NWEH partners with Imperial College Health Partners in Digital Innovation Hub Programme - Discover- NOW

NWEH are immensely excited to be partnering with Imperial College Health Partners to accelerate the use of real world data in the UK.

This programme called, Discover-NOW will have access to one of Europe’s largest linked longitudinal data assets supported by consent to contact technology. Becoming a Hub will enable scale up from circa 2mill to 10mill population and ensure the information can be accessed by researchers, scientists and innovators in near real time. This has never been achieved on this scale before and will genuinely revolutionise the way health information is used to transform health care in the future.

Trusted and appropriately governed access will support partners to develop new treatments and interventions that have the potential to dramatically improve patient outcomes and quality of life through:

• Novel clinical trial methodologies that identify new patterns and associations of disease and how to treat these effectively;
• The development of devices, apps and algorithms that can be tested in near real time through secure access to a de-identified data asset.

Discover-NOW will be the Health Data Research Hub for Real World Evidence. It is a unique partnership led by Imperial College Health Partners bringing together NHS organisations, globally recognised academic, technology, industry and charity partners as well as patients and the public to revolutionise the way health information is used to treat and prevent disease in the future.

Historically health research has predominantly used data to look retrospectively. Through safe and secure curation of patient information, Discover-NOW will provide leading clinicians, researchers and scientists with access to de-identified linked patient information at scale in near to real time. This will enable them to look prospectively to identify new patterns in disease thus helping us to better manage many conditions and, in some cases, prevent them happening in the first place.

Discover-NOW has the potential to benefit millions of people, however, we will only realise these benefits if we have the support and trust of our communities and wider population. We are therefore proud to be supporting one of the most progressive public engagement programmes to build trust and confidence in how health information is used. It is only through working in partnership with our communities that we will understand their expectations with regards to how their information should be used, enabling us to design a Hub that operates in line with these thus building trust.

Quote from Hub Director:

Dr Axel Heitmueller, Managing Director of Imperial College Health Partners and Director of the Discover-NOW - the Health Data Research Hub for Real World Evidence, said:

“Through the safe and secure curation of patient information Discover-NOW will create a step change in the way health information is accessed and analysed to accelerate the development of new treatments, devices and applications that support better management and prevention of a range of conditions. This work will benefit millions of people into the future and contribute significantly to the health and wellbeing of our population.”

Quote from patient/public spokesperson:

John Norton, Citizen Partner of Discover-NOW - the Health Data Research Hub for Real World Evidence, said:

“As a London citizen I am hugely excited about this initiative and the benefits it will bring to patients and the public. Through bringing information that already exists about us as patients together and enabling researchers and scientists to access this in new and secure ways, the Discover-NOW Hub could be the key to unlocking new life saving treatments or even preventing killer diseases altogether. Data really can save lives”

Quote from Martin Gibson, CEO of NWEH Limited. “Using our proven technology and our established networks in Greater Manchester and elsewhere in the UK, we are very proud and excited to support the Discover-NOW programme. ”