Theme leads: Professor Paul Aylin and Mr Erik Mayer

Nearly every single person in the UK has data on their health captured on electronic databases by their healthcare providers, including, for example, general practices, hospitals and community care settings. There are increasing efforts to link these separate health databases thereby providing a more detailed picture of the patterns of the healthcare patients receive. This relates to their health outcomes including the occurrence of harm. The need for this has increased with the formation of Integrated Care Systems, over the last year, which are tasked with delivering coordinated care for all individuals across a regional population. It is hoped their formation will lead to more joined-up care supporting the public to effectively navigating our complex healthcare system.

Our work

The research undertaken in this theme will support these efforts by using the large volume of data in integrated health datasets available in North West London to investigate whether this integration of care leads to improved patient safety. Indicators will be developed for our colleagues in the Integrated Care Systems to monitor patient safety events. We will look at both the integration of care in general, as well as in our priority populations, the elderly, mothers, and those accessing mental health services. We will work with patients and carers from these populations to: help shape the questions we are asking of the data, develop outcome measures; evaluate the research; and, communicate about it.