News and Perspectives

Lay Summaries and Public Benefit Statements are valuable parts of DataLoch applications. They present an informative overview of the key purposes and potential real-world impacts for first-time readers and non-specialists. As well as being essential for the Projects Delivered section on the DataLoch website, these sections are vital for proposal reviewers, ultimately influencing the chances of an application being successful. Therefore, applicants have to present summaries that are genuinely meaningful to those who are reading their proposals for the first time. To support this goal, DataLoch’s Public Reference Group offers the following advice to applicants based on their reviewing experiences.

DataLoch has incorporated a significant selection of HDR UK Phenotypes within our repository. Through these, our aim is to ease the burden on researchers who seek DataLoch-hosted data within their projects.

…some of us wear regular clothes and use R and SQL to analyse data, as one of our Data Analysts, Sophie McCall, explains.

On 20 October 2021, DataLoch became one of the newest members of the UK Health Data Research Alliance (“the Alliance”). Member organisations work together to develop and coordinate the adoption of standards, tools and technologies for the secure and trustworthy use of data in health research.

In light of the COVID-19 crisis, in March 2020 colleagues from NHS Lothian and the University of Edinburgh asked the DataLoch team to help in the production of a dedicated COVID-19-linked dataset. This request was motivated by a need to support immediate hospital-based service management and to provide a foundation for active and anticipated regional and national research into the outbreak.

The DataLoch team has been working with a group of GPs in North-East Edinburgh to design an automated report, which captures when people are considered frail and helps to understand what proactive assessments have been completed for these patients.