An enormous amount of data are generated through routine NHS encounters. Some of this routinely collected heathcare data is de-identified and can be made available for research purposes. The Respiratory EHR group, led by Professor Jennifer Quint, has developed core expertise in the use of various sources of these types of data, including data collated by the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) as well as NHS Digital to support research into the UK’s most common respiratory diseases, such as asthma and COPD.

The Respiratory EHR group brings together people from different backgrounds including clinical medicine, epidemiology and medical statistics, mathematics and computer science, nursing, and the core biological sciences. The result is a multidisciplinary team that has both depth and breadth and the team work on a broad spectrum of projects, spanning basic epidemiology, disease aetiology, safety and effectiveness of medications, investigation of patient pathways, risk factor analysis and prediction modelling, as well as qualitative research on patient–healthcare practitioner interactions and risk communication. Underpinning all of this work is a robust understanding of the strengths and limitations of using routinely-collected health data for research purposes, and in particular, of diagnostic coding practices in clinical settings and how these might then affect research outcomes.

Examples of recent and current projects can be found below:

Our research