PATHWAY Data Request Process and FAQs

Yes. Researchers requesting access to data will be required to provide evidence that their project has involved patient or public consultation. Evidence can be in the form of a ‘letter of support’ or ‘minutes’ from a Patient and Public Involvement meeting. If you need to explore providing evidence in an alternative format, please email R&DPathway@uhb.nhs.uk.

All research data hubs at UHB will provide approved researchers access to data in a Trusted Research Environment (TRE). A TRE is UHB’s default position for providing researchers with access to data. This is because it enables secure access and fulfills the ‘safe setting’ principle of the ‘five safes’ framework. There may be exceptional scenarios in which the approved researcher will be unable to conduct their research within a UHB TRE. In these instances, it is practice to conduct cybersecurity assessment of the external secure environment to where the data will be transferred.

In exceptional circumstances, we can consider data egress of the approved dataset. The project will need to satisfy the ‘five safes’ framework and we will conduct an extensive assessment of the intended environment. There will be an agreement between the UHB and the lead researcher’s organization stipulating the terms of use, duration of utilizing the data, audit of the secure environment and appropriate destruction or return of the data.

The ‘Data security standards’ section of the data request form intends to identify appropriate mechanisms that will provide assurance on the requesting organization’s technical/security measures. This section will only be applicable for projects that intend to egress the data. The requester will need to liaise with their organization to obtain the relevant evidence and complete the ‘data egress’ checklist.

Small number suppression is a disclosure limitation method which involves removing data (e.g., from a cell or a row in a table) to prevent the identification of individuals in small groups or those with unique characteristics.

It is important that you identify the contract lead within your organization prior to submitting the data request form. We will need to liaise with the contract lead at your organization in order to agree to the contract which enables you to access the data. The contract lead is likely to be a person within the research governance or information governance team at your organization.

The following statistical analysis tools are available as standard to approved researchers, within the trusted research environment (TRE) at UHB. Other statistical analysis tools can be provided on request.

• R
• Python
• Stata