We are pleased to announce that the East Midlands Secure Data Environment (SDE) and East of England SDE have merged. From 1 February 2026, we are operating as a single, unified Eastern England SDE under common operating and governance arrangements.
This consolidation strengthens our regional capabilities and enables us to deliver a more seamless, consistent service across our expanded geography. We remain fully committed to supporting approved researchers to securely access data for high‑quality research in the public interest, accelerating discoveries that improve outcomes for patients and the public.
“The East of England team is delighted with this endorsement of the approach designed with researchers, participating NHS organisations, patients and the public. We are looking forward to working with our East Midlands colleagues to extend our combined SDE operations across a larger population – offering new opportunities for research.“
Mark Avery, Programme Director for East of England SDE
“We are pleased to have contributed to the mission of the network to bring new data sets into the SDE, which will support new research to improve patients’ health. “In the coming months, our team at East Midlands SDE will be working with our colleagues in East of England to move to the new, consolidated model to support new research and simplify secure access to health data covering a combined population of 12 million.”
Andrew Haw, Programme Director for East Midlands SDE