Pioneering data 'Hwb' to accelerate research opportunities to improve lives and services in Wales

Public Health Wales (PHW) and SAIL Databank, which is funded by Health and Care Research Wales, have partnered to launch a pioneering initiative aimed at transforming the use of public health data to inform decision-making, research, and policy in Wales. The newly established SAIL (Secure Anonymised Information Linkage) Databank Public Health Wales Linked Data Feasibility Hwb (SAIL-PHW-HWB) is a major step forward in unlocking the full potential of population-scale data for the benefit of health and wellbeing across Wales.

Built on the foundation of the SAIL Databank, the SAIL-PHW-Hwb is a three-year collaborative venture designed to rapidly assess the feasibility of proposed health research and evaluation projects. The SAIL-PHW-Hwb will enhance the ability of PHW to explore timely, relevant questions using anonymised, individual-level linked data that spans health and administrative data through a secure, approved mechanism via the SAIL Databank Trusted Research Environment (TRE).

A strategic and sustainable model

The SAIL-PHW-Hwb provides an Information Governance Review Panel (IGRP) approved SAIL project to an initial team of ten data specialists from across PHW’s analytical, data science, research, and evaluation teams - spanning the organisational fields of expertise, from cancer to infectious disease surveillance. These members remain embedded in their existing teams while working collaboratively as part of the virtual SAIL-PHW-Hwb, hosted within PHW’s Research and Evaluation Division.

The virtual nature of the SAIL-PHW-Hwb ensures agility and cost efficiency, allowing Public Health Wales to respond quickly to understand the availability and suitability of existing data in order to address new public health challenges and policy demands. All SAIL-PHW-Hwb members are trained and accredited as safe researchers, ensuring strict adherence to SAIL’s standard governance processes and policies.

Governance and transparency

The SAIL-PHW-Hwb focuses exclusively on feasibility assessments. The outputs are limited to non-publishable results, such as basic metrics and sample size calculations, which are essential for scoping project potential but are not intended for wider dissemination. All activities are conducted under SAIL’s stringent governance oversight.

Should a project be deemed feasible, it undergoes a standard and thorough scoping and approval process through SAIL Databank’s robust independent IGRP procedure. Approved projects transition from feasibility to full research under this separate governance framework, ensuring the ethical and responsible use of data.

Enhancing capacity and collaboration

One of the central aims of the SAIL-PHW-Hwb is to build lasting capability within Public Health Wales to work effectively with population-scale linked data. This includes developing shared methods, reproducible code, and centralised knowledge sharing using platforms like Git within SAIL. The SAIL-PHW-Hwb aims to reduce duplication of effort and enhance collective learning.

The collaboration brings together academic expertise, state-of-the-art infrastructure, and a strong data governance framework. This partnership will strengthen links with other research groups and foster joint funding opportunities and collaborative grant applications.

Professor Ashley Akbari, Professor of Population Data Science Research at Swansea University and Head of SAIL User and Data Support Services (UDSS) & Research Innovation SAIL Databank said: 

The SAIL-PHW-Hwb demonstrate a long-standing strategic partnership between SAIL and Public Health Wales, and builds upon our existing and continuing collaborations to enable the utilisation of linked data for public good. We hope that the SAIL-PHW-Hwb will enhance the identification and evaluation of what research questions and intelligence evaluations may be suitable to be answered with existing data sources in Wales, and lead to a greater number of impactful studies and projects in years to come using the SAIL Databank national trusted research environment for Wales.”

Professor Alisha Davies, Deputy Director of Research, Data and Digital, and Head of Research and Evaluation at Public Health Wales said: 

The SAIL-PHW-Hwb is already proving to be beneficial, building a network of SAIL-PHW-Hwb virtual team members, drawing on their own individual expertise whilst also supporting each other in working in a linked data TRE, and collaborating in operational science and research. Helping to ensure that we can focus on generating evidence that directly contributes to public health actions and policies.”

Driving impact and improving lives

The SAIL-PHW-Hwb represents a vital tool in enabling evidence-based action, creating a more efficient path from data insight to policy implementation and service improvement.

Initiatives underway as a result of the SAIL-PHW-Hwb include an extensive cross-organisational programme on improving knowledge on inequalities in public health outcomes, drawing on more comprehensive demographic information linking a range of data sources available within SAIL; a study exploring weight management and obesity in Wales; and has informed collaborative research bids to national funders, including NIHR on fuel poverty and health.

The SAIL-PHW-Hwb is about improving lives in Wales through smarter, more connected and evidence-led public health. 

SAIL Databank is funded by Health and Care Research Wales and UK Research and Innovation's Economic and Social Research Council.