Real-world learnings for digital health industry-NHS collaboration: Life sciences vision in action

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Data Science in Healthcare
• Clinical Data Management

Background:

• Limited guidance exists for industry-NHS collaborations on anonymised routine healthcare data.
• Routine health data complexity and format challenges hinder secondary use.
• Need for structured approaches to maximize benefits from NHS data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a formal partnership between an NHS organisation and a pharmaceutical company.
• To jointly address challenges in utilizing anonymised NHS data for improved patient outcomes.
• To develop sustainable methods for secondary data use.

Main Methods:

• A 5-year formal collaboration between Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and Roche Products Limited.
• Addressing complexities of NHS Electronic Patient Records (EPR) and data engineering.
• Exploring modern technology, data infrastructure, and AI readiness.

Main Results:

• Learnings from the first two years of the collaboration.
• Insights into optimizing NHS data through engineering and technology.
• Identification of necessary staff skills, training, and governance structures.

Conclusions:

• Formal partnerships are crucial for overcoming challenges in NHS data utilization.
• Investment in technology, infrastructure, and staff is needed for AI readiness.
• Co-design with patients and clinicians is vital for effective data strategies.