In 2019, ICHP became one of seven organisations in the country selected to pioneer a new approach to health data research. Six years later, the model it helped build is scaling to cover the whole of London, 10 million people, one of the broadest health data assets anywhere in the world.
A national selection, a North West London foundation
When Health Data Research UK established seven national Hubs in November 2019, NWL had already spent a decade building the data infrastructure that would make serious research possible. First with Whole Systems Integrated Care (WSIC), joining up patient information to support direct care, and then with the Discover dataset itself, a de-identified, linked record of over 2.9 million people, spanning primary care, secondary care, community services, mental health and local authority data.
Discover-NOW is the research wrapper built around that dataset: a hosted hub, funded through UKRI, designed to give NHS, academic and commercial partners a rigorous, governed route to access and use real-world data for research and development. From its first year, the questions it helped answer ranged from rare disease identification and treatment pathway evaluation to comparative population analysis that would have been impossible through any other route.
The breadth and depth of the data mattered. But so did the diversity of the population it represented. London’s complexity, the range of ethnic diversity, deprivation levels, health conditions and care pathways across its boroughs, makes NWL’s dataset something that genuinely cannot be replicated elsewhere.
Six years of evidence, and what it built
As the momentum to scale Discover-NOW to a London-wide Secure Data Environment (SDE) was realised this past year, the case for ICHP’s team leading that work was built on six years of delivered research. The partnerships below represent a fraction of what was produced, but they illustrate what Partner real-world evidence looks like when it has genuine clinical and commercial purpose.
This is not a list of research projects. It is a track record of trusted partnerships with major NHS, academic and commercial organisations, each of which required rigorous data governance, analytical expertise and the kind of credibility that takes years to build. It is also the foundation on which the London SDE now stands.
The scale-up: from 2.9 million to 10 million
The London SDE became operational on 1 April 2026. It will eventually provide controlled access to a de-identified linked dataset covering more than 10 million people across London – the largest and most diverse health data asset of its kind in the country, and one of the most significant anywhere in the world.
The London SDE is designed as a ‘first-to-trial, first-to-deployment’ pipeline, so that effective solutions can be rapidly tested and adopted across London’s health and care system, not merely researched and published. That distinction matters. Health data research has historically suffered from a gap between insight and action, studies completed, papers published, and pathways unchanged. The London SDE is designed to close that gap, with ICHP as one of three health innovation network partners commissioned to translate data into real-world innovation at scale, alongside UCLPartners and Health Innovation Network South London.
The governance sits with Health Data for London, a new formal partnership between NHS and university leaders that provides the strategic coordination for London’s health data agenda. Every application to access data is assessed by a London SDE governance pathway which includes an independent information access group, and local data access committees that include public members, ensuring that approved projects demonstrate clear public benefit.
Already in motion: the driver projects
Three NHS driver projects – first to access the London SDE
Antimicrobial resistance
Predicting and reducing ‘bug-drug’ mismatches that lead to avoidable and serious infections in hospitals and care home settings. One of the most pressing challenges in patient safety, now with a London-wide data foundation.
CVD prevention
Building on the cluster-randomised controlled trial for an AI-powered stethoscope, which has already involved 12,000 patients across 200 GP surgeries in the UK. The London SDE provides the population scale to generate evidence that can change how CVD is detected and prevented across the capital.
Children and young people’s mental health
Developing a much richer picture of demand for services and building methods for proactive care and early intervention, by joining data across care settings including the new Mental Health Support Teams based in schools. This work is being led by ICHP and is directly connected to North West London’s Children & Young People’s Mental Health mission.
“Working with ICHP on the CLANOSA project enabled us to generate insights that would not have been possible otherwise. The collaboration with the Real-World Evidence team strengthened our evidence base and supported more informed decision-making, demonstrating the real value of cross-sector partnership.”
Kevin Pollock, Director, VEO International Business Unit, Cardiometabolic Health
What remains in North West London and why it matters
The scale-up to London did not mean ICHP stepping back. The analytical team remains within ICHP, continuing to deliver real-world evidence work using the NWL dataset for NHS, academic and commercial partners. That continuity is significant: the six years of expertise, relationships and analytical rigour that made the London SDE possible are still active and available in NWL.
For partners considering working with ICHP’s real-world evidence offer, the question is not whether the infrastructure exists. It does, at both NWL scale and London scale. The question is what research questions are worth asking of the most comprehensive health dataset in the country, and what would it mean to answer them?
“The expertise and relationships we have built over six years don’t disappear when a programme closes. They are exactly what makes the London SDE possible and what we bring to every new partner we work with.”
Heather Fitzke, Senior Quantitative Manager, ICHP
