A BRADFORD data project which supports the health and wellbeing of people across the district has been awarded €70,000 to join as a partner of the European Health Data and Evidence Network (EHDEN).   

The funding has been awarded to Connected Bradford, which collects and connects real time anonymised data from different organisations for approximately 700,000 citizens across the Bradford district and Craven.

The team was been selected from a competition of 55 applicants from 20 countries across Europe to join other major healthcare research databases as a data partner of the EHDEN.

This will give unparalleled access to research through EHDEN’S Open Science Network and the global Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics research network.

This network provides support to enable organisations to analyse data to produce scientific research. In turn, these studies can help shape and improve the care given to patients in the future.

Connected Bradford is a collaborative project being undertaken through Act as One, the health and care partnership for the Bradford district and Craven.

Kuldeep Sohal, Connected Bradford Director, Bradford Institute for Health Research, said: “This is great news for Connected Bradford in its development of a linked database with public trust to get a more complete picture of local health and social care in Bradford.

"The benefits are enormous to Bradford and by connecting health and non NHS data, this will generate new insights into how individuals can best be supported by the wider community, how best to plan services or prevent diseases from occurring in the first place.”

Tom Lawton, Connected Bradford Clinical Director, Bradford Institute for Health Research adds: “This really is exciting news that allows us unparalleled access to a research network using anonymised data that can make a real difference to the lives of people across our place.

"It gives health and care professionals, academics and researchers a chance to contribute and benefit from research being conducted across the UK, Europe, and the world as part of the Open Science movement.

“As a clinician the added bonus is that the data being developed and shared uses clinical terms rather than just raw codes. This will really help me and my colleagues in their decision making and bring the data to life in a meaningful way.”