Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) has introduced a major new version of the Health Data Research Gateway (the Gateway) with significant enhancements designed to empower the research community and accelerate scientific discovery for public benefit.

Simplifying the researcher journey

While the UK is home to a rich abundance of health data, researchers often struggle to find the best data for their work due to complex and varying processes across thousands of organisations that manage the data. It’s also difficult for researchers to build upon previous projects because research outputs connected to that data are hard to find. These challenges can slow down research and limit collaboration across the health data community.

The Gateway, first launched in 2020, aimed to make health data more discoverable to researchers so they can spend more time addressing important research questions. The 2024 update goes even further, advancing beyond data discovery to make the entire researcher journey – from finding datasets to analysing data and sharing outputs – smoother and more efficient.

Importantly, the Gateway does not hold or store any health or patient data itself, nor does it approve users to access sensitive data for research. Instead, it streamlines the process of researchers finding where useful datasets are held and requesting approval for secure access, accelerating discovery and enabling new research opportunities.

Emily Jefferson, Chief Technology Officer at Health Data Research UK, says:

“This latest update to the Gateway marks a significant step forward in transforming how the research community interact with and use health data. With enhanced features like smarter search, automated metadata curation, and better linked resources, it’s now easier than ever for Gateway users to discover, explore, and access health data and related resources vital for advancing research.”

 

“Collaboration is core to the Gateway’s ongoing development. We invite the data science community to join us in evolving its capabilities and driving innovation within the health data space that will ultimately improve people’s lives.”

Explore the new and improved Health Data Research Gateway.

A single front door to NHS data in England

HDR UK and NHS England’s Data for Research and Development Programme are working together to make the enhanced Gateway a ‘single front door’ to the NHS Research Secure Data Environment (SDE) Network. Covering the whole of England, including one national SDE and 11 regional SDEs, the SDE Network is designed to provide approved researchers with faster and more secure access to NHS data. It will become the primary route for accessing NHS data for research, with the Gateway enabling researchers to easily search, explore, and identify the data they need before submitting access requests.

Hilary Fanning, Senior Responsible Owner, Data for Research and Development Programme, NHS England, said:

“Streamlined, secure access to NHS data will enable faster research so that patients can benefit from new treatments and improved care without delay. The launch of the improved Health Data Research Gateway provides a single front door to NHS data for approved research purposes, enhancing discoverability and speeding up access for researchers.”

Explore the NHS Research SDE Network Collection on the Gateway.

What’s new?

The latest Gateway release brings a suite of enhancements to improve user experience, search functionality, resource discovery, and metadata management:

  • Redesigned interface: A cleaner, more intuitive layout with easy navigation, tool tips, and a dedicated support area for data custodians
  • Smarter search: Elastic integration for faster, more accurate results, expanded search term options, refined filters, and options to download results or dataset libraries
  • Enhanced resource discovery: Search all online life sciences and biomedical research publications with Europe PubMed Central integration and associate them with datasets and other resources published on the Gateway
  • Simplified data access: Multiple enquiry options available to users with an automated email relay with the data custodian for easy communication
  • Faster metadata onboarding: Automated integrations, support for more data types including biosamples and imaging data, and an improved onboarding form with new fields for easier management

Learn more about the 2024 Gateway update here.

Built for collaboration

The Gateway has been developed by HDR UK to be a collaborative platform. With its new modular design and open-source code, other technical teams can use and contribute to it. The aim is to create an open development model where existing tools and new community-developed features can be integrated into the Gateway, all designed to further support the researcher journey.

The Gateway is also co-created with input from users and data custodians to ensure their needs inform its design and functionality. For example, HDR UK’s partnership with NHS England’s Data for R&D Programme to improve the discoverability of NHS data for research through the NHS SDE Network.

Showcasing insights and supporting transparency

The Gateway includes a data use register, which allows data custodians to clearly show how their datasets are being used, by whom, and for what purpose. This transparency is important in building public trust in how their data is used to further research and helps data scientists understand how specific datasets have been used previously.

With the enhanced Gateway, the data use register now offers improved linking between research projects, datasets, and custodians, making it easier to track and find information on the use of health data in research.

What’s next?

HDR UK is committed to continuously improving the Gateway, working closely with its partners to meet the evolving needs of researchers while expanding the number of resources accessible to them and the wider health data community. The next few months will see enhancements to the Gateway’s data access request service to simplify applications across multiple data custodians and development of a framework to guide collaboration through an open development model. In the meantime, users can use the refreshed Support Centre to explore potential projects and share ideas for collaboration to help shape the future of the Gateway.

Further information

About the Health Data Research Gateway
The Health Data Research Gateway is an online platform providing researchers with a simplified journey to search, discover and request access to health and health-related data and associated sharable resources. The Gateway is funded by HDR UK and is being used by NHS England’s Data for Research and Development Programme to provide a ‘single front door’ for research access to the NHS Research Secure Data Environment Network. The Gateway does not hold or store any health or patient data itself, nor does it approve users to access sensitive data for research. A dataset on the Gateway is summary information, or metadata (data about data), about a particular dataset, not the data itself. Metadata published on the Gateway can be administrative, descriptive, structural, and technical. This information helps users decide whether the data itself would be useful for their research project and whether they would be eligible to access the dataset.

About Health Data Research UK
HDR UK is the national institute for health data that includes England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Its mission is to accelerate trustworthy data use and improve people’s lives. It is a registered charity with core funding provided by UK Research and Innovation, the Department of Health and Social Care in England and equivalents in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, and leading medical research charities. HDR UK works in partnership with the NHS, industry, charities and universities to realise the potential of the UK’s wealth of health data in life-changing research.

About the NHS England Data for Research and Development Programme
The Data for Research and Development Programme is driving secure, transparent and ethical use of NHS health data to improve care and save lives. Data is critical for the NHS to improve patient care. With an investment of £175million, the Data for Research and Development Programme is transforming how health data is used for public good. The programme is enabling transformative research to improve patient outcomes and driving a major shift from data sharing to a data access model, increasing data security, privacy, and transparency. The NHS Research Secure Data Environment Network is part of the Data for R&D Programme and is providing health data users with faster and more secure access to different types of NHS data for research.