Case studies

Screening for bowel cancer

Prescribing statins to men without a history of heart attacks

Improving treatments for COPD

Real-time monitoring of a new treatment for COPD in Salford

Equal access to bowel cancer treatments in Yorkshire

Using patient data to identify and improve areas of poor practice

Comparing the uptake of emergency operations for heart attack across England

Using registry data to examine rates of emergency coronary intervention across England

Investigating trends in diabetes across ethnic groups

Understanding why diabetes rates vary between ethnic groups

Reducing nationwide variation in stroke prevention and treatment

Comparing local performance on managing atrial fibrillation

Using data to plan services for people living with and beyond cancer

Using patient data to look at what happens to someone after receiving a cancer diagnosis

Giving cancer patients the right level of treatment

Extending the UK flu vaccination programme to children

Using surveillance data to demonstrate the benefits of vaccinating children against flu

Improving management of chronic kidney disease

Monitoring blood test results alerts GPs if a person’s health is deteriorating

Testing the effectiveness of a vaccine for mpox

Improving treatment of teenage anxiety and depression

Analysing trends in prescriptions to teenagers experiencing mental health problems

Monitoring joint replacement surgery

Analysing registry data to improve performance and safety

Supporting research into rare diseases

Using registry data to search for treatments for rare diseases

Demonstrating the safety of an anti-obesity medication

Using data to ensure the safety of medications

Assessing a new treatment for severe asthma

Evaluating the safety of a new treatment through real world clinical data

Disproving the link between the MMR vaccine and autism

Using data to conclusively disprove ideas that pose risks to public health

Treating rare genetic diseases

Comparing cancer survival rates worldwide

Using cancer registries to examine cancer survival variation between countries

The impact of air pollution on health

Using pan-European data to understand how air pollution affects health

How is health data used in the current measles outbreak?

This case study explores how the UK Health Security Agency uses health data to track the spread of measles and supports the health service to respond

Preparedness to prevent future pandemics

Data surveillance to identify disease cases that pose a significant risk to public health

Finding treatments for Covid-19

Rapid trialing of existing and new drug therapies during the Covid-19 pandemic

Identifying Covid-19 as a public health risk through data analysis

Monitoring data to identify emerging risks, such as epidemics

Using data to identify and approach people for research: a public dialogue in Wales

Welsh Government commissioned the National Centre for Social Research (NATCEN) to conduct a deliberative public dialogue exercise to explore views on the use of health data for identifying and approaching individuals about research studies that may be relevant to them, without prior consent. The exercise involved 35 participants in Wales, engaging with researchers across 4 sessions (3 online, 1 in-person) including a full day deliberation session. The report of the exercise concluded that recruitment processes reliant on un-consented patient data to identify and approach people for research studies could be deemed to satisfy a broad constituency within the dialogue, provided conditions were met. These conditions were broadly grouped into categories including: effective oversight, focus on quality of research and equality of access to studies; demonstrating public benefit; effective public consultation on plans for such services; and transparency of processes and uses.

Public views about AI in healthcare

Involving the public in understanding the barriers and facilitators to implementing AI in healthcare

A mini citizens’ jury to debate data

Delivering a verdict on public perceptions of the use of data in healthcare

OneLondon Citizens’ Summit

Giving Londoners the opportunity to share their thoughts on the complex issues around health data

Predicting A&E admissions to improve preparedness

Developing an AI tool to help NHS Trusts better predict demand for A&E so that it can be better prepared

Developing chatbots to address ethnic disparities in STIs

Designing and piloting an AI chatbot for supporting people with STIs/HIV from ethnic minority backgrounds

Identifying long stay patients in hospital using AI

Preventing people staying too long in hospital unnecessarily by modelling and calculating risk scores