The UK has some of the world’s most valuable health and care data. From birth records to cancer treatments, from GP visits to hospital stays, the NHS holds information that could unlock breakthrough treatments for millions of people worldwide. But right now, that potential is locked away in fragmented systems that make research unnecessarily difficult and slow.

The Health Data Research Service (HDRS), announced by the Prime Minister in April, and included in the government’s 10 Year Health Plan, will change that. By creating a single, secure gateway to , we will ensure the UK becomes the best place in the world to conduct life-changing medical research whilst maintaining the highest standards of data protection and public trust.

What this means in practice

Imagine a researcher investigating why some people recover faster from heart attacks than others. Today, they might spend months navigating different approval processes to access secondary care data, then more months trying to link that data with primary care records and prescription information. With HDRS, that same researcher could access linked data through a single secure platform in a matter of weeks.

For pharmaceutical companies developing new treatments, HDRS will mean faster clinical trials and better evidence about which treatments work for which patients. For patients, it means treatments that are more precisely targeted and developed more quickly. For the NHS, it means care informed by the best possible evidence about what actually works.

Building on solid foundations

HDRS isn’t starting from scratch. We’re learning from successful models like the SAIL Databank in Wales and Research Data Scotland, building on NHS England’s Data for Research and Development Programme and working closely with international partners to adopt global best practices while maintaining the UK’s competitive advantage.

To provide focus for co-development, we have identified six core capabilities as a launchpad for discussion:

• Access to comprehensive health records: By providing secure access to linked primary care, hospital, prescribing and mortality data at national scale, researchers will see a complete picture of patient journeys through the health system whilst protecting individual privacy.
• Research-ready datasets: Through access to data from participants in major research studies who have given their consent , the service will build on the UK’s world-leading cohort studies and biobanks.
• Opening up advanced diagnostics data: Access to diagnostic images, laboratory results, genomic data will help researchers understand the detailed information that could unlock precision medicine.
• Faster clinical trials: Integration of health data with the platforms researchers use to help conduct clinical trials will bring new treatments to patients more quickly.
• Simpler access: The HDRS will be a single entry point to various secure research environments with standardised agreements and approvals processes and secure research environments. This will streamline and speed up the process for researchers.
• Linking data for greater impact: The ability to link health data with information from other sectors – like environmental or social data – will offer richer understanding of factors factors that affect our health.

Protecting privacy while enabling progress

We know that public trust is essential to HDRS’s success which is why the findings from our large scale engagement will be built into HDRS from the start. Every aspect of the system will be built with privacy and cybersecurity by design.  Researchers will work in secure environments, and robust governance will ensure health data is only used for legitimate research purposes that benefit patients and the public.

We’re working with the public, patient groups, privacy experts, and ethics committees to ensure HDRS meets the highest standards of data protection. The governance framework will include independent oversight and regular public reporting on how data is being used and what benefits are being delivered.

How we’re making this happen

This week, we’ve launched recruitment for HDRS’s CEO and Board Chair – the leaders who will turn this vision into reality. A joint team spanning NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care, and the Office for Life Sciences is driving progress, working closely with colleagues across all four nations of the UK and initial charity co-funder Wellcome.

We’re taking a fundamentally collaborative approach – because the people who will use HDRS should shape how it works. Rather than doing all of this behind closed doors, we’ll be co-developing with researchers, patients, industry partners and data providers from the ground up.

We’ll be working directly with approved academic researchers to understand what barriers need removing, engaging with pharmaceutical companies on commercial frameworks, and involving patients and the public in decisions about how their data should be governed.

This co-design process will continue throughout development. Major design decisions will be tested with users before implementation, ensuring HDRS works effectively from day one because it’s been built by those who understand the challenges best.

What happens next

Over the coming months, we’ll establish the independent organisation that will run HDRS and complete detailed discovery work.

This autumn, we’ll publish comprehensive policy principles developed with leading experts across healthcare, research, patients, ethics and data protection. These will strengthen public confidence by setting clear standards HDRS must meet and explaining how we’ll protect privacy while enabling research.

These principles are just the starting point. The real work begins when HDRS translates these into operational practice through extensive engagement with researchers, patients and partners.

Our first services will launch by the end of 2026, with core capabilities rolling out progressively. We’ll measure success not just by the data we make available, but by the research breakthroughs we enable and the health outcomes we improve.

Each milestone will be achieved through continued collaboration with the communities HDRS serves, creating a new model for how health data can serve everyone’s interests while respecting everyone’s rights.

A once-in-a-generation opportunity

Done right, HDRS could establish the UK as the global centre for health data research, attract billions in investment, and accelerate the discovery of treatments that improve and save lives.

We’re committed to making this vision reality. The UK has the data, the expertise and now the determination to unlock the transformative power of health research. HDRS will make that happen.