Overview
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has partnered with two companies to enhance its dataset aimed at improving medical research and innovation.
Current Challenges
- The trust’s dataset, which includes information on patient care, treatment outcomes, and service delivery, is currently fragmented across various systems.
- This fragmentation complicates the use of data for research and development purposes.
Partnership Details
Promptly Health and Flatiron have been selected to create a dedicated data platform. This platform will:
- Support clinicians, researchers, and service leaders in understanding data.
- Help identify trends and generate actionable insights.
- Enhance patient outcomes and service delivery.
Director’s Statement
Vicky McFarlane-Reid, director for commercial development and innovation at Newcastle Hospitals, stated:
“Through our data partnerships, we’ll be able to refine how and when we provide certain types of care, help industry to develop new drugs and medicines, and ultimately improve health through combining the expertise and skills of doctors and nurses with better statistical information and insight.”
Project Goals
The initiative aims to:
- Utilize improved data access to accelerate research.
- Support therapeutic innovation by creating anonymized datasets, ensuring all patient-identifiable information is removed.
Data Usage and Patient Rights
Data will be managed under strict controls and approval processes. Patients will have the option to opt out of data sharing if they choose.
Commercial Aspects
Access to the data for commercial researchers, including pharmaceutical companies, will incur charges. The revenue generated will be reinvested into NHS care.
CEO’s Perspective
Pedro Ramos, CEO of Promptly Health, expressed:
“The hospitals lead some of the UK’s most pioneering medical research in the areas of kidney research, mitochondrial and neuromuscular disorders. We see this partnership as a responsibility to support this extraordinary infrastructure with technology that can deliver accessible, secure, high-quality data. Together, I am confident we will be able to accelerate discovery, enable more collaborative research, and ultimately drive faster, life-changing innovations for the benefit of patients and their families.”
Approval Status
The project has received approval from the NHS Health Research Authority.
Related Developments
In addition to this data platform, Newcastle Hospitals has launched MyHealthCall Pep, a patient engagement platform integrated with the NHS App, allowing patients to manage their appointments and access important information digitally.
For more details, visit the following sources: