Highlights: Research Data Access Portal

The Data Access Portal (DAP) went through User Acceptance Testing (UAT) in 2018/19 and is ready for use.  The portal provides a secure working environment, including analysis tools, for researchers and users of NJR data, whilst enabling the NJR to manage and control its data more effectively. 

The portal will undergo a ‘soft’ go-live to ensure that the service is working correctly and that the project administrative support is adequate for expected use.  In addition to including Stata, Python and R have also been added to the portal for use by all researchers.

The University of Bristol will create a ‘Research Ready Database’ which will consist of a number of files of cleaned and pre-formatted data, extracts of which will be made available to each project dependent upon specific requirements.  The data will be prepared in line with other NJR work and will be made available annually in the autumn.

In 2019/20 sub-licencing arrangements will be established with NHS Digital and the NHS Wales Informatics Service to sub-licence data from HES, PROMs, Civil Registration, and PEDW.  This agreement is necessary for the NJR to be able to provide mortality data, essential for any outcomes analyses.  Researchers will be able to link NJR data to differing datasets within the portal.

For further detail about NJR Research, please see the report by the Chair of the NJR Research Committee in the section ‘Work of the NJR Steering Committee and its sub-committees’ under ‘Annual Progress’.  For information about how to apply for NJR data for analysis and research purposes, please visit the Research section on the NJR’s website.