http://www.gponline.com/News/article/11 ... ustry-nhs/GP practice data to be shared more widely with drug industry and NHSBy Tom Moberly, 30 March 2012
GP practice data will play a greater role in research by the drug industry and NHS, following the launch of a scheme to boost data sharing, the MHRA has said.
The Clinical Practice Research Datalink will improve access to the General Practice Research Database (GPRD) and allow researchers to link GPRD data to other datasets.
The MHRA said the scheme would allow ‘researchers to draw on the power of large linked anonymised data sets on an unprecedented scale’.
Announcing the launch of the new service, MHRA chief executive Professor Sir Kent Woods said patient data in shared through the Clinical Practice Research Datalink would be anonymised.
‘All the data from patients will be anonymised and no personal details will be shared with health researchers,’ he said.
In 2009, the MHRA found that the confidentiality of patients’ data stored in the GPRD could be compromised by researchers who were gaining unauthorised access to the database. In response to the concerns, the agency pledged to update its guidance and tighten procedures.
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The launch of the Clinical Practice Research Datalink follows commitments set out in the UK government’s ‘Plan for growth’, launched in March 2011 and updated as part of the 2012 Budget.
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