AQW 38522/22-27


Miss Nuala McAllister
Alliance Party
North Belfast


Tabled Date: 19/01/2026
Answered On Date: 12/02/2026
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the Minister of Health to detail any current policy in relation to the sharing of secondary health data to enable research and innovation in healthcare.


Answer:
The Department’s approach to the sharing of secondary health data for research and innovation is governed by a robust legislative framework. Primarily the processing and sharing of such data is regulated under existing legislation, notably the Health And Social Care (Control of Data Processing) Act 2016, which legislates for statutory regulations in the use of patient identifiable data, without explicit consent in limited circumstances.
Recognising the need to address specific issues in the original legislation, the Department is bringing forward a Bill to amend the 2016 Act; this amendment seeks to correct identified legislative shortcomings rather than introduce fundamental changes to the principles governing secondary data use.
Supporting policy measures have been developed in parallel with the legislation. The policy underpinning the 2016 act has been updated to align with the proposed bill, ensuring continued compliance and clarity. It should be noted, however, that there is no single, standalone departmental policy authorising the secondary use of health data. Instead, the department relies on the statutory provisions of the act 2016, relevant common law duties, and the requirements set out in the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018 to provide the legal basis and necessary safeguards for the processing and sharing of health data for secondary purposes.
Further, the statutory framework and accompanying regulations, which are yet to be established, will detail the practical mechanisms by which organisations can comply with the legislative requirements. These future regulations will outline the operational aspects of data sharing and processing, ensuring consistency and transparency across the sector. The Department is required to publish a code of practice, which will provide requirements to HSC bodies/ organisations on best practice in the handling and sharing of secondary health data for research and innovation, reinforcing the commitment to safe, lawful and effective use of health and care data in Northern Ireland.
The Department of Health has, currently, published a 'Code of Practice on protecting confidentiality of patient records'. This will be replaced by a statutory Code of Practice, which will be put in place as part of the enabling regulations to the Act 2016. - https://privacyadvisorycommittee.hscni.net/PACrefdocs.html