It is important to keep giving the message that patient data underpins research and care. One way to help achieve this is to include a 'data citation' on all publications and stories that would not have been possible without access to data.

 

This work uses data provided by patients and collected by the NHS as part of their care and support

 

Patient advocates at use My data have developed this phrase, which has been tested with patients. Thank you to use MY data for the hard work and letting us adopt it more widely. We encourage everyone to use this citation on all work underpinned by patient data including publications, presentations, event materials and press releases. The more people that use it, the more we can spread the message.

If you have more space, or want to give further detail in the ‘notes for editors’ in a press release, you could use this paragraph to explain the importance of using data:

“This work uses data provided by patients and collected by the NHS as part of their care and support. Using patient data is vital to improve health and care for everyone. There is huge potential to make better use of information from people’s patient records, to understand more about disease, develop new treatments, monitor safety, and plan NHS services. Patient data should be kept safe and secure, to protect everyone’s privacy, and it’s important that there are safeguards to make sure that it is stored and used responsibly. Everyone should be able to find out about how patient data is used.”

And don’t forget to use #datasaveslives on twitter.