The West Midlands Secure Data Environment (WMSDE) allows researchers to analyse your health and care information to find new medicines and treatments – faster and more efficiently than ever before. This will improve care for everyone, including you, your family and your friends. It can even help save lives.

The WMSDE is part of a national programme run by the NHS, under strict levels of privacy and security.

It:

• protects your information to ensure your confidentiality
• uses the highest level of cyber security
• strictly vets researchers and their reasons for using your information
• keeps your data safe in a secure environment
• involves local citizens to be your voice in ensuring the WMSDE stays safe and private at all times.

If you are happy for your health and care information to be used for research and health and care planning, you do not need to do anything.

However, you can choose to stop your information being used in this way if you so wish – it is entirely your decision. You can do this through the national data opt-out service. Any choice you make will not affect your care.

If you do choose to opt out, you can check and change your choice at any time.

You can also read our opt-out leaflet to learn about your choices for opting out.

Opting out of research and health and care service planning projects supported by the WMSDE

If you would like to opt out only from allowing your health information to be used for research and health and care service planning supported through the WMSDE, please see the Local Data Opt-Out page on this website.

When your choice about sharing data from your health records does not apply

You can find out more about this on the Your NHS Data Matters website.

Read more in different formats and languages