£175million in funding to be invested in improving data infrastructure

The government has announced that £175million in funding will be invested in improving the infrastructure of health data to enable better research.

The investment is on top of up to £200milion announced earlier this year to strengthen data infrastructure, in turn enhancing research and cementing the UK’s status as a global life sciences superpower.

The UK-wide plan will enable innovative research to be carried out more quickly and some of the dedicated investment will be put into digitally focused trials, which will improve participation in research across the UK.

A total of £150million of additional funding will be provided by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and £25million of additional funding will come from other delivery partners in the UK Clinical Research Recovery, Resilience and Growth Programme.

Lord Kamall, minister for technology, innovation and life sciences, said: “Our world leading scientists and clinicians proved time and again during the Covid pandemic they are at the cutting edge of innovation and scientific advancement.

“We will continue to support them by providing the funding, infrastructure and workforce required for state-of-the-art clinical research which ultimately saves lives. By working together, we can protect the NHS, slash the backlog and ensure patients benefit from speedy and safe clinical research.”

It is hoped that the investment will go towards improving technology involved within clinical trials and the option for patients take part virtually.

Significant strides to bolter research already include improving the UK’s ability to harness technology and conduct studies virtually and in the community, such as the PANORAMIC trial of antiviral treatments for Covid and the RELIEVE IBS-D virtual trial designed to help people with IBS-D manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life.

How data is used in healthcare has been a hot topic amongst many for the last few months. NHS England announced plans to develop a £240million Federated Data Platform back in April.

The government also published the full data strategy just a few weeks ago to drive transformation in health and care by reshaping the way data is used.