The West Midlands Secure Data Environment (WM SDE) is committed to ensuring that health data is used in a way that is trusted, transparent and delivers real benefits for patients and communities.

Public involvement has been central to the development of the WM SDE from the beginning. Young people have a particularly important perspective: they are current and future users of health services, contributors of health data, and the decision-makers of the future.

This is why we run an active programme of engagement with young people across the region, helping to inform the future development of the Secure Data Environment.

Our involvement activities

We involve young people in a range of ways. Our recent and ongoing activities include:

Listening to young people’s voices – January-March 2026

Between January and March 2026, we worked with more than 150 young people aged 12 to 26 through online and in-person sessions across the region. We also shared questionnaires with young people who were unable to attend in person.

These activities explored how young people think about health data and how they want to be involved, including:

• Their understanding of health data and secure data environments
• Attitudes towards data sharing, trust and governance
• Views on consent, opt-out and public involvement
• How they would like to be informed and engaged in the future

Read our Young people help shape the future of health data research in the West Midlands blog post to learn more.

Get involved

Interested in learning more about the West Midlands Secure Data Environment, or sharing your views? We would love to hear from you. Please contact the team at WMSDE@uhb.nhs.uk