Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the recommendations in the Goldacre review, what steps he is taking to ensure that NHS data policies take into consideration the limitations of (a) pseudonymisation and (b) trust as techniques when managing patient privacy; and what discussions he has had with the Cabinet Office on the implications of that policy for Government data sharing more broadly.

The Goldacre review highlighted that National Health Service data can accelerate medical research and allow planning for more effective services, while also describing the limitations of a system built on data sharing which relies on techniques such as trust and pseudonymisation to manage patient privacy. The Review recommends that the NHS adopts secure online platforms for verified researchers and analysts to access its data. These platforms, known as Secure Data Environments or Trusted Research Environments, will support high standards of information governance, transparency and security. Secure Data Environments remove the need for data to be physically shared between different users which reduces the reliance on factors such as trust and pseudonymisation being necessary to manage patient privacy.

The Department is currently developing policy principles and standards for the adoption of Secure Data Environments in the NHS. We will continue to engage with other Government departments on issues of data policy.