To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that data from clinical research is accessible to (a) researchers, (b) the third sector and (c) the NHS as early as possible while preserving patient privacy.
Answered on
26 April 2022
The Department supports the appropriate and ethical sharing of research data to maximise benefits to patients, the public and the health and care system. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) sets out the expectations for those in receipt of its awards in the ‘NIHR position on the sharing of research data’, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nihr.ac.uk/documents/nihr-position-on-the-sharing-of-research-data/12253
Publications describing the findings of NIHR-funded research must include information on how others, including researchers, the third sector and the National Health Service, can access the study data through a data sharing statement. The NIHR also encourages researchers' data to be placed in an appropriate repository where possible.