The Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank and its technology infrastructure platform, Secure eResearch Platform (SeRP), based in Population Data Science at Swansea University, is a partner of the Wales Networked Data Lab (NDL) site enabling access and safe use of data to answer important questions posed by the network and its partners.
Funded by the Health Foundation, the NDLs are a collaborative UK network of data analysts working together on shared challenges to improve health and social care. The NDL programme is helping to build collaborative links in routine data and will provide national and local health system leaders with insights from their data and create an active community of data analysts.
Launched in October 2020, there are 5 regional teams that comprise the UK-wide NDL with many collaborative partners:
- Public Health Wales, NHS Wales Informatics Service (NWIS), Swansea University (SAIL Databank & SeRP)and Social Care Wales (SCW).
- The Aberdeen Centre for Health Data Science (ACHDS) which includes NHS Grampian and the University of Aberdeen.
- Imperial College Health Partners (ICHP), Institute of Global Health Innovation (IGHI), Imperial College London (ICL), and North West London CCGs.
- Liverpool CCG, Healthy Wirral Partnership and Citizens Advice Bureau.
- Leeds CCG and Leeds City Council.
The NDL have just released their latest report that details a key piece of work undertaken during the first 6 months by NDL Wales analysts within Public Health Wales, using SeRP & SAIL Databank. In pursuit of tackling the biggest challenges to health, the NDL teams have worked to identify those who are clinically extremely vulnerable to COVID-19 and factors that determine the essential support they need. Factors such as deprivation, employment, location and ethnicity.
Dr. Alisha Davies, Networked Data Lab Wales Lead and Head of Research and Evaluation, said,
“This first short report provides valuable insights into the diversity of the shielded populations in Wales and across the country, reflecting their complex health and care needs. Further in-depth analyses are underway to help ensure future health and care support meets the needs of this clinically extremely vulnerable group.”
Ashley Akbari, Senior Research Manager and Data Scientist at Swansea University, said:
“The Trusted Research Environment (TRE) available to us in Wales enables our site to contribute and lead on various aspects of the programmes agenda, and with our range of multidisciplinary expertise and experience across our partners in Wales, we can utilise the world leading infrastructure we have available to use to interrogate SAIL’s rich population data and identify key findings and outcomes which will have an impact on people, services and policy.”
“We are fortunate to be able to draw on a team of dedicated data acquisition, provisioning and governance personnel within the SAIL and SeRP teams, who in working with our partners at NWIS ensure the availability and regular updating of key data sources to enable our research and intelligence, via SAIL’s rigorous and established processes and controls, which maintains and upholds the safe and secure use of population-scale anonymised data.”
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