This is the final report on phase 2 of the Acute Data Alignment Programme (ADAPt), a programme jointly established by NHS Digital and the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN). The programme, first conceived by the then Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, set out to demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of making private Admitted Patient Care (APC) data available to NHS systems. Find out more about the programme.
Pilots carried out during 2022 demonstrated both the benefits of such flows, through a series of customer use cases, as well as the lack of technical barriers preventing private hospitals submitting their data directly to NHS Digital (via Secondary Uses Services (SUS)). The pilots also confirmed that PHIN could continue to meet its statutory duties using a single supply of private data from NHS Digital rather than via the multiple supplies it currently receives directly from private providers.
The report makes several recommendations, including establishing a permanent flow of APC data into NHS Digital by autumn 2023. The first stage of this work (Phase 3 of the programme) will start with a public consultation, taking place early in 2023.