Sudlow review recommends national health data service to improve patient care

Major health, care and research bodies, including the Department of Health and Social Care and the Office for National Statistics, should establish a
national health data service in England to improve patient care and research – an NHS-commissioned review has recommended.

Professor Cathie Sudlow’s independent review of the UK health data landscape concluded that “complex and inefficient” data systems prevent and delay crucial
analysis of health conditions affecting millions of people across the UK.

The review — ‘Uniting the UK’s health data: a huge opportunity for society’, published on 8 November 2024 — stressed the need for coordinated action across
multiple organisations and stakeholders to ensure the greatest benefits for patients and the public from health-relevant data.

They identified several barriers to using health data for public benefit and set our five recommendations for overcoming these barriers and transforming the
national health data ecosystem.

These include the establishment of a national health data service for England, embedded within existing organisational structures but with accountable senior
leadership and a ring-fenced budget.

Professor Sudlow said: “We are simply not maximising the benefits to society from the rich abundance of health data in the UK.