University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) has joined PIONEER, the Health Data Research Hub for Acute Care, further strengthening a growing network of NHS organisations working together to use health data to improve acute care.
Led by University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and established in 2019 as one of Health Data Research UK’s Health Data Research Hubs, PIONEER brings together health data and expertise from across urgent and acute care to support research for patient benefit.
The partnership already includes West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, alongside academic partners. Further NHS organisations are currently in discussion or progressing through onboarding.
The addition of UHL strengthens PIONEER’s presence across the Midlands and brings further clinical and academic expertise and a large, diverse patient population into the partnership. Working across different organisations and communities will create greater opportunities to test findings across NHS settings and support research that better reflects the populations the NHS serves.
Professor Elizabeth Sapey, Managing Director of PIONEER, said:
“Welcoming University Hospitals of Leicester is an important step in the continued growth of PIONEER. Bringing together expertise and health data from different NHS organisations and communities strengthens our ability to answer important questions in acute care and produce research that can benefit patients across the NHS.”
Professor Nigel Brunskill, Director of Research and Innovation at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, said:
“Joining PIONEER gives Leicester an important opportunity to build on our strengths in clinical research and work with partners to make better use of health data for patient benefit. By working across organisations, we can address shared challenges in acute care and develop evidence that is relevant both locally and across the NHS.”
The partnership will operate within established information governance and research approval processes, with PIONEER’s public-led Data Trust Committee providing independent oversight of how data are used.
