Making the shift from data islands to personalised medicine

Advancements in AI to make services faster, safer and more effective are progressing at a significant pace in the UK, however for the NHS, it’s just the start of the journey to adopting and scaling this innovation.

While there are safe and ethical AI tools readily available, we cannot ignore how our health system operates on “data islands”. Fragmented systems – which contain isolated datasets – along with varying levels of digital maturity and outdated infrastructure are critical factors that delay, or in some cases prevent, innovations that could help transform care.

At the recent ‘Celebrating the Future of Health’ event hosted by Answer Digital in collaboration with NHS England, speakers from across the NHS, academia and industry agreed that the route to progress is clear. Alongside national initiatives such as the Federated Data Platform, interoperability and collaboration at local and regional levels are the key enablers of a health system that learns from its data and uses it to deliver more personalised, preventative healthcare.

Fragmentation to integration

London is already showing what this can look like in practice. Ruth Holland (Director of Data and Analytics at the One London Secure Data Environment (SDE)) explained how the SDE connects clinicians, planners and researchers across a population of over ten million people. It’s a functioning, secure infrastructure – funded by five Integrated Care Boards in London – that allows data to move safely and meaningfully across organisational boundaries, supporting both research and frontline care.

It is used to create a single view of the patient journey – giving clinicians the information they need at the point of care and allowing researchers to analyse anonymised population data to identify risk factors, treatment outcomes and early signs of disease. The same infrastructure supports population health tools, proactive care and the development of AI models.

Its progress has been driven by a shared commitment from all the stakeholders involved – spanning health, care and research – to open standards, interoperability and genuine collaboration. Supported by an industry partner who has the expertise to help build and test the secure data framework that makes these advances sustainable.

The next frontier

As Deborah Porter (Deputy Director of Transformation for Genomics at NHS England) explained at the event, the success of SDEs such as One London can also be considered the building blocks to more personalised healthcare.

For many years, genomics has been viewed as a niche speciality, confined to research labs or specific areas such as rare diseases and cancer. However, with the advent of AI and data, she described it as “the paradigm shift that follows the X-ray.”

It has the potential to predict disease risk, guide drug selection and tailor interventions to each individual. For example, when it comes to medications, the NHS currently spends nearly £20 billion a year, yet another £2 billion is spent treating patients with adverse reactions to these medications. She explained how up to 15.6% of hospital admissions are a result of patients being given drugs that aren’t suitable for them. However, with advancements in genomics, the NHS could prevent much of this waste and harm from the outset.

To realise this potential, genomic data must connect with clinical and population datasets through secure, interoperable systems. These connections can subsequently turn research into practical insights and support a shift from reactive care to prevention and precision medicine.

Collaboration as the common thread

And the cornerstone of these connections? Partnerships.

Whether it’s London’s secure data environment or the expansion of genomics, progress is being made when clinicians, data scientists and technology partners work together. And as Hassan Chaudhury (global digital health advisor) said at the event, effective partnerships are grounded in morale and purpose. It’s about recognising and sharing success to maintain momentum in a health system that faces constant pressure.

Showcasing these examples of best practice allows us all to demonstrate that innovation is not only possible but already happening, and that it can be scaled when learning is shared openly.

It enables us to create a blueprint for learning among our peers and shift towards an NHS that becomes a learning health system – that continuously analyses data, feeds insights back into healthcare and evolves based on real-world evidence.

If we can collectively continue to build on these foundations, the transformation from data islands to connected, insight-driven care is well within our reach.

Related