The National Health Service’s (NHS) data platform will help the country implement a co-ordinated and effective response to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 crisis in the UK, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Kathryn Whitney, MSc, GlobalData Director of Thematic Analysis, comments: “This data platform will give key decision makers in the NHS real-time visibility of the ongoing COVID-19 situation in the UK, and will certainly allow for more effective and critical decisions to be made. It will allow a better understanding of how COVID-19 is spreading in the UK, and identify and mitigate any situations where the NHS could be under pressure.”

NHS England, NHS Improvement, and NHSX were commissioned by the UK Government to create the platform, which will collect data about the novel coronavirus from multiple sources in a secure, single location. Taken from sources such as 111 phone/online information and COVID-19 test data, the data will allow users to track metrics in real-time and better understand the current capacity of the NHS on a national, Trust, and hospital level. Hospital occupancy levels, accident and emergency (A&E) department capacity and waiting times, as well as length of stay for COVID-19 patients could be viewed and tracked.

Whitney continues: “The technology providers involved in the collaboration include Microsoft with its Azure cloud platform, Palantir Technologies UK with its data processing software, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, and Faculty.”