Around 150 people from the Midlands and beyond attended the event – including delegates from as far as Taiwan and Australia – underlining the region’s crucial role in advancing health data research.

The West Midlands SDE was represented in several ways:

• Hilary Fanning, West Midlands SDE Programme Director, provided a national overview as part of her role as Senior Responsible Officer for NHS England’s Data for R&D Programme.
  
• Professor Simon Ball, West Midlands SDE Senior Responsible Officer, was on a panel discussing the key role secure data handling will play in advancing health research in future. He also gave a presentation on the SDE.

• Lisa Faria, Director of Healthcare Data Research at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, took part in a discussion about opportunities for future collaboration. She also presented on the subject of linking patient-level data assets.

The SDE also hosted an exhibition stand at the event showcasing our work and the impact we can make.