Research Hero of the Month – July 2024

This month we celebrate the role of our Information Governance colleagues and in particular Carl Starbuck, Head of Information Governance and Data Protection Officer.

Information Governance. Data Protection. GDPR. Words that strike fear into many people’s hearts! However, it’s not something any of us can avoid and indeed is a key feature in the world of NHS research. Given the ever-changing landscape and the increasing complexity of services, it’s great to have someone like Carl Starbuck to call on when the inevitable queries land. He is responsive and clear and has steered us through the challenge of GDPR as well as more recently playing a key role in the delivery of the Akrivia platform. There’s no doubt that his expertise will continue to be needed into the future.

We very much appreciate his wealth of knowledge (and patience!) and are reassured that we have this invaluable resource to guide us through tricky issues which Carl describes below:

Carl Starbuck

“It’s always a pleasure to work with our Research team on IG / Data Protection issues as it often presents ‘wrinkles’ that we don’t come across when using data for direct care. Although research does have a legal basis, the ethical considerations often give us a moment of pause and things to consider & work through. Section 251 approval, the National Data Guardian ‘Opt Out’, and the nuances of the use of identifiable vs pseudonymised vs anonymous data frequently bubble to the surface and stretch our understanding. Mental health data, by its nature, is very much about records that contain a biographical ‘story’ as opposed to ‘coded’ data, and over the last year our Research team has put a great deal of effort into delivering the Akrivia research platform – an ICT system capable of mining the data within our electronic patient records, with the aim of turning data into information, and information into knowledge. From the IG perspective it was impressive to see that the Akrivia platform had very much got its ducks in a row well before we decided to procure it, and in working with our Research team and Akrivia it has been pleasing and reassuring to see all concerned put IG & Data Protection at the heart of the project – very much embodying the ICO’s ‘Data Protection by Design & by Default’ ethic”.

Page last updated: 9th Sep 2024 2:48pm