Better, Broader, Safer: Using Health Data for Research and Analysis

by Ben Goldacre

Data has transformed our world in powerful ways. It can connect us, help us make better decisions, and enable life-changing discoveries. In every field, from agriculture to finance, things that once seemed impossible have become commonplace. In some ways, health data is unlike other data. Concerns about privacy take on an even bigger life when it concerns our personal medical data. Moreover, the systems across the NHS and medical research can feel intimidatingly complex. Yet in other ways, healthcare is more suited to data and the innovation that follows than almost any other sector — with the depth and coverage of NHS data providing unique opportunities. Navigating complexity can come with even greater gains, and the number of applications for medical data in health research are seemingly never-ending. The rewards of getting it right are profound, with not just lives saved but longer, healthier and happier lives too.
— Sajid Javid , UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

219 pages, Paperback

Published April 8, 2022

About the author

Ben Goldacre is a British science writer and psychiatrist, born in 1974. He is the author of The Guardian newspaper's weekly Bad Science column and a book of the same title, published by Fourth Estate in September 2008.

Goldacre is the son of Michael Goldacre, professor of public health at the University of Oxford, the nephew of science journalist Robyn Williams, and the great-great-grandson of Sir Henry Parkes.