
UK Health Data Research Alliance
The UK Health Data Research Alliance (the 'Alliance') is an independent alliance of leading healthcare and research organisations united to establish best practice for the ethical use of UK health data for research at scale.
The Alliance is co-ordinated by Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) and is part of the UK-wide capability for the responsible use of health data for research and innovation, funded by the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF).
The purpose of the Alliance
The Alliance aims to accelerate progress in health and care by encouraging widespread and responsible access to structured and unstructured clinical, administrative, imaging, genomic and other molecular data.
The UK has some of the richest health datasets world-wide. Some of these are well organised, but only a fraction of all NHS and research data is accessible for research and innovation. This makes it difficult for researchers and innovators realise the full potential and value from the data, slowing down the development of new treatments, innovation and progress towards a more efficient health and social care service. By combining expertise and a shared commitment to health research collaboratively, we are helping researchers and innovators to answer some of the most difficult questions and address the most important health challenges faced in the UK.
How the Alliance works
Through the development and sharing of best practice, and by earning trust in health data use, the Alliance aims to maximise research potential and ensure it benefits as many people across the UK as possible – we achieve this by:
- Bringing together the research, clinical, and disease advocacy communities, patients and the public, and the private sector to support and promote the responsible sharing of health data for vital research and innovation.
- Collaborating to create a versatile platform that is open and accessible, and provides common standards and tools for stakeholders in the health data science community; and,
- Publishing a series of Green and White papers on key work areas for consultation, helping to shape developments and to create a responsible and ethical infrastructure for UK health research and innovation.

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