I’ve written numerous times about the tremendous potential health data has to deliver improvements in care and the health of the population. A recent report by the Medical Research Council aims to provide a map of all health data research activities across the UK.
The map contains the key activities alongside the major investments made by a range of UK public funders, government, charities and universities. The authors hope that the report will help to guide future funding of health data research.
The report itself has also formed the basis of the establishment of Health Data Research UK, a new body that is a joint investment led by the Medical Research Council, together with the National Institute for Health Research (England), the Chief Scientist Office (Scotland), Health and Care Research Wales, Health and Social Care Research and Development Division (Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Economic and Social Research Council, the British Heart Foundation and Wellcome.
Health data activity
“This report is snapshot of activity at a particular point in time in a very fast-moving sector but is a great resource for organisations looking to fund, research or collaborate in this area. It will help stop us reinventing the wheel, plug research gaps and inform an ambitious future research strategy. What’s more, it highlights what a diverse and exciting area health data research is. This sector is thriving and in addition to its importance for promoting health and well-being, has huge potential to help deliver the UK Industrial Strategy, making the UK a global leader of the industries of the future,” the authors say.
The report highlights the growing amount of research being undertaken in this area, whether it’s multi-million pound research projects from vast research institutes or interdisciplinary collaborations. The breadth of activity is itself quite remarkable.
What is interesting however is that most of the projects to date have been undertaken by research institutes, universities or the National Health Service. The private sector is conspicuous by its absence. Whether that omission is because there isn’t much work being done or that it was not within the scope of the report isn’t clear, but as the number of tech giants moving into healthcare increases, data will be the main currency by which they go about their work, so their input into the field will be considerable.
The authors conclude that they believe the UK has the potential to lead the world in health data research, and whilst this pole position is far from certain, what does appear more certain is the profound impact health data research will have on society. As such, the report is a good introduction to the kind of work being done around the UK.
