UK is Global Leader in Open Healthcare Data, Says Tim Kelsey

The UK is leading the world in its publication of healthcare datasets, the government’s transparency tsar Tim Kelsey has said. “Nobody has created a knowledge-based health system anywhere in the world. But in some respects the UK is in a global leadership position, we’ve published more data than anywhere else,” he told delegates at the BCS Health Informatics conference.

The news follows the announcement that GP record information will be opened up in the next six months as part of the Department of Health’s plan to release healthcare data. Kelsey said the challenge is to engage the public in using data to inform their choices. “We’ve got leadership by accident. We will have to take risks and be uncautious about how we approach [this].”