The Cheshire and Merseyside Secure Data Environment is designed for approved researchers and analysts who require access to health data to conduct studies and analyses. 

This could include:

• Universities and research institutions. Academic researchers might use the SDE to conduct health-related studies, particularly those aimed at improving healthcare outcomes.
• NHS organisations: NHS analysts might access the SDE for population health management. This means using data to improve the health of a population by understanding general trends, needs, and patient outcomes.  
• Public health bodies: Public health organisations might use the SDE for population health management, to support planning for healthcare resources, and to respond to public health crises, like COVID-19.
• Pharmaceutical and medical research companies: In some cases, approved researchers from these organisations might access SDEs for studies that align with public health objectives or contribute to medical advancements. This could include exploring the potential of new treatments for health conditions. We will engage with the public before we develop these types of partnerships.

Secure Data Environments are designed to give NHS data more protection. They store de-identified health and care data. That means that personal information – such as names, addresses and NHS numbers – are replaced with artificial, or “pseudo”, information.

Secure Data Environments also use data aggregation and data minimisation to protect privacy.

Data aggregation combines and summarises information so that trends and patterns can be analysed. Identifiable data is made less detailed. For example, the data would not include dates of birth for individuals, but rather age bands. It would not include addresses, but area postcodes.

Data minimisation means that to protect a patient’s identity, such as those with a rare disease, the database does not allow release of small amounts of data. All unnecessary details are removed.

Only approved researchers will be able to access the Secure Data Environment. Researchers will be required to sign a researcher agreement, which includes consequences for any breaches. They will also only be able to use tools to analyse the de-identified data on the platform. They cannot download the data.

The Cheshire and Merseyside Secure Data Environment will not be used for genomic data. If this were to occur in the future, a new application for ethical approval would be made.

The data is processed and stored under strict confidentiality and access rules by:

• Graphnet System C, who process data for secondary uses via the Shared Care Record.
• Arden & GEM, an NHS organisation that processes national and local data for secondary uses via the Data Service for Commissioners Regional Office.

Data is stored in the UK.

Patient data is already used in research, but Secure Data Environments will standardise this process to make it more efficient and to improve data security.

Below are some examples of how data has been used for the benefit of patients and the public in Cheshire and Merseyside.

Fuel poverty dashboard

NHS Cheshire and Merseyside developed a fuel poverty dashboard to identify people at risk of poor health outcomes due to cold homes and fuel poverty. 

The dashboard draws on health and care information on 2.6 million Cheshire and Merseyside residents.

It was used to identify people who had a 50% or higher risk of emergency admission in the next 12 months, were not in a care home, and were living in the most deprived and fuel poor areas. That identified 1,317 individuals who would be targeted to improve outcomes.

Primary care and community care teams could use this information
to optimise treatment and deploy warm home initiatives.

Results

85 patients were contacted through the St Helens WarmHomes for Lungs project, resulting in 85 referrals to the wellbeing team, 14 referrals to the pulmonary rehabilitation team, and 18 patients being onboarded to the COPD telehealth service.

65 patients received £500 payments from household support funds – a total of £32,500 in payments – and all patients received a Winter Warmer Pack, providing vital, life-improving support to the most vulnerable residents.

COVID-19 testing

NHS Cheshire and Merseyside data was used in a national pilot of community testing, with rapid lateral flow tests being extended to people without COVID-19 symptoms.

It was hoped this would reduce or contain transmission and provide a way to reduce COVID-19 restrictions.

Results

Between 3 December 2020 and 31 July 2021, 668,243 residents in the Liverpool City Region (LCR), from five years old and older, had registered results from testing centres or home testing kits.

The pilot led to an estimated 21% reduction in cases up to mid-December 2020.

More than half (57%) of LCR residents completed rapid lateral flow tests between 6 November 2020 and 30 April 2021.

More information is on the Government website. 

Events Research Programme

NHS Cheshire and Merseyside data was used for research into restarting large-scale events during COVID-19 restrictions.

The Events Research Programme (ERP) was looking to determine what risk mitigations would allow for larger events to return.

Between 17 April and 15 May 2021, nine pilots were conducted in the region under the ERP, including a concert in Sefton Park, nightclub events and a business event.

Across the pilots, there was a variety of indoor and outdoor settings, with various audience sizes and styles, including seated and standing arrangements. 

Results

In Liverpool,13,000 people attended dance and music festivals over a bank holiday weekend, safely at a scale that was not seen anywhere since the pandemic.

Timely access to linked testing and ticketing data was effective in enabling rapid contact tracing around Liverpool events.

More information is on the Government’s website.

People can opt out of their de-identified data being shared for any reason, including between different services.

For more information, read the "How we use your data in Cheshire and Merseyside" leaflet.

Research projects that are being undertaken using the Cheshire and Merseyside Secure Data Environment will be listed here.

Information about completed research projects and their findings will be shared here