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New independent assessment highlights devolved nations’ leading role in health data research
News
Average reading time 3 minutes
14 Jul 2026
A new report, published today, outlines the strengths and experience in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales in leading data-driven healthcare research in the UK.
Working on behalf of the UK devolved nations, Research Data Scotland (RDS) commissioned OPL Advisory to deliver an independent, evidence-based report on health data research infrastructure maturity and to assess the three nations’ readiness to deliver elements of the UK Health Data Research Service (HDRS), a £600 million initiative to simplify secure access to health data for research across the UK.
The report reveals a mature set of research services across the devolved nations, with decades of experience providing secure access to data for research in the public benefit.
The report also states that further investment could unlock the potential of more effective cross-nation research. Research utilising data from more than one nation can be extremely powerful, helping to understand the effectiveness of different health and care systems that are devolved to the UK nations, or supporting important research into rare disease beyond what is possible when each nation works independently.
There has been substantial investment in health data research in England, and the report highlights the importance of equivalent investment in devolved nations in order to capitalise on their experience and expertise and ensure a truly UK-wide service.
Devolved nations are leading the UK’s data research landscape and should be integral to the UK-wide Health Data Research Service (HDRS)
The report highlights that the three devolved nations represent ‘a compelling and immediate offer’ to the HDRS, and states that they ‘should be integral to the design and delivery’ of the upcoming UK-wide service.
Health is a devolved competency, with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each operating distinct health data research infrastructures that predate the English Secure Data Environment (SDE) network by more than ten years. As a result, the report states, the three nations’ participation ‘is essential for HDRS to deliver genuinely UK-wide research capability.’
The report shows that the three devolved nations have unique strengths that can provide leadership to the rest of the UK, including:
The SeRP Trusted Research Environment architecture service developed in Wales.
The Scottish Medical Imaging Service and PICTURES programme, which hosts millions of de-identified images linked to other health records.
The Scottish Safe Haven Network (SSHN), which comprises Scotland’s National and four Regional Safe Havens and collectively enables secure access to data for research covering the whole of Scotland. It has a fully developed Target Operating Model and can demonstrate the benefits of linking data across different regions, including federation of data access governance. The SSHN has had no reportable data breaches throughout its history.
Northern Ireland's integrated health and social care system, which enables increased understanding of how services work together.
Cross sectoral linkage between health and other data available through the ADR UK programme.
The report also showed that further investment could unlock previously untapped potential for the devolved nations and generate life-changing research in areas such as:
Expanding the availability of data from GP practices for research and linking to secondary care and other data
Harmonising data to international standards.
Developing a shared service to support cross-nation research.
Supporting the sustainability of the system through building on RDS’s work with the private sector
Public involvement and engagement which has built trust and ensuring we maintain that to underpin all we do.
“Cross-national collaborations are vital for innovation in our public services and to attract research investment and jobs to Scotland, and I’m pleased to see the devolved nations’ leading role in the UK data research landscape recognised in this report.”
Report welcomed by RDS
Roger Halliday, Research Data Scotland CEO, said: “It has been excellent to get an independent view of Scotland's strengths and areas we could develop if we received support to do so. There has been significant investment in England, and receiving similar support to the devolved nations to build on the experience, expertise and infrastructure we have in data research.
“We now have a clear route forward, both for how we work within Scotland to align research data services, and how we expand Scotland’s leading role beyond our borders to enable cross-nation research across the UK and on an international scale. Cross-national collaborations are vital for innovation in our public services and to attract research investment and jobs to Scotland, and I’m pleased to see the devolved nations’ leading role in the UK data research landscape recognised in this report.”
Health Data Research Service: Three Nations Readiness Assessment
You can download the full report on the link below.
Final Report (PDF 524.18 KB)Related Content
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