The government is seeking to maximise the value of data to stimulate growth, productivity and population health through the creation of a National Data Library. As part of this policy development, and in response to recommendations in the recent Sudlow Review of the UK’s health data, the government has signalled an openness to establishing a Health Data Research Service. There is a brief window of opportunity to shape a Health Data Research Service to ensure it delivers a truly internationally competitive service that meets the needs of all stakeholders.

To assist the government in adopting an approach that will demonstrate immediate value with the capability to grow over time, the ABPI and Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) have:

• distilled the critical national datasets that should form the starting point of a service
• defined the essential criteria for an internationally competitive and sustainable service, which can be used to benchmark service options
• appraised seven different service model options, outlining pros and cons of each model, highlighting where existing models already deliver to international standards and models that pose substantial inherent challenges.

We hope that these new insights, based on expert experience and feedback, will support the government in their decision-making process. With this in mind, we make four recommendations for next steps.

These include appointing the Strategic Advisory Group for the Data for R&D Programme to develop a shared vision and realistic implementation plan and engaging with the public, patients and GPs to hear their views on the proposed service model.