The Networked Data Lab A collaborative network of analytical teams across the UK working together using linked datasets on key issues facing health and care services today

The Networked Data Lab (NDL) is a pioneering collaborative network of analysts who use linked data, open analytics, and public and patient involvement to tackle the most pressing challenges in health and social care.

We work closely with our five partners across the UK:

• The Aberdeen Centre for Health Data Science (ACHDS) which includes NHS Grampian and the University of Aberdeen
• Public Health Wales, Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW), Swansea University (SAIL Databank) and Social Care Wales (SCW)
• North West London Networked Data Lab: a collaboration between Imperial College Health Partners (ICHP), Imperial College London (ICL) and North West London Integrated Care System  
• Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board
• NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (Leeds Place).

Through a collaborative process with partners, along with public and patient engagement, the Networked Data Lab (NDL) focuses on a local priority for analysis.

A federated approach to analytics allows us to conduct analyses on datasets held by different NDL partners and to combine these insights without requiring data to be shared and held in a central location. We are able to conduct rapid and novel analyses that cannot be done at a national level because of a lack of available linked data. Through our partners, we are able to build a picture nationally. 

Topic 1: COVID-19 and the clinically extremely vulnerable population

During the COVID-19 pandemic, NDL partners highlighted clinically extremely vulnerable people as a priority group in their areas, so our first topic analysed the impact of the pandemic on those shielding.

Topic 2: Children and young people’s mental health

Children and young people's mental health emerged as a growing priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. The NDL partners used local data to draw out trends and insights for local and national policy makers.

Topic 3: Unpaid carers

There is limited information regarding unpaid carers in the UK. Through this project, the NDL sought to identify unpaid carers across England and Wales, and to determine what we can learn from the data about their characteristics and the support that they receive.

Topic 4: Intermediate care

Intermediate care is short-term care aimed at maximising people’s independence. It is a vital and often overlooked part of the health and care system; however, when executed well, it has the potential to relieve pressure on acute services. 

In collaboration with the Strategy Unit, we have drawn on insights from open, national-level data and patient-level data to learn more about intermediate care services.

Topic 5: Waiting lists for elective care

Reducing the NHS elective waiting list is a major national priority. But relatively little is known about the impact of long waiting lists on patient health or who is most at risk of adverse events while waiting.

Four NDL sites linked and analysed local data sources to explore how long different population groups wait for elective care, the reasons people leave the waiting list and the health care use of people waiting.

Topic 6: Housing and health

Decent housing is an essential building block of health. But for many households in the UK, a safe, warm and affordable home remains out of reach.

Five NDL sites established novel data linkages to explore the relationship between housing and health, the targeting of local housing interventions and the health profiles of vulnerable households.

NDL resources and tools

The Networked Data Lab programme has now ended, with findings from our final topic, Housing and health, published in May 2026. Through to the end of 2026, NDL partners will be producing outputs designed to share learnings from the whole course of the programme. To learn more about our learning and knowledge sharing project, contact us at ndl@health.org.uk.

As a network, we aim to work as openly and collaboratively as possible. For all our projects, we share reusable code, methodology and other technical resources for free on Github.

We also write blogs on medium sharing key learnings:

• Getting started with NHS mental health data
• Mapping unpaid carers using GP contract data
• How could the community services data set take more analytical weight?
• Working with the Waiting List Minimum Dataset (WLMDS): a guide for analysts

Patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) is also a key aspect of the network, and is embedded throughout each project lifecycle.

Here is some information about our PPIE journey and helpful resources:

• Bringing the public perspective into health data science