COVID-19 Data Prioritisation Group - Imperial College Health Partners

The Covid-19 Data Prioritisation Group ensures appropriate research access to the North West London Covid-19 dataset to ensure clinical priorities are met as part of the sector-wide response to Covid-19. North West London as part of the sector-wide response to Covid-19, has created a Covid-19 specific De-identified data set which brings in data from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and the region’s linked longitudinal data set. This new data set is hosted by WSIC and NIHR Imperial BRC in secure, high-performance environments.

To ensure that requests to access NWL’s Covid-19 De-identified linked data set can be reviewed in a timely manner and with the appropriate rigour and governance a COVID-19 NWL Data Prioritisation Group has been established.

This group will meet weekly to review both operational and research related requests to access the De-identified data for Covid-19 related issues. This new agile mechanism will ensure that the enriched data set can be used to answer Covid-19 operational questions and test research hypothesis in a timely way.

This review process compliments other work the Hub has been supporting in terms of expediting access to, and linkage of, priority data sets that has included near to real-time feeds from the NWL Pathology Labs, daily feeds from the five NWL Trusts at patient level in the form of the NHS England Sit rep report, Coordinate My Care flags, NHS Digital Shielded Population list and NHAIS population data.

Covid research data requests

Data access requests must be submitted online via completion of the NWL Covid-19 Research Project Data Access Request Form. This will then be considered by the COVID-19 NWL Data Prioritisation Group and a response issued within a week.

The deadline for the COVID-19 NWL Data Prioritisation Group weekly meeting is 5pm every Wednesday. If your form has been completed appropriately you will be invited to present your project on the following Friday at 10-11am. If further details are required you will be contacted for these and you will be invited to present once the form has been satisfactorily completed.

Covid research requests

Standard research data requests

Requests that are not Covid-19 related should follow the standard Research Access process that consider research applications on a monthly basis.

The processes to support the research are consistent with the sector’s processes articulated by the NWL Information Governance Committee and aligned to privacy and confidentiality laws. There will be no access to identifiable information, data will not be sold and there will be no forward transfer

Standard access requests

Group Membership

The group comprises representatives from existing data access groups across NWL that represent the sector’s Data Controllers and Guardians.

Membership is as follows:

Sanjay Gautama – Consultant Anaesthetist & CCIO NWL Health and Care Partnership
Mr Erik Mayer (Consultant Surgeon, Clinical Senior Lecturer & Transformation Chief Clinical Information Officer)
Ms. Kavitha Saravanakumar (WSIC Director) or nominated Deputy (TBC)
Prof. Mark Thursz (Imperial BRC director)
Dr Richard Baxter (Co-chair of NWL Digital IG Governance Group)
Dr Ian Goodman (Chair Hillingdon CCG)
Mr Philip Robinson (Data protection Officer) or nominated Deputy (TBC)
Dr Tony Willis (Clinical Director for Diabetes for the North West London Collaboration of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs)
Dr Axel Heitmueller (Managing Director ICHP, representing Gold Command)
Dr Bob Klaber (Consultant Paediatrician & Director of Strategy, Research & Innovation)
Prof. Graham Cooke (NIHR Research Professor)

Prof. Paul Aylin (Professor of Epidemiology & Public Health)
Prof. Jamil Mayet (Consultant cardiologist, Professor of cardiology)
Prof. Steve Brett (Consultant, Professor of critical care)
Dr Ceire Costelloe (Senior Lecturer & Director of Global Digital Health Unit)
Dr Georgina Russell (Consultant in Respiratory & General Medicine)
Mr Ben Glampson (Research Informatics Programme Manager, ICHT)
Dr Samantha Scholtz (Consultant psychiatrist, R&D Director for West London Mental Health Trust)
Dr David Bell (Reader, Brunel University London)
Dr Paul Craven (Head of Research Operations, NIHR Imperial BRC Manager)
Ms. Amanda Lucas (Programme Director ICHP, representing Discover-Now)
Lay Partner, Barrie Newton (Proposed)

For more information

Please contact: nwlccgs.covid19IG@nhs.net