Supporting life-saving research with health data

The Eastern England Secure Data Environment provides secure access to de-identified NHS patient data for analysis, enabling researchers in our region and across the UK to analyse and find ways to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases and improve healthcare. We are owned and run by the NHS.

What is the Eastern England SDE? How do I know my data is safe?

For researchers, data custodians, and patients

Supporting your data needs

We work with patients and public groups to ensure that everything we do is focused on the potential to deliver benefits to patients – this underpins everything we do.

We have governance frameworks in place to support research groups and NHS organisations who manage health data to keep data safe, whilst also making it Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable (FAIR) for life-saving research.

We help researchers from the NHS, universities, charities, and commercial companies to find, access, and analyse health data securely.

Are you a researcher?

Find out how the SDE can support real world studies, clinical trials and more.

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Do you manage health data?

Work with us to unlock the benefits of your data for health research.

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Are you a patient?

Join us to help shape the SDE, find out how your data is used and how you can opt-out.

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Why choose Eastern England SDE

Safer data, better research, improved patient outcomes

The Eastern England SDE is a leading resource for research from discovery science to precision medicine and health service improvements.

Unique datasets

Secure access to diverse, linked patient data not available elsewhere, including secondary care prescribing data and diagnostic results.

Explore our datasets

Patient privacy

Only approved researchers who can demonstrate a need for data to be used for public benefit, in line with the Five Safes Framework, can access the SDE.

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High quality research

We offer a flexible, secure research platform with high-performance computing and advanced analytics tools to support world-leading research.

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Expert support

We provide end-to-end hands-on help with feasibility checks, data linkage, compliance requirements, bespoke dataset creation, and health economics assessments.

Learn more Health economics

Impact

Addressing major UK health challenges

Learn how the projects supported by the Eastern England SDE are enabling improvements in health and care, and new scientific discoveries.

View all our projects

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Analysis of longitudinal physiological, biochemical and pharmacological data from the anonymised electronic hospital records of non-elective inpatient admission episodes in older adults: characterisation of different inpatient trajectories and pharmacological exposures associated with inpatient mortality

As people live longer, more older adults attend hospital in emergencies. Some older adults are living with frailty, meaning they are less able to cope with illness or stress, or have multiple long-term health conditions and take several medications. These factors increase the complexity of their acute hospital care. This study aims to better understand how older adults use emergency hospital services and the different types of patient journey from admission to discharge. Researchers will use routinely collected healthcare data, that is available from hospital electronic health record systems and has been de-identified. Using advanced computer methods (machine learning), researchers will group similar hospital experiences together, describe their key features, and investigate which factors are linked to a higher risk of adverse hospital outcomes, such as death or prolonged length of hospital stay.

Swansea University

Advancing Care Trajectories: Deep phenotyping and precision therapeutics in Atrial Fibrillation patient cohorts to enhance bleeding and cardiovascular risk stratification and stroke prevention strategies

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common heart condition that increases the risk of stroke. If AF is detected and treated early, this risk can be reduced. This project will use real-world health data to understand how people with AF are diagnosed, treated and cared for, and to explore differences in care by age, gender and ethnicity, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on AF care.

University of Cambridge

Understanding cardiometabolic co-morbidity across primary and secondary care

This project aims to compare data from the AccessCMD study population with a real-world population dataset to determine whether it represents the wider population. If found to be representative, the dataset can then be used to investigate important healthcare questions in cardiometabolic co-morbidity.

Ready to discuss your data needs?

Get in touch with our team of experts today.

Partnerships

Trusted by NHS, research and industry partners

We partner with world-leading research institutes, major NHS trusts, genomics research facilities and the biotech cluster across Eastern England.

Find out more about our partnerships

“The Eastern England SDE provides one of the strongest environments for testing and running research studies using health data. It offers a safe, trusted space that enables regional organisations to participate in national research initiatives, while keeping sensitive data within the NHS.”

Christie Brooks

Chief Data Officer, Arcturis
“Our Trust is using the Eastern England SDE as a secure analytics platform. For the first time it gives us a secure space in which we can use data science tools and collaborate with trusted researchers and collaborators without needing to move, share or copy data. This is supporting our research while keeping patient data safe.”

Dr Wai Keong Wong

Clinical Director of Digital Transformation, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
“Collaborating with this dedicated and forward-thinking team is incredibly enjoyable and rewarding – enhancing both the quality and impact of all our efforts. We are helping to surface data in the Eastern England SDE that wouldn’t otherwise be available for research by working in partnership with NHS organisations from across the region.”

Professor Angela Wood

Professor of Biostatistics and Health Data Science, University of Cambridge
“What makes our team special is that we understand researchers and their pressures – as well as their technical and governance needs. That means we can build solutions that are not only secure and compliant, but that genuinely work for our partners and the patients they serve.”

Eleanor Hall

SDE Operational Lead and Head of Health Informatics Operations, Health Innovation East