New campaign highlights how health data can improve care across Cheshire and Merseyside

A new awareness campaign has launched today to highlight how health data is starting to be used to improve patient care and advance medical research across Cheshire and Merseyside through the region’s Secure Data Environment (SDE).

The Cheshire and Merseyside SDE is an online platform that will securely bring together health and care information (data), enabling researchers and healthcare planners to better understand local health needs and improve healthcare now and for future generations.

Professor Sarah Rodgers, from the Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems at the University of Liverpool, said: 

The Secure Data Environment only uses de-identified data from providers that have signed a Data Sharing Agreement. That means researchers never see your name, address, or other personal information. The Cheshire and Merseyside SDE protects your data by following the Five Safes framework – a set of principles developed by the Office for National Statistics.

• Safe data: The NHS only allows researchers to access de-identified versions of your data. That means researchers never see your personal information, such as your name, date of birth, address, or NHS number.  
• Safe projects: Researchers are only given access if their research projects can deliver benefits for the public. The Cheshire and Merseyside Secure Data Environment is about using data for the greater good.
• Safe people: All researchers must be trained and authorised to use data safely before they can access the Secure Data Environment.
• Safe settings: The Secure Data Environment acts like a “digital laboratory”, with the highest possible levels of cyber security. Approved researchers can use it to analyse data.  
• Safe outputs: Research findings must be checked and approved by the NHS before they are published.

Leigh Walmsley, Long COVID Support Service Lead for Warrington Disability Partnership, said:

Patient data is already used in research, but Secure Data Environments will standardise this process to make it more efficient and to improve data security.

Dr Greg Irving, GP and Professor of Primary Care for NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, said:

The Cheshire and Merseyside SDE is part of a wider regional and national NHS Secure Data Environment, and it will support the new North West Secure Data Environment.

To find out how health data is used for care and research, as well as how you can opt out of your data being used, visit the Data into Action website.