Life sciences Directions 2019

A Direction given by the Secretary of State for Health requiring NHS Digital to establish and operate a system to be known as the Life Sciences Directions 2019.  
 

The purpose of these Directions (purpose) is to enable NHS Digital to support the Government's response to the National Data Guardian Report and the Life Sciences; Industrial Strategy by meeting the demand for anonymised and pseudonymised health and social care data and the analysis and dissemination of such data for research and innovation, planning, commissioning, population health, and policy making. They will also contribute to meeting the WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge "Medication without Harm".

The Directions support these demands by enabling NHS Digital to convert the record level information it has currently obtained (under previous directions made under section 254 and mandatory requests made under section 255 of the Act) into anonymised and pseudonymised forms; to analyse that information, including through linkage of different data sets and to make that information available for dissemination in an anonymised and, where this is lawful, in pseudonymised form. The information would be pseudonymised in the sense that it will not be disseminated by any means which may lead to the identification of an individual, unless it would otherwise be lawful in the circumstances for NHS Digital to do so.

Further information is available within the Directions. 

Under sections 254(1),254(2)(b),254(5) and (6), 260(2Xd) and 304(9), (10) and (12) of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.