In a healthcare landscape increasingly shaped by real-time decision-making, integrated care, and the need for smarter resource allocation, data is not a back-office function—it is a critical enabler of care. The NHS’s Federated Data Platform (FDP) represents a significant evolution in how health and care data is managed, accessed, and used at scale. But no platform alone can drive transformation. What’s required is a way to activate that platform—securely, compliantly, and intelligently.
That’s where FDP+ comes in.
FDP+ is the the enablement and assurance layer layer built to support the successful adoption and optimisation of the Federated Data Platform. It includes the tools, software, frameworks, processes and expertise needed to turn the potential of FDP into practical, sustainable value for NHS Trusts and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs).
This blog explores how FDP+ enables seamless data access and integration across local and national datasets—while preserving governance, enhancing collaboration, and unlocking system-wide insights.
Unlocking Access to National Datasets with Trust and Control
One of the defining benefits of the FDP ecosystem is the ability to bring together national datasets like Secondary Uses Service (SUS) and Commissioning Data Sets (CDS) in a way that improves usability and collaboration—without undermining security or governance.
FDP+ supports the seamless integration of SUS and CDS data into secure federated environments where:
- Pseudonymised patient-level access can be enabled for analytics, planning, and research
- Aggregated insights can be generated for non-technical and operational stakeholders
- Data-sharing policies are enforced consistently and transparently
- Governance is embedded into access control, with full audit trails and permission workflows
Rather than replacing existing data flows like DSCRO, FDP+ enhances them by enabling more secure, flexible, and federated access to the data analysts and planners already use—within an environment that is more robust and scalable.
Pseudonymisation and Patient-Level Linkage: Built for Privacy
With patient-level data at the heart of many analytics use cases, ensuring privacy is paramount. FDP+ includes comprehensive capabilities for privacy-preserving linkage of datasets across local and national sources.
This is achieved through:
- NHS-standard pseudonymisation at source, ensuring identifiable data never leaves its originating system unless explicitly authorised
- Secure tokenisation and common reference keys to enable matching and longitudinal analysis
- Differential privacy, encryption, and secure computation tools for sensitive workloads
- Role- and attribute-based access controls that define who can see what, when, and why
These capabilities ensure that patient data is protected by design—while enabling the kind of cross-cutting insight necessary for care coordination, pathway analysis, and population segmentation.
Federated Benchmarking and ICB-to-ICB Collaboration
One of the most powerful opportunities enabled by FDP+ is the ability for ICBs to collaborate at scale using real-time data—without the need to duplicate, export, or centralise datasets.
With federated access models, ICBs can:
- Benchmark their CDS data against peer organisations with similar populations
- Analyse unwarranted variation in referrals, admissions, or outcomes
- Collaborate on shared care models and resource planning
- Work together on regional analytics programs while maintaining local control
These capabilities support a more joined-up NHS, where learning and best practices are shared through trusted data federation—not via spreadsheets or extracts.
Fine-grained access and Role-Based Control
A key strength of FDP+ is its robust access control architecture, which is designed for NHS governance and operational needs.
Features include:
- Role-based access controls (RBAC) to ensure data is only visible to authorised users
- Attribute-based policies that consider the purpose of use, seniority, and organisation
- Time-limited and event-triggered access models for specific use cases (e.g. winter planning)
- Full audit logging and activity monitoring, integrated with NHS security protocols
Secure Federation: Sharing Without Centralising
Traditional data sharing often involved duplication: copying extracts, transferring files, and re-uploading into other systems. With FDP+, sharing happens through federated queries and permissions—not replication.
This means:
- Data remains with its owner but can be analysed in joined-up environments
- ICBs can define federated workspaces to run shared reports, dashboards, or ML models
- Sharing policies are codified and enforced programmatically
- Cross-organisational collaboration becomes safe, scalable, and transparent
The result is a collaborative data ecosystem—not a centralised warehouse.
Building Confidence: Governance, Compliance, and Transparency
All data access and integration in FDP+ is underpinned by a strong governance framework that is aligned with NHS, ICO, and international standards.
This includes:
- Full support for NHS DSPT, DTAC, ISMS, Cyber Essentials Plus and other certifications
- Data protection impact assessments (DPIAs) embedded into onboarding workflows
- Real-time compliance dashboards for assurance teams
- Ongoing vulnerability monitoring and proactive threat mitigation
With these protections in place, ICBs can trust that their use of FDP and FDP+ is safe, compliant, and defensible—ready for audit at any time.
Real-World Use Cases: From Insight to Action
Here’s what FDP+ makes possible:
1. Joined-Up Cancer Pathway Analysis
Linking national and local data to analyse delays, conversion rates, and patient journeys—enabling pathway redesign and earlier intervention.
2. Elective Care Recovery Modelling
Combining SUS, RTT, and local capacity data to project backlogs, model resource needs, and optimise waiting list management.
3. Social Determinants of Health Mapping
Federating local council data with health datasets to understand how deprivation, housing, and education impact service demand and outcomes.
4. System-Wide Performance Dashboards
Automated dashboards that combine CDS, MHSDS, and local UEC data are viewed securely by stakeholders across NHS and local authority boundaries.
From Data Access to Insight Activation: The Role of FDP+
The power of FDP is in its architecture. The power of FDP+ is in making that architecture usable. From ingestion to insight, FDP+ supports NHS Trusts and ICBs with:
- Federated data integration
- Privacy-preserving patient linkage
- Flexible access governance
- Metadata management and discovery
- Advanced analytics enablement
- Change management and adoption support
This makes it easier for organisations to move from access to action and from data to decisions.
Conclusion: From Strategy to Sustainability
The promise of the Federated Data Platform is real. But like any infrastructure, its value depends on how it’s enabled, governed, and used.
That’s what FDP+ is designed for: to ensure NHS organisations can adopt the platform confidently, integrate securely, and derive sustained value from connected, compliant, and context-rich data access.
In a future where integrated care is the standard, not the ambition, FDP+ enables the NHS to lead—with trust, transparency, and intelligence.
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