The Mohn Westlake Foundation is funding the creation of The DataLab’s Policy Insights think tank at the University of Oxford – a fully embedded think tank that is integrated into a technical team, delivering data-driven tools and services on a daily basis.
The DataLab’s Policy Insights think tank drives detailed actionable insights about the better use of data, evidence and software in healthcare and policy. The think tank is led by Policy Lead, Jess Morley.
Through the think tank, The Mohn Westlake will be supporting a range of important activities. Such activities carried out to date, include:
Bringing NHS data analysis into the 21st Century; A paper used by NHSX, the unit responsible for digital transformation in the NHS, to establish a programme of work around ‘analytics as a profession’. This programme of work is overseen by ‘Developing Data and Analysis as a Profession.’
OpenSAFELY; a secure, transparent, open-source software platform for analysis of electronic health records data. All platform activity is publicly logged, and all code for data management and analysis is shared, under open licenses and by default, for scientific review and efficient re-use.
Health Data Review; Policy Lead, Jess Morley coordinated and supported the Health Data Review commissioned by the Secretary of State for Health and Care into the better, broader and safer uses of health data for analysis and research. And The DataLab will be involved in the implementation of the recommendations from this review.
Review into over prescribing in the NHS; The DataLab led the ‘digital, data and technology’ working group of the overprescribing review commissioned by the Secretary of State for Health and Care. This involved holding a series of workshops, conducting thematic analysis, and developing a series of policy recommendations that were provided to the Department of Health and Social Care.
Consulting on NHS data strategy; Policy Lead, Jess Morley is consulting on the recently announced review into the NHS data strategy: Data saves lives: reshaping health and social care with data
Citizens Juries; Policy Lead, Jess Morley recently acted as the expert witnesses for an NHS England and National Data Guardian-commissioned series of citizens juries focused on extracting data and sharing lessons learned from the Pandemic. It addressed questions like, should these data sharing initiatives, created under temporary legal powers to tackle COVID-19, continue beyond the pandemic and if so for how long? And who should make these policy decisions? Jess Morley was also involved in a recent Citizen Jury in collaboration with the Ada Lovelace institute on trust in different elements of data use including risk prediction.
To learn more about this project, please visit the grantees website: bennett.ox.ac.uk