The NHS Federated Data Platform will deliver measurable improvements for patients. It will allow people to be discharged quicker, and for waiting lists to be shortened, through making better use of data.

It will securely bring together information already available to trusts, in hospital health records, waiting lists, and theatre and staff rosters, to better manage patient care. Each NHS organisation will be the data controller for their instance of the platform. Data will always remain under the full control and protection of the NHS and is only visible to approved users.

The NHS Federated Data Platform will provide trusts and integrated care boards, on behalf of local integrated care systems, with a set of core capabilities and nationally developed products, to support five key National Health Service priorities: elective recovery; care-co-ordination; vaccination and immunisation; population health management; and supply chain management.

A suite of products will sit under each of the use cases. A product is a software solution to address a particular NHS need, for example a patient discharge product which brings together data to help support discharge teams in hospitals in getting patients the right care in the right place. As each product is developed or transitioned to the NHS Federated Data Platform, a privacy notice will be published, setting out the data that will be utilised within the product. These are available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/privacy-notice/how-we-use-your-information/nhs-federated-data-platform-privacy-notice/fdp-products-and-product-privacy-notices/

The NHS Federated Data Platform is being implemented in phases, with the first phase, from March to July 2024, being a transition of existing National Data Platform products to the national instance of the NHS Federated Data Platform, and the transition of 44 pilot sites to local instances. The second phase, from May 2024 to March 2027 and following the successful transition phase, is the rollout of instances of the platform to new trusts and integrated care boards. Once trusts and boards have their local instance of the platform, they can choose to use any of the nationally commissioned products, and develop new or additional products locally, to address local issues. This is when the data will become visible to approved users.

The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including asthma. The NIHR Respiratory Translational Research Collaboration has a dedicated asthma theme which includes research on diagnostics, monitoring, and digital health interventions to manage asthma. The NIHR has further encouraged research using data science and artificial intelligence approaches through the Artificial Intelligence in Health and Care Award, jointly funded with NHS England and the NHS Accelerated Access Collaborative since 2020.

We also note that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE’s) guideline committee made several recommendations on diagnosing and monitoring asthma, and for managing chronic asthma when the 2017 guideline was published. A further new recommendation for research was made when the guideline was updated in 2020. It is therefore possible that the NICE will make further recommendations for research when its updated asthma guideline is published later this year.

The aim of the Frontline Digitisation programme is for all secondary care National Health Service trusts to have an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system that meets our standards. The Government's 2023 mandate for NHS England set a target for 90% of NHS trusts to have an EPR system in place by December 2023, which has been met. The programme is forecasting to achieve 98% EPR coverage by March 2026, with the remaining 2% of NHS trusts advancing in their plans for an EPR.

The Federated Data Platform will bring together information on services, waiting times, equipment, and medicines, allowing the National Health Service to use data to improve outcomes for patients. The directions used to process de-identified data for use in the ambulance data services dashboard in the Federated Data Platform, is NHS England’s De-Identified Data Analytics and Publication Directions 2023, which is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/about-nhs-digital/corporate-information-and-documents/directions-and-data-provision-notices/secretary-of-state-directions/nhs-england-de-identified-data-analytics-and-publication-directions-2023

These are directions given by my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to establish arrangements for the governance of the ongoing processing of de-identified data, and to act as a framework for the future analysis, linkage, and de-identification of data for analysis by NHS England. The Ambulance Data Services Dashboard in the Federated Data Platform also aligns to the Ambulance Data Set Directions 2022, which is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/about-nhs-digital/corporate-information-and-documents/directions-and-data-provision-notices/nhs-england-directions/ambulance-data-set-directions-2022

These are directions originally given by NHS England to NHS Digital, to establish and operate a system for the collection and analysis of nationally consistent operational and clinical data from all ambulance services in England.

The legal bases for these specific directions are s261(5)(d) and s13Z3 (e) and (f), of the Health and Social Care Act 2012. Further information on the legal grounds for data processing in relation to the Ambulance Data Services Dashboard can be found in the privacy notice. This is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/privacy-notice/how-we-use-your-information/nhs-federated-data-platform-privacy-notice/fdp-products-and-product-privacy-notices/ambulance-data-services-ads-dashboard-fdp-product-privacy-notice/

NHS England ran a framework competition for technical support and implementation services, to support in delivering transformational changes across NHS England, integrated care boards, and NHS trusts in England. This included building capability for the Federated Data Platform (FDP), and enhancing wider data services functions, platforms, and integrating services. This contract was awarded to KPMG LLP.

The FDP Programme Team includes resources provided via this contract, in addition to substantive NHS England employees. NHS England has confirmed that a statement of work, along with an initial trust pipeline, have been identified. The team is continuing to engage with organisations that have piloted FDP products, and organisations in the pipeline, to firm up the rollout

The NHS Federated Data Platform will securely bring together information from hospital health records, waiting lists, and theatre and staff rosters, to better manage patient care. There is no planned timescale for ambulance service data to be used by trusts participating in local instances of the NHS Federated Data Platform, although this may be possible in the future.

The ambulance data will be used by NHS England to monitor ambulance activity, including response and handover times, to support improvement of patient safety and operational delivery. Trusts may have access to some ambulance service data through the dashboard, made available to authorised users via the national instance of the NHS Federated Data Platform. More information on this dashboard is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/privacy-notice/how-we-use-your-information/nhs-federated-data-platform-privacy-notice/fdp-products-and-product-privacy-notices/ambulance-data-services-ads-dashboard-fdp-product-privacy-notice/

NHS England’s Patient Outcomes and Registries Programme is not centralising all clinical registries. The programme is: providing a new, improved national approach to NHS England funded clinical registries that optimises the security and use of patient data to improve patient safety vigilance and to improve patient outcomes, innovation, and value; and expanding the coverage of NHS England’s clinical registries and patient reported outcome measurement into new areas, to meet the independent Cumberlege and Paterson enquiry requirements to improve patient outcomes. The programme is undertaking extensive engagement, and we propose that any meetings with specific stakeholder groups about the programme are organised via the Medical Devices Outcome Registry Programme Director.

A phone number is required to register with the National Health Service login, used to access NHS digital services, although it is not required to log in after registration is complete. Two-step verification is a necessary security feature to ensure that only the correct individual can access an account, and that their medical information is protected.

Once registered, to log in without a phone number, people can have the login remembered on their computer or tablet, or set up face or fingerprint login on their devices, provided their devices support this. They can also set up their device using passkeys, which allow use of the main login used on the device, with access to a trusted phone number required to set this up.

However, NHS England recognises the two-step verification features that NHS login supports may not work for everyone. Landline support was therefore recently introduced for NHS login, that allows those without a mobile phone to register and receive security codes. The needs of those with hearing difficulties were considered, and research with deaf charities showed that most people had access to a trusted phone number that they could use. Phone numbers can also be shared between people for NHS login purposes, as a further option to allow access.

NHS England has published an Ambulance Data Service dashboard, Federated Data Platform product privacy notice, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/privacy-notice/how-we-use-your-information/nhs-federated-data-platform-privacy-notice/fdp-products-and-product-privacy-notices/ambulance-data-services-ads-dashboard-fdp-product-privacy-notice/

The Medical Device Outcome Registry, National Joint Registry, and National Vascular Registry have been incorporated into a central software platform. Registries for ongoing migration are the legacy NHS Digital Breast and Cosmetic Implant Registry, and the Pelvic Organ Prolapse and Stress Urinary Incontinence Registries. The National Registry of Hearing Implants (Cochlear) and National Major Trauma Registry are new registries in development. As of 26 March 2024, 69 providers have been onboarded to the Medical Device Outcome Registry.

The Federated Data Platform is a vital upgrade for the National Health Service, allowing it to be much more effective in how it handles its data, to improve outcomes for patients. It will allow information about staff, waiting times, equipment and medicines to be brought together, to allow better planning of how the NHS uses its resources.

41 trusts have agreed to join the Federated Data Platform, by means of transitioning from their participation in one of the pilot programmes. In parallel, the programme is actively engaging with 29 new trusts, regarding joining the Federated Data Platform in 2024. We are working with regions and local organisations to plan their implementation timeline.

Decisions on the procurement, adoption, and use of SystmOne are made locally as part of standard procurement procedures, which adhere to compliant procurement guidelines. No additional guidance has been provided by the Department on the adoption or usage of SystmOne in the National Health Service.

The Federated Data Platform is a vital upgrade for the National Health Service, allowing it to be much more effective in how it handles its data. It will bring together information about staff, waiting times, equipment and medicines to improve patient outcomes.

Based on agreements between general practices' data controllers and integrated care boards, the Federated Data Platform will have the capability to include elements of local primary care data. This would be limited to the information required to support the provision of care and would only be utilised by local organisations within the local tenants of the Federated Data Platform, and not be shared beyond a local level.

The procurement of electronic patient record systems is conducted at an integrated care board or trust level, following specific procurement criteria. Consequently, decisions regarding software adoption and expansion will be made by National Health Service trusts. All procurement activity for patient record systems is conducted in compliance with regulations, which means that the outcome of future procurements cannot be known at this point.

The Federated Data Platform will allow the National Health Service to make better use of data to improve outcomes for patients, including reducing waits and discharging people quicker from hospital.

45 organisations who participated in the NHS England pilot, broken down into 42 trusts, two integrated care boards, and the City Healthcare Partnership Community Interest Company, have begun to transition into the Federated Data Platform, in a sequence of waves scheduled between March and May 2024. NHS England aims for all trusts and integrated care boards who wish to use the platform to do so within the next three years.

The North Central London Integrated Care Board advise that the patient flow modelling approach was based on the combination of geographical proximity and service user choice.

The patient flow approach was tested with the Clinical Reference Group, Finance and Analytics Group, and Start Well Programme Board. The outputs were also tested with the Strategy Leads from each organisation, and the approach reviewed and assured by the London Clinical Senate and NHS England.

The current use cases for the Federated Data Platform (FDP) are:

- elective recovery, to address the backlog of people waiting for appointments or treatments;

- care coordination, to enable the effective coordination of care between local health and care organisations and services, reducing the number of long stays in hospital;

- vaccination and immunisation, to continue to support the vaccination and immunisation of vulnerable people while ensuring fair and equal access and uptake across different communities;

- population health management, to help integrated care systems proactively plan services that meet the needs of their population; and

- supply chain management, to help the National Health Service put resources where they are needed most, and buy smarter so that we get the best value for money.

The creation of a consolidated national allergy register, or identifiable national clinical data registries, is not in the current scope of the FDP, which will not be processing identifiable patient data at a national level. More products will be developed on the FDP throughout the lifecycle of this programme.

The FDP programme has developed a front door process and demand assessment framework which will be used for new requirements coming into the programme. The assessment framework assesses ideas and requests on the basis of their fit to the core FDP objectives and targeted business case outcomes, as well as assessing against the feasibility of successful delivery when considering things like cost, capacity, wider system dependencies, and other factors. In regard to a consolidated national allergy register, we would expect discussions to be held initially within the National Disease Registry Service.

Alongside the FDP, NHS England are investing in platform modernisation, including the Patient Outcomes and Registries Platform (ORP) which is a unified national registry platform integrated into NHS England’s system data infrastructure for improved data security, flow, linkage, and analysis, and faster pace of registry development.

The ORP’s directions cover all outcome registries, patient-reported outcome measures and patient-reported experience measures, and shared decision-making and data collections across a wide range of conditions, including all surgical and interventional procedures in the NHS and independent sector. A national allergy register or registry may be in the scope for the ORP’s coverage.

We have multiple mechanisms for engaging and working closely with suppliers, including supplier summits, direct relationships and through local organisations. In addition, we will shortly be launching the Cyber Suppliers Network to facilitate dialogue and visibility of ongoing efforts to more effectively secure data and manage cybersecurity.

NHS England’s pilot programmes of Palantir’s Foundry software include the Improving Elective Care Coordination for Patients Programme (IECCPP) and the Optimised Patient Tracking and Intelligent Choices Application (OPTICA) pilot.

The pilots have demonstrated the potential benefits of a Federated Data Platform, which will be a vital upgrade for the National Health Service, allowing it to make better use of its data to improve outcomes for patients, including reducing waits and discharging people quicker.

The following table shows the 42 trusts who are actively participating in one or both pilot programmes:

Organisations which hold sensitive biological data are subject to the UK General Data Protection Regulation. In addition, organisations such as Genomics England, UK Biobank and NIHR BioResource actively consider national security in decision making about partnerships with companies overseas.

As part of the new UK Biological Security Strategy, the Government is undertaking a programme of work to assess how we can minimise the risks from biological data to protect our burgeoning bioeconomy, without stifling innovation, and build confidence in sharing personal data to improve health outcomes in the United Kingdom and across the world. The Office for Life Sciences has begun this work, in consultation with relevant Departments and Agencies across Government, and key partners such as Genomics England and UK Biobank.