Apply to access the data

1. Create a researcher account

Your account is where you'll:

• apply to be an Our Future Health registered researcher
• complete the study application form and tell us what data you need
• manage your study applications and access the data

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2. Apply to be an Our Future Health registered researcher

To become an Our Future Health registered researcher, you must work for, or be a supervised student of universities, charities, the NHS or organisations involved in health research.

You apply to be an Our Future Health registered researcher in your researcher account. When you apply, you’ll need to:

• submit a completed researcher application form (this will ask for your contact details and details about your organisation)
• read and agree to our Registered Researcher Terms and Conditions (PDF)
• provide evidence that you’ve completed information governance training within the last 12 months that covers UK GDPR. Your institution may have the training you need but if you’re unsure, contact access@ourfuturehealth.org.uk

You will get a response within 2 weeks.

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3. Request access to data for your study

If you're approved as a registered researcher, you can complete a study application form to apply for access to the data.

When you apply, you’ll need to:

• submit a completed study application form (which will ask you for details about your study, the data you need, and a plain language summary of your study which must follow our Plain language guidance (PDF))
• submit the names and affiliated organisations of researchers you’ll be collaborating on the data with; each collaborator will need to be an Our Future Health registered researcher
• have your study application form signed by an authorised representative from the organisation that will have overall responsibility for the study
• ensure an authorised representative from each collaborating organisation has read and signed a copy of our Resource Terms and Conditions (PDF)
• provide an International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) signed by your organisation if you are accessing the data outside of the UK and European Economic Area (EEA)

Find out more about submitting an IDTA

You do not need to submit an IDTA if you are accessing data from:

• the UK
• the EEA
• a country that is covered by UK adequacy regulation (that is, a decision made by the UK which recognises that another country, territory, sector or international organisation provides an equivalent level of protection for personal data as the UK does).

To find out more about IDTAs and which countries are covered by adequacy regulations go to the Information Commissioner’s Office guidance on international transfers.

Our Access Board will review your study application. Our Access Board are experts and public representatives who oversee access to the data.

You will get a response within 60 days.

If the Access Board approve your study application, we will publish a summary of your study onto the Health Data Research UK Innovation Gateway website. We'll use the summary you provide in your study application form. We will also require you to keep us updated on the progress of your study on a yearly basis through submission of an Annual study report form (PDF).

Fees for accessing the data

If the Access Board approves your study application, you will need to pay to access the data you’ve requested. This fee will support the long-term sustainability of the Our Future Health programme.

We are aiming to publish full details of our access fees later in 2024. Until then, we encourage researchers to apply for access to the data available. For inquiries or assistance, please contact access@ourfuturehealth.org.uk.

For a limited time, academic researchers may also apply to help shape the Our Future Health resource, and in doing so may have their access fees waived. For more information on this opportunity, visit our early adopters page.

For commercial research organisations, fees will vary depending on the type and size of your affiliated organisation. Please contact partnerships@ourfuturehealth.org.uk.

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4. Analyse the data in a secure environment

If your study application is approved, your approved data will be available in the Our Future Health Trusted Research Environment (TRE).

Our TRE is a secure computing environment where you can analyse the data.

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Computing fees when using the TRE

You will incur small computer processing fees when analysing data in our TRE. For example, running a notebook for a simple compute instance costs around £0.10 per hour.

You will get £50 complimentary credits when you first access the data in our TRE. If you run out of credits, you will be prompted to top-up your billing account before proceeding to run any further analyses.

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5. Notify us of any changes

If anything changes, for example if you change organisations or need to add or remove collaborators from your study, you can let us know by completing a Study amendment form (PDF).

If your study is ending, you will need to complete an End of study declaration form (PDF). Any resulting publications will need to comply with the Our Future Health Publication policy (PDF).

Forms should be completed and submitted to our access team at access@ourfuturehealth.org.uk.

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Updated: 10 May 2024