Learn about the Secure Data Environment

What do we do with your health and care data?

Health and care data can help us learn a lot. It can help researchers understand diseases, find out what treatments work, improve NHS services and answer questions that could make a real difference to people’s lives.

But this is personal information, so keeping it safe matters too. We need to be able to learn from health and care data while protecting the privacy and confidentiality of the people it relates to.

Secure Data Environments (SDE) help make that possible. They make valuable health and care data available for legitimate research while maintaining strong controls over how that data is accessed and used.

So, what is a Secure Data Environment? 

A Secure Data Environment (SDE) is an online environment where approved researchers, clinicians and analysts can access and analyse health and care data for research, evaluation and service improvement.

The purpose of an SDE is not simply to make valuable data available, but to create a safe way for researchers to learn from it.

The researchers come to the data - the data doesn’t go with them.

A key part of this is that your data stays within the SDE. Researchers don’t receive copies to download and use elsewhere, so your data never leaves the NHS.

Think of it like a library for health and care data. Researchers can access the information they have permission to use and work with it, but the data stays safely inside. Projects need to be approved, access is controlled and safeguards are in place to protect confidentiality and data integrity.

The Imperial Secure Data Environment 

So, what does this look like here in North West London?

iCARE operates the Imperial SDE, which brings together health and care data from NHS services across North West London.

This includes data from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, as well as other NHS data sources such as Whole Systems Integrated Care (WSIC). 

If you receive care from an NHS service in North-West London, your health and care information may be included in the Imperial SDE, depending on where and how it was collected. 

What can the Imperial SDE help us do?

1. Researchers can use the data they need

Approved researchers can access health and care data for specific research, evaluation and service improvement projects.

2. The data stays put

Researchers don't simply take a copy of the data away with them. They work with it inside the secure environment, helping reduce the risk of data being shared or used inappropriately.

3. There are checks at the door 

Think of the SDE as having a secure front door and back door. At the front door, only approved researchers and projects can come in, with access limited to the data they need.

At the back door, there are checks on what can leave the SDE. This helps make sure that sensitive or identifiable information isn't taken out of the environment.

4. Different pieces of information can be brought together

Health and care information is collected across different organisations and services. Where it is appropriate and approved, information can be linked to help researchers build a fuller picture.

5. Better research, better health outcomes

Good research needs good data. By giving researchers access to larger, better-managed datasets, the SDE can help them answer questions that might otherwise be difficult to explore - generating insights that can ultimately help improve health and care.

Why does this matter?

Health and care data is collected every day as part of providing care. Used responsibly, it can help us understand more, test what works and find better ways to deliver care.

An SDE helps us do this without losing sight of the people behind the data.

Find out more about data governance → 
Find out how to access the Imperial SDE →