Federated Data Platform (FDP)
Every day, NHS staff and clinicians are delivering care in new and innovative ways, achieving better outcomes for patients, and driving efficiency. Scaling and sharing these innovations across the health and care system in England is a key challenge for the NHS.
Harnessing the power of digital, data, and technology is the key to recovering from the pandemic, addressing longer-term challenges, and delivering services in new and more sustainable ways.
The future of our NHS depends on improving how we use data to:
- Care for our patients;
- Improve population health;
- Plan and improve services; and
- Find new ways to deliver services.
The Federated Data Platform (FDP) is a software ‘data platform’ which will enable NHS organisations to bring together data - currently stored in separate systems - to support staff to access the information they need in one safe and secure environment so that they are better able to coordinate, plan and deliver high-quality care.
A ‘federated’ data platform means that every hospital Trust and integrated care board (ICB) (on behalf of the integrated care system (ICS)) will have their own platform, which can connect and collaborate with other data platforms as a “federation”, making it easier for health and care organisations to work together.
A digitised, connected NHS can deliver services more effectively and efficiently, with people at the centre, leading to:
1. Better outcomes and experience for people
A more efficient NHS ultimately means a better service for patients, reduced waiting times and more timely treatment. The platform will provide ICBs with the insights they need to understand the current and future needs of their populations so they can tailor early preventative interventions and target health and care support. Patients will have more flexibility and choice about how and where they access services and receive care, helping them to stay healthy for longer.
2. Better experience for staff
NHS staff will be able to access the information they need in one secure place. This reduces the time they spend chasing referrals, scheduling appointments, and waiting for test results and allows them to work more flexibly to deliver high-quality care for their patients.
3. Connecting the NHS
The connectivity of the platforms is extremely important as it will enable us to rapidly scale and share tools and applications that have been developed at a local level - in a secure way - supporting levelling up and reducing variation across England.
Federation means that each Trust and ICB has a separate platform for which they are the data controller. Access for each platform will be governed and managed by each organisation.
NHS England » Referral to treatment (RTT) FDP product privacy notice
