Abstract

NHS England have commissioned Open Health Care to gather evidence from the community of health open data users to help understand the needs of people using data outside NHS England. This report is intended to provide clear recommendations and evidence of user need to inform NHS England’s open data policy and programme development. This report, written by Giuseppe Sollazzo in collaboration with David Miller of Open Health Care, outlines what we have learned from users of health open data in the health sector and beyond. Following our interviews, discussions and subsequent analysis, we present two specific recommendations, as well as some general principles for data publishing with concrete examples. Recommendation 1 Work towards a single authoritative online point of access for datasets in the health sector, and proceed with a programme of reducing duplication in data publishing. This online service should include both direct access to open data, and a clear process to access shared data. Recommendation 2 Establish an expert and reachable data support team with a remit covering the entire health system, not limited to individual institutions. This team should be encouraged to build strong links with the wider data ecosystem and lead a health data user group.