Health Data: Research and Analysis

Lord Allan of Hallam Excerpts

Wednesday 15th May 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)]

My noble friend raises a very important point, and I reassure her and the House that only authorised users will be granted access to data for approved purposes. These include NHS staff and those supporting them, such as administrators, bed managers or care co-ordinators, as well staff in social care supporting the move from hospital care. The FDP suppliers can use NHS data only to support NHS services directed by NHS bodies. The suppliers will not control the data on the platform, nor will they be permitted to access, use or share it for their own purposes.

[Lord Allan of Hallam (LD)]

My Lords, the Government deserve credit for supporting the development of secure data environments such as OpenSAFELY, but a lot of health research data is still moving around using older and less secure environments, and those who are seeking unauthorised access are becoming ever more sophisticated and dangerous. Will the Minister go back to his department and get it to prioritise, with urgency, moving health research from these older and less secure systems to the newer and more secure ones? This is a race against time, and a major data breach would set research back by years.

[Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)]

The noble Lord raises an important point, backing up the concerns of the noble Lord, Lord Davies. He is exactly right: the Government are moving at pace. I reassure him that I will take his request back to the department.