Seven “pioneering data research centres” are being rolled out across the UK next month, in order to speed up research for new medicines, treatments, and technologies that support quicker diagnosis and save lives.

The hubs will be the home of “cutting-edge research” for health discoveries, with an aim to improve the lives of people with debilitating conditions.

The potential benefits to patients include earlier diagnosis, the development of more effective treatments and more efficient management of the health service, all of which have the potential to improve outcomes, helping patients enjoy longer and healthier lives.

The hubs have been announced as part of a four-year £37million investment from the UK Government Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) announced in November 2017, led by UK Research and Innovation, which aims to create a UK-wide system for the safe and responsible use of health-related data on a large scale.

There will be a cancer hub, an eye health hub, inflammatory bowel disease hub, acute care, clinical trials, respiratory and real world data hubs.

Professor Andrew Morris, director of Health Data Research UK, explained that the UK is “home to some of the world’s leading researchers and innovators who have historically struggled to access large scale data about people’s health.”

He continued, “Creating these hubs and the wider secure infrastructure will, for the first time, give researchers the opportunity to use data at scale to  With a clear focus on data security, safety and public involvement, this is an important and exciting next step in the UK’s health data proposition and builds on the fantastic strengths we have across our health service, universities and industry.”

Each hub was selected following an open competition by an independent panel involving patient and public representatives. They were assessed against criteria that included the potential for impact, the innovative uses of data, plans for involving patients and the public, and the value for public funding.