UK Government and Wellcome Trust Invest up to £600 million to create a Health Data Research Service

The UK government and the Wellcome Trust will invest up to £600 million to establish a new Health Data Research Service, aimed at centralizing access to NHS data for medical research. Announced by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, the initiative seeks to streamline data access for researchers, cut through bureaucratic barriers, and speed up clinical trials—reducing setup times from 250 to 150 days by March 2026.

The service will be based at the Wellcome Genome Campus in Cambridgeshire, where Wellcome is expanding lab and office space to support innovation in genomics and biodata. Health Secretary Wes Streeting described the project as a way to unlock the full potential of NHS data while maintaining strict security and privacy standards.

The system will simplify the process of accessing health data, replacing fragmented applications with a unified platform that retains patient confidentiality through secure data environments. Dr. Vin Diwakar of NHS England emphasized that only projects with a likely benefit to NHS patients will be approved.

This announcement follows a major review by Professor Cathie Sudlow of Health Data Research UK, who said the new service would empower researchers to tackle major health challenges—including cancer, heart disease, and mental health—more efficiently and with better outcomes for patients.

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