People in Somerset are being asked to share their views on a planned data system that would help health and care organisations develop services that are better tailored to local needs.
Partners across Our Somerset, the county’s Integrated Care System, are currently developing a ‘Linked Data Platform’, a secure system that will anonymously link health and social care data to support ‘population health management’.
Population health management involves taking action to reduce ill health, deliver tailored health and care services and addressing other factors that impact on health, such as housing or employment status.
Dr Bernie Marden, Chief Medical Officer at NHS Somerset, said: “Having up-to-date and reliable data unlocks a world of potential when it comes to identifying needs and designing services to meet them. Our planned Somerset Linked Data Platform is about bringing together the health and care data that our system partners have to spot patterns and trends to make smart and informed decisions about services that will make a real difference to people’s lives.
“All the data is anonymised before it gets stored by the system, which is based in the UK and is built locally by the NHS in Somerset using best-practice security principles. This means that when we examine the data, individuals can’t be identified, but we can build a picture of what a local population needs.”
The platform would build a complete view of our communities’ health and wellbeing needs, and these insights will help health and care leaders to predict health needs and develop tailored services that prevent illness and deliver targeted care.
How the Somerset Linked Data Platform could work
Example – improving air quality and tackling asthma
Researchers could link hospital data with housing, transport and air quality records to see that children in certain neighbourhoods have higher asthma rates. Because the data is anonymous, no one knows which child is which, but leaders can still spot patterns and decide to reduce traffic pollution or improve housing in those areas. This helps prevent illness and makes the whole community healthier while protecting individual privacy.
As well as benefitting population groups, there may be some circumstances where individuals, whose data has been analysed anonymously and securely within the linked data set system, would benefit from health or care interventions that could improve their health outcomes. In these circumstances, and subject to strict information governance processes, the system would allow for reidentification of the individual to happen in one of the source data systems, such as the individual’s GP or carer record.
Example – diabetes prescriptions
Researchers might link hospital, pharmacy, and GP records and find an anonymous group of patients who have diabetes but are not picking up their insulin prescriptions. At first, the data does not show names, but once the risk is clear, the relevant patients’ GPs can securely reidentify those patients so they can contact them, check if they are struggling with costs or side effects, and offer support. This targeted follow-up can prevent serious complications like hospital admissions and help each person manage their condition more safely.
People in Somerset are being asked to share their views about the future use of health and care data in Somerset. For more information on the Somerset Linked Data Platform and to complete the survey, click on nhssomerset.nhs.uk/news/somerset-health-data-survey. Healthwatch Somerset, the independent champion for people who use health and social care services, is supporting validation and assurance work connected with the survey.
NHS Somerset’s Engagement and digital teams have been speaking with communities across the county, with 53 events already delivered and more underway.
Lucie Laker, Chief Officer – Data and Analytics at NHS Somerset, said: “We’d love to hear what people in Somerset think – feedback will help us make sure this is done responsibly, securely, and in a way that works for everyone.”
Local people can opt-out of sharing their data for any purpose, aside from purposes to support their direct care, via the NHS App or by speaking to their GP surgery.
