This is exactly the sort of data researchers need to make breakthroughs. It can uncover how diseases occur and identify people to invite to trials of new treatments.
The service will reduce the technical and administrative barriers that researchers face to using health data. It will do this while maintaining the highest levels of data protection and public trust.
We have pledged £100 million to help establish the new service alongside the UK government’s commitment of up to £500 million.
What will the health data research service do?
Researchers can already draw on a range of UK health data sources, including some NHS datasets. But they face obstacles and delays in accessing and analysing them. Researchers also can’t access all health and health-relevant data at national or regional level.
Differences in how data is collected, sorted, linked and stored add to these challenges. Researchers may have to submit multiple time-consuming applications to access different datasets to compare between regions, for example.
These barriers are slowing down progress in understanding health and addressing illness.
The Health Data Research Service will provide a single, secure method for researchers to access and analyse different datasets. This will take away the significant administrative overheads associated with locating, accessing and comparing disparate datasets. It will create opportunities for patients to access new treatments through trials that would otherwise have been hard to arrange or conduct.
The new service will allow approved researchers to analyse data within a secure data environment, meaning the analysis is done without exporting the data, helping it remain secure.
As well as benefiting patients through new discoveries and opportunities to participate in trials for new treatments, creating a world-leading research service will strengthen the UK’s position as a hub for scientific innovation and health data research and attract investment.
The service plans to meet six goals that will simplify access to secure health data and lead to breakthroughs.
1. Access to comprehensive health records
By providing secure access to linked primary care, hospital, prescribing and mortality data at national scale, researchers will see a complete picture of patients’ journeys through the health system while protecting individual privacy.
2. Research-ready datasets
Through access to data from participants in major research studies who have given their consent, the service will build on the UK's world-leading cohort studies and biobanks.
3. Opening up advanced diagnostics data
Access to diagnostic images, laboratory results and genomic data will help researchers understand the detailed information that could enable breakthroughs in precision medicine.
4. Faster clinical trials
Integration of health data with the platforms researchers use to help conduct clinical trials will bring new treatments to patients faster.
5. Simpler access
The service will be a single entry point to various secure research environments, with standardised agreements and approval processes. This will streamline and speed up the process for researchers.
6. Linking data for greater impact
The ability to link health data with information from other sectors – such as environmental or social data – will offer richer understanding of factors that affect our health.
When will the Health Data Research Service be ready for researchers to use?
The aim is to launch the first elements of the service by the end of 2026, with further capabilities rolling out progressively.
Teams in the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and NHS England have been working together alongside the health authorities in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, Wellcome and other experts to put in place the foundations for the new service.
We will also be seeking input from researchers, industry, patients and the public.
DHSC is planning to publish outline data access principles for the service in autumn 2025. These principles will guide establishing the service, including outlining how it will enable research while protecting privacy. The new service will be designed according to these principles, alongside what works practically for researchers and benefits the public.
Recruitment is now open for the first chair and chief executive of the new service.
We are commissioning an expert review of the existing data infrastructure and an analysis of the opportunities and priorities for the new service.
NHS England’s National Director of Transformation, Dr Vin Diwakar, and the Department of Health and Social Care’s Chief Data Officer, Lucy Vickers, share more on the next steps.
Why is Wellcome supporting the health data research service?
Wellcome supports a broad programme on data for science and health. We believe a public-philanthropic partnership will help put public trust in the use of health data at the heart of the new service.
Our proven track record, emphasis on patient involvement, and significant financial contribution will help accelerate the establishment of the Health Data Research Service.
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