A significant investment has been announced for the OpenSAFELY project at the University of Oxford, aimed at securely analyzing millions of GP records to assess the effectiveness of psychological therapies for conditions such as anxiety and depression. The project has received a generous £7 million funding boost from the Wellcome Trust to analyze the effectiveness of talking therapies like counseling and guided self-help. In addition, £10 million will go towards developing advanced techniques to access secure health data.
A Secure, Innovative Approach to Research
OpenSAFELY’s breakthrough lies in its ability to analyze medical data without ever seeing or transferring patient information. By using advanced technologies, researchers can study medical records while ensuring that patient data remains completely confidential. This means researchers can investigate large datasets to improve understanding of mental health treatments without compromising patient privacy.
According to Prof Ben Goldacre, the project’s leader, this funding is set to be “transformative,” enabling more robust and effective analysis of mental health treatment outcomes in the NHS. Goldacre emphasized that the project’s aim is to tackle critical questions about how talking therapies influence long-term health outcomes and the best methods for delivering these services across the UK.
Building on Pandemic-Era Success
Originally launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, OpenSAFELY has already demonstrated its value by analyzing data from millions of people, yielding crucial insights into COVID mortality and vaccine distribution. Now, the project will expand to explore mental health data, building on its existing collaboration with the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science and NHS England. The scheme will focus on outcome data from patients who have participated in NHS Talking Therapies, where data is collected from 98% of those receiving treatment.
By incorporating these findings into OpenSAFELY’s platform, the project aims to provide groundbreaking answers about the effectiveness of psychological therapies and improve the design of mental health services.
Transforming Mental Health Care
Prof Goldacre explained that the funding will allow for the first-ever analysis of anonymised mental health data in a highly secure environment. He highlighted the project’s innovative approach to protecting patient information: all data remains within the computers of the GP surgeries, where records are stored. Researchers do not have direct access to patient data. Instead, they work with randomly generated dummy data to test and refine their analytical code, which is then sent to the system holding the real data.
This method ensures that researchers can conduct thorough analyses while maintaining the utmost confidentiality and security. As Prof Goldacre explained, “the code never needs to interact directly with raw patient records”—which marks a significant advancement in data protection and research methodology.
Addressing Overstretched Mental Health Services
The investment also comes at a critical time for the NHS, as mental health services are increasingly under strain. Prof David Clark, a clinical advisor to NHS England and one of the architects of the NHS Talking Therapies program, expressed that this new research infrastructure comes at a time when mental health services are stretched thin and in urgent need of innovation.
“This research,” said Prof Clark, “could dramatically improve how services are delivered and ensure that those struggling with mental health issues receive the best possible care.”
A Step Towards Better Mental Health Care
The £17 million in funding is a clear step forward in revolutionizing mental health care in the UK. By creating more effective and efficient methods for analyzing health data, the OpenSAFELY project aims to make mental health treatment more evidence-based, personalized, and accessible for those who need it most. The collaboration between academic institutions, NHS England, and the Wellcome Trust underscores the critical need for data-driven approaches to address the growing mental health challenges facing society.
