What we do
DaSH provides a safe facility for health science researchers to conduct research that involves the linkage of data from various sources. The facility is our response to National guidance to improve the safe handling of linked public data sets while supporting access to facilitate high quality health research.
DaSH builds on the long established excellence in data management for data linkage research at the University of Aberdeen offered by the Data Management Team, led by Ms Katie Wilde. It enhances the Data Management Team’s service providing a secure environment for the safe linkage, analysis, management and storage of datasets containing clinical and/or other data, which contain personal identifiers. For further information on the Data Management’s secure environment please follow the link.
The DaSH team supports researchers through the robust governance processes to ensure safe research projects are undertaken by appropriately trained researchers; providing information about datasets, advice on data management plans and record keeping (for audit), and ensuring that any research findings are published without the risk of identifying individuals.
DaSH ensures the…
Safe setting
Safe projects
Safe people
Safe outputs
…to enable and create better opportunities for researchers to link data and influence policy and practice to improve healthcare and public health, nationally and internationally.
University of Aberdeen has a long history as a Centre of Excellence for Health Research using linked data and the Health and Data Linkage in North East Scotland (HEADLINES) network webpage has links to a number of research studies currently involving the secondary use of health data.
DaSH comprises of state of the art dedicated computer servers to safely store patient and public data. Identifiable data, crucial to enabling linkage of different datasets together will now only be stored within a dedicated NHS DaSH server, to the highest levels of security. Research coordinators will support the Data Management Team and researchers to work together to ensure that the handling of public data are carefully planned, well documented and securely managed for research and archiving. Researcher teams will be able to use DaSH to support data extraction, linkage, validation, documentation and research. The facility will enable researchers to safely access their data for research without the need to transfer and move data outside the safe haven as well as ensuring that the researchers responsible for the custodianship of a dataset can retain rigorous control over who has access to any research data.