A profile of the Grampian Data Safe Haven, a regional Scottish safe haven for health and population data research

There has been a recent emphasis to establish and codify large-scale or national Trusted Research Environments (TREs) in the United Kingdom, with a view to limit smaller, local TREs. The basis for this argument is that it avoids duplication of infrastructure, information governance, privacy risks,...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Katherine O'Sullivan, Katie Wilde
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Swansea University 2023-03-01
Series:International Journal of Population Data Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ijpds.org/article/view/1817
_version_ 1797421693981949952
author Katherine O'Sullivan
Katie Wilde
author_facet Katherine O'Sullivan
Katie Wilde
author_sort Katherine O'Sullivan
collection DOAJ
description There has been a recent emphasis to establish and codify large-scale or national Trusted Research Environments (TREs) in the United Kingdom, with a view to limit smaller, local TREs. The basis for this argument is that it avoids duplication of infrastructure, information governance, privacy risks, monopolies and will promote innovation, particularly with commercial partners. However, the work around establishing TREs in the UK largely ignores the long-established local TRE landscape in Scotland, and the way in which local TREs can actually improve data quality, solve technical architecture challenges, promote information governance and risk minimisation, and encourage innovation and collaboration (both academic and commercial). This data centre profile focuses on the Grampian Data Safe Haven (DaSH),a secure, virtual healthcare data analysis and storage centre located in Aberdeen, Scotland. DaSH was co-established by the NHS Grampian Health Board and University of Aberdeen to allow for the secure processing and linking of health data for the Grampian and Scottish population when it is not practicable to obtain consent from individual patients. As an established trusted research environment now in its 10th operating year, DaSH technology ensures healthcare, social care data and other types of sensitive data, routinely collected and used without individual patient consent, are made accessible for both academic research and clinical service evaluation and improvements whilst protecting individuals' privacy at the local, national and international levels. DaSH has registered almost 600 projects and facilitated over 200 distinct research projects with data hosting, extraction, and novel linkages to completion. Ongoing innovation and collaboration between DaSH and the NHS Grampian Health Board continues to expand researcher access to new types of data and data linkages, introduce new technologies for advanced statistical research methods, and supports interdisciplinary research using population health and social care data for research, clinical and commercial advancements, and real-world practitioner applications. The purpose of this paper is to present DaSH's data population, operating model, architecture and information technology, governance, legislation and management, privacy-by-design principles and data access, data linkage methods, data sources, noteworthy research outputs, and further developments in order to demonstrate the value of local TREs within the data management and access debate.
first_indexed 2024-03-09T07:21:08Z
format Article
id doaj.art-a59ca3e234524b6aac129f464efef8d8
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2399-4908
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-09T07:21:08Z
publishDate 2023-03-01
publisher Swansea University
record_format Article
series International Journal of Population Data Science
spelling doaj.art-a59ca3e234524b6aac129f464efef8d82023-12-03T07:25:43ZengSwansea UniversityInternational Journal of Population Data Science2399-49082023-03-014210.23889/ijpds.v4i2.1817A profile of the Grampian Data Safe Haven, a regional Scottish safe haven for health and population data researchKatherine O'Sullivan0Katie Wilde1Grampian DaSH, University of Aberdeen, Polwarth Building, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZDGrampian DaSH, University of Aberdeen, Polwarth Building, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD There has been a recent emphasis to establish and codify large-scale or national Trusted Research Environments (TREs) in the United Kingdom, with a view to limit smaller, local TREs. The basis for this argument is that it avoids duplication of infrastructure, information governance, privacy risks, monopolies and will promote innovation, particularly with commercial partners. However, the work around establishing TREs in the UK largely ignores the long-established local TRE landscape in Scotland, and the way in which local TREs can actually improve data quality, solve technical architecture challenges, promote information governance and risk minimisation, and encourage innovation and collaboration (both academic and commercial). This data centre profile focuses on the Grampian Data Safe Haven (DaSH),a secure, virtual healthcare data analysis and storage centre located in Aberdeen, Scotland. DaSH was co-established by the NHS Grampian Health Board and University of Aberdeen to allow for the secure processing and linking of health data for the Grampian and Scottish population when it is not practicable to obtain consent from individual patients. As an established trusted research environment now in its 10th operating year, DaSH technology ensures healthcare, social care data and other types of sensitive data, routinely collected and used without individual patient consent, are made accessible for both academic research and clinical service evaluation and improvements whilst protecting individuals' privacy at the local, national and international levels. DaSH has registered almost 600 projects and facilitated over 200 distinct research projects with data hosting, extraction, and novel linkages to completion. Ongoing innovation and collaboration between DaSH and the NHS Grampian Health Board continues to expand researcher access to new types of data and data linkages, introduce new technologies for advanced statistical research methods, and supports interdisciplinary research using population health and social care data for research, clinical and commercial advancements, and real-world practitioner applications. The purpose of this paper is to present DaSH's data population, operating model, architecture and information technology, governance, legislation and management, privacy-by-design principles and data access, data linkage methods, data sources, noteworthy research outputs, and further developments in order to demonstrate the value of local TREs within the data management and access debate. https://ijpds.org/article/view/1817Data centresafe havendata linkagedata extractionhealth informaticspopulation data
spellingShingle Katherine O'Sullivan
Katie Wilde
A profile of the Grampian Data Safe Haven, a regional Scottish safe haven for health and population data research
International Journal of Population Data Science
Data centre
safe haven
data linkage
data extraction
health informatics
population data
title A profile of the Grampian Data Safe Haven, a regional Scottish safe haven for health and population data research
title_full A profile of the Grampian Data Safe Haven, a regional Scottish safe haven for health and population data research
title_fullStr A profile of the Grampian Data Safe Haven, a regional Scottish safe haven for health and population data research
title_full_unstemmed A profile of the Grampian Data Safe Haven, a regional Scottish safe haven for health and population data research
title_short A profile of the Grampian Data Safe Haven, a regional Scottish safe haven for health and population data research
title_sort profile of the grampian data safe haven a regional scottish safe haven for health and population data research
topic Data centre
safe haven
data linkage
data extraction
health informatics
population data
url https://ijpds.org/article/view/1817
work_keys_str_mv AT katherineosullivan aprofileofthegrampiandatasafehavenaregionalscottishsafehavenforhealthandpopulationdataresearch
AT katiewilde aprofileofthegrampiandatasafehavenaregionalscottishsafehavenforhealthandpopulationdataresearch
AT katherineosullivan profileofthegrampiandatasafehavenaregionalscottishsafehavenforhealthandpopulationdataresearch
AT katiewilde profileofthegrampiandatasafehavenaregionalscottishsafehavenforhealthandpopulationdataresearch