Nigel Edwards on using patient-level data to improve treatment

Nigel Edwards responds to the Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust's work with DeepMind and the use of patient data.

Press release

Published: 15/05/2017

"Hospitals have a large amount of data which offer the opportunity to predict where things are going wrong and to intervene in ways that save lives. Failing to use the data in this way is equivalent to having a lifesaving treatment but deciding not to use it. These new ways of using data also save the time of doctors and nurses releasing them to care for other patients.

"Developing the methods for doing this will work best if we can use data from across the NHS, as long as this can be done in ways that do not pose any threat to patient's confidentiality.

"Other countries are rapidly developing information technology to improve patient care and this is likely to have as great an impact on health in the next few years as any drugs in the current pipeline. It is important that the UK does not get left behind. It’s really good to see the work the Royal Free and other organisations are doing in this area."

Notes to editors

  • For more information on the Royal Free's work with British technology company  DeepMind can be found here

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