Organisational attendees

• Understanding Patient Data
• Information Commissioner’s Office
• Royal College of General Practitioners
• Association of Medical Research Charities
• NHS England
• NHS Healthwatch
• Patients Association
• British Medical Association
• National Voices
• Office of the National Data Guardian
• UNISON
• FDP Programme Team (NHS England)

Apologies received

• National Data Guardian

Open actions

Meeting minutes

Welcome and introductions

• Apologies were noted.
• No conflicts or declarations of interest raised.

Minutes and actions from previous meeting

• The minutes from the May 2025 meeting were approved, as no comments were received.
• The June meeting 2025 minutes are pending updates based on comments received to be recirculated and ratified at next meeting.

Actions

• Meeting secretary to review and recirculate.

Action log review

• The action log was reviewed.

Community and mental health offer for FDP presentation

• The Transforming Operational Delivery (TOD) Lead introduced herself as the workstream lead for TOD.
• The workstream focus is on expanding FDP products and capabilities into non-acute NHS delivery settings, including community and mental health services.
• The Programme approach was working with stakeholders to identifying key challenges aligning with national priorities and operational guidance in non-acute NHS delivery aiming to improve patient care and operational delivery.

FDP Programme update

• FDP Delivery Director, Director of Data Management and Transformation, NHS England, provided an update of the Programme status to the group.
• A group member shared a link to the Science and Technology Committee session.

Health decision suite (HDS)

Purpose and capabilities

• HDS aims to support improved patient care and more effective use of resources by integrating 5 core FDP capabilities:

1. Data warehousing and canonical data model (CDM): Supports connecting to multiple source systems, ingesting, storing, and integrating data.
2. National return submissions: Facilitates the creation and submission of local and national reports.
3. Analytics, reporting and performance: Supports the creation of dashboards and reports, integrating with platforms like Power BI.
4. Data science capability: Supports advanced analytics and modelling, such as predicting historical attendance data.
5. Operational workflows: Enables building reliable, secure operational applications quickly.

Canonical data model (CDM)

• The CDM re-organises fragmented data into a consistent structure, making it reusable for various formats and use cases.
• It supports national reporting, operational insights, and advanced analytics without duplicating work or rebuilding pipelines.

Support for trusts

• Trusts receive technical support to populate and create their CDM, develop self-service reporting, and automate national returns.
• The support includes tailored training, practical hands-on sessions, and ongoing assistance from the FDP team.

Benefits

• HDS aims to reduce manual reporting efforts, generate analytics faster, and support the development of operational workflows.
• It enhances the ability to produce national returns and supports efficiency.

Questions

• The group queried whether the FDP’s CDM would duplicate or align with the CDM being developed by PRSP for the Department of Health and Social Care, and whether there is co-ordination between the 2 efforts. It was noted that the FDP program is working with independent teams to ensure alignment between different CDMs, acknowledging ongoing conversations about various CDM types.
• The group questioned whether the outputs of HDS are primarily for reporting and process optimisation, rather than having a direct impact on patient care. It was confirmed that the FDP’s CDM is not just for national return production but also supports operational workflows, allowing for local development of operational tools using data from the CDM.
• The group challenged the data science component of HDS, specifically whether there are different information governance (IG) implications for research and development, or development versus implementation, and if these require separate consideration. It was confirmed that there are different IG considerations for data science activities, and that further IG development and approval are required before deploying those capabilities, as data science is still an early- stage feature in HDS.

Actions 

• Technical testing – FDP Programme to ensure technical teams conduct tests to verify the portability of the CDM data.

Information governance (IG) consideration of the HDSs

Presentation by IG Lead

• The current 5 FDP use cases are focused on patient-level data for direct care and management, but NHS organisations want to use FDP for broader operational data, such as financial and HR information, which are not covered by existing use cases.
• Proposed introducing a sixth use case for “operational management information” to transparently support processing a wider range of data needed for NHS integration and cloud-first ambitions.
• Emphasised that this new use case would clarify the distinction between data used for direct care and data used for statutory/operational functions, improving transparency and aligning with the 10-year plan’s emphasis on clear data use.
• Noted that the same IG processes would apply: each product would require a DPIA, lawful basis for processing would be checked, and opt-outs (such as the national data opt-out) would be managed as appropriate.
• Highlighted that the sixth use case would allow local organisations to use FDP for more granular operational data (for example, staff competency), provided legal bases are met and transparency is maintained and confirmed that the IG framework and work plan would be updated to reflect the new use case, ensuring legal and transparent handling of both patient and staff data.
• The group supported in principle the introduction of the new use case, noting the need for clear definitions and transparency.

Questions

• The group sought clarification on whether the group should focus on how to explain the proposed sixth use case for operational management, rather than debating its necessity, and expressed support for increased transparency. It was noted that, given the growth of FDP and ongoing requests from organisations, the need for a sixth use case is clear and emphasised that the focus should be on providing a transparent and clear explanation, which is the purpose of bringing the proposal to the group.
• The group challenged the management of opt-outs and the risk of supplier lock-in, specifically asking how opt-outs would be handled for the new use case and whether this had been addressed. The IG lead responded that, while the process is still at an early stage, opt-outs are already included in the IG framework. The IG Lead explained that DPIAs would be conducted for each product, and where a secondary use of data invokes the national data opt-out, it would be adhered to, noting that the process for managing opt-outs would remain unchanged, but the sixth use case is likely to encounter data subject to opt-outs more quickly.
• The Chair checked about the handling of staff data, noting that opt-outs apply to patient data but not staff data, and questioned the legal basis for processing staff data under the new use case. It was clarified that the queries from trusts relate to staff data they already manage, and that each organisation must have a lawful basis for processing such data. Stating that FDP requires organisations to specify this basis, and that the same legal and IG checks would apply as with other use cases. The IG work plan will be updated to reflect the new use case and its implications for staff data.
• The group challenged that operational metrics should include staff competency, not just numbers, and asked how this would be captured in the new use case. The IG lead responded that the sixth use case would allow organisations to create products that provide more granular detail, such as staff competency, provided there is a lawful basis and transparency. This would enable local organisations to use FDP for detailed operational data, including both staff competency and financial data.

Action

• Sixth use case definition – To refine the definition for the sixth use case to ensure clarity and transparency.
• Stakeholder engagement – FDP Programme to engage with internal NHS governance groups and the Cabinet Office for feedback on the new use case.

Any other business and close

Next meeting

• Scheduled for 15 August 2025. Attendees to confirm their availability due to the holiday season.