The first providers taking part in ADAPt, a national data alignment programme between the NHS and private sector, have been confirmed.

Jointly led by NHS Digital and the Private Healthcare Information Network, the pilots will lead to the creation of the first comprehensive national dataset of ‘whole practice’ information for doctors and hospitals providing both NHS and private hospital care in England.

The providers which have volunteered as the first to take part in the ADAPt pilots are: Epsomedical; GenesisCare UK; HCA Healthcare; London North West University NHS Foundation Trust (private patient unit); Schoen Clinic; and Spire Healthcare.

The ADAPt pilots will test the technical changes and governance requirements needed to transfer the collection of private admitted patient data from PHIN into NHS Digital. It is envisaged that the new national dataset will be made available through NHS Digital’s data sharing services to regulators and public bodies, to assist monitoring of safety and help drive service improvement, and to PHIN to support its legal requirement to publish whole-practice performance measures for hospitals and consultants offering private healthcare services.
 
Matt James, chief executive of PHIN, said: “It is great to have reached the operational testing stage of this very important partnership Programme, and we're grateful to the hospitals that have volunteered to participate, particularly during the challenges of the ongoing pandemic. This is a vital step in moving towards a more joined-up approach to managing healthcare data, and will lead to significant improvements in the use of information to promote patient safety. We hope that these pilots will enable ADAPt to become fully operational in 2022.”